The 49ers are hosting the Carolina Panthers at Levi’s Stadium on Monday night with improved position in the NFC playoff hunt on the line.
Carolina (6-5) is one game behind the Niners (7-4) for the seventh and final seed in the NFC with six games remaining for both teams this season. The winner will hold a head-to-head tiebreaker in a crowded NFC field.
The primetime game is also Christian McCaffrey’s first game against the team that drafted him eighth overall out of Stanford in 2017, saw him honored on the All-Pro teams twice (first team in 2019), then traded him to San Francisco in 2022.
McCaffrey’s all-around game has been particularly useful for the 49ers this season as they have seen injuries hit their receiving corps hard. Jauan Jennings (ribs, ankle) and Ricky Pearsall (knee) are back, but this week provided a new twist as news broke that the team had voided a $25 million bonus in the contract of Brandon Aiyuk, who is recovering from ACL and MCL tears suffered last season.
Elsewhere, the 49ers will have new starters in middle linebacker Curtis Robinson — filling in for the injured Tatum Bethune, who replaced the injured Fred Warner — and kicker Matt Gay, who was signed this week with Eddy Piñeiro nursing a hamstring strain.
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