49ers top Panthers, as Christian McCaffrey beats former team

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- While the bruised and battered San Francisco 49ers haven't won in aesthetically pleasing fashion often this season, they still have found ways to win.

It happened again Monday night, as the Niners overcame a litany of first-half mistakes to knock off the Carolina Panthers 20-9 in a game that figures to be pivotal in the NFC playoff chase.

With the win, the 49ers improve to 8-4, including 7-2 against NFC opponents. Carolina fell to 6-6 on the season and 4-3 in NFC games.

According to ESPN's Football Power Index, the Niners bolstered their playoff hopes from 86% to 91.3% and put the Panthers' chances in peril, as they dropped from 22.7% to 18%.

Even on a night when quarterback Brock Purdy provided plenty of opportunities for the Panthers to establish a lead and perhaps steal a victory, the Niners' injury-ravaged defense repeatedly prevented Carolina from capitalizing.

Niners safety Ji'Ayir Brown provided the biggest spark, coming up with a pair of interceptions, including one in the end zone, and five tackles.

It's the first time since Week 3 that the Niners have strung together multiple wins, as they head to Cleveland to face the Browns on Sunday with a chance to get a ninth victory.

San Francisco 49ers (8-4)

Stat to know: 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey insisted last week that facing his former team for the first time since being traded in 2022 wouldn't be much different than most other games.

Statistically speaking, that proved true, as McCaffrey went over 100 scrimmage yards for the 10th time this season and had at least 50 rushing and 50 receiving yards for the eighth time. It's the 14th time he's hit the 50/50 mark since joining the Niners, tied with Frank Gore for the second most in franchise history. He needs three more such games to surpass the team record he established in 2023.

McCaffrey finished with 142 scrimmage yards on 31 touches.

What to make of the QB performance: For whatever reason, Purdy continued to struggle on "Monday Night Football". Against the Panthers, he threw three first-half interceptions, the second time he's done that in his career, with his other one also coming on MNF against Baltimore on Dec. 25, 2023. In five career starts on Monday night, he has thrown 11 interceptions.

Purdy rebounded a bit in the second half as coach Kyle Shanahan dialed up some easy throws on screens and short passes. Purdy finished 23-of-32 for 193 yards with one touchdown to go with the three picks. But it was still a concerning outing for Purdy after an encouraging return from his right big toe injury last week against Arizona.

Most surprising performance: The defense. While the offense spent much of the first half flailing with turnovers and near-turnovers, the Niners' defense repeatedly answered the bell, allowing three points off those takeaways. All told, the Panthers managed only 230 total yards and 5.3 yards per play, including a season-low in yards (72) and first downs (three) in the first half.

For a unit missing end Nick Bosa and linebacker Fred Warner, much has been made of the offense having to carry the freight, but San Francisco's defense delivered when needed Monday night. -- Nick Wagoner

Next game: vs. Cleveland Browns (1 p.m. ET, Sunday)

Carolina Panthers (6-6)

Carolina had a chance to take the outright lead in the NFC South for the first time this late in the season since 2017 with a victory, but quarterback Bryce Young couldn't carry the offense a week after throwing for a franchise record 448 yards in an overtime win at Atlanta.

The loss left the Panthers a half-game behind Tampa Bay (6-5) in the division with their next game against the NFC-leading Los Angeles Rams (8-2). They close with two of three games against the struggling Bucs but have the hot Seattle Seahawks (8-3) in between them.

Tampa Bay, meanwhile, enters the easiest part of its schedule against the Arizona Cardinals, New Orleans Saints and Falcons.

That the Panthers have to depend on Young to carry them now that three teams in a row have shut down the running game (69 yards on 13 carries) has to be concerning. Also concerning is Carolina may have to face the pass-happy Rams next week without Pro Bowl corner Jaycee Horn, who suffered a concussion late in the first half.

What to make of the QB performance: The first half set the tone. Young had a lower passer rating (25.0) than the 49ers' Purdy (48.4) even through Purdy threw three interceptions. As a result, the Panthers had their fewest yards (72) and first downs (three) in any half this season. Young's numbers were slightly better in the second half, but his second interception with 6:27 remaining basically sealed Carolina's fate and left him 0-2 on MNF and 0-3 in prime-time games.

Biggest hole in the game plan: Stopping former Panthers' running back McCaffrey. You'd think defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero would have loaded the defense to stop the player Carolina traded to the 49ers midway through the 2022 season, but McCaffrey had 142 scrimmage yards, including a 12-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. He's the one player the Panthers didn't want to let beat them.

Stat to know: The Panthers were the first team to trail at halftime (10-3) despite having three defensive interceptions since the 2021 Browns (Week 12 at Ravens). Prior to Monday's game, Cleveland was the only team to do this over the past 10 years. -- David Newton

Next game: at Los Angeles Rams (4:25 p.m. ET, Sunday)