It’s brick out here! A massive snowstorm brewing with 23 inches of snow at Orchard Park, New York, was bound to cause something to go wrong. While the State of New York ensured roads leading to the Highmark Stadium were safe to travel, Bills X account called staffers and volunteer shovelers who were hard at work to clear the area as “the real MVPs.” Nothing could stop Sunday night’s Bills vs. 49ers game in Buffalo but it happened at the cost of losing a star running back, Christian McCaffrey.

In only what was his fourth game of the season, the former Stanford graduate was downgraded from questionable to out in the second quarter. He was seen limping to the locker room before he took a pitch to the right, took a few awkward steps, and slid down on a snow-slicked field to give himself up for a 5-yard loss. A non-contact injury forced the 28-year-old to enter the medical tent where he was ruled out for knee injury. When HC Kyle Shanahan was asked about McCaffrey’s status as the third quarter began and he confirmed that the RB will not return to the field.

CMC was coming off bilateral Achilles tendinitis, whose 19-yard run in the first quarter vs. Bills was his longest of the season, had rushed for 53 yards on seven carries and caught two passes for 14 yards on Sunday night. And while we wait for further updates, Jesse Morse, the Sports Medicine Physician had a few things to say about his injury. Morse weighed in on McCaffrey’s injury and shared his thoughts on X.

“Christian McCaffrey landed directly on his right knee. Flexed, similar to Dalton Kincaid recently. He winced immediately. Remember the ground is essentially frozen, so it’s like concrete.” 

“My initial concern is a PCL sprain, which is what sidelined Puka Nacua for most of the season. There’s lots of miles on that knee though, anything is possible, meniscus, ACL, anything.”

Unlike Puca’s injury, who dealt with knee issues in training camp before aggravating it (PCL sprain) during the Rams’ Week-1 26-20 loss to the Detroit Lions, that saw him officially return from IR after five games, Senior NFL reporter Albert Breer’s latest update from Shanahan doesn’t paint a hopeful picture. He wrote on X,

“49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said that doctors believe RB Christian McCaffrey sustained a PCL injury, and that he’s not sure whether or not McCaffrey will be in position to return later this season.”

Is Christian McCaffrey’s injury the same as Puka Nacua’s?

Kind of. It was the Rams season opener against the Detroit Lions where the LA team didn’t make it out unscathed. Not only did the Rams lose 26-20 in the OT game, they also lost Nacua for 5 games following his non-contact injury. It happened in the second quarter on a third-and-10 play when Stafford passed him the pigskin and the receiver dived to catch the ball.

After injuring his right knee, Nacua was slow to get up, and the team put him on IR. He didn’t return till the game against the Minnesota Vikings. For now, we don’t know whether the 49ers RB will return anytime soon. If it’s something serious, he might miss 4 or more games at the least. By that time, the regular season will come to an end.

Is McCaffrey out for the duration of this regular season? Let us know what you think.