The duel between Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill and 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey for NFL Offensive Player of the Year is in a dead heat entering Week 10 with both players priced at +125 at DraftKings. McCaffrey should get a bit of a bump after Sunday’s game in Jacksonville if he sets an NFL record by scoring a touchdown in an 18th straight game (including the playoffs) and is a relatively cheap (by his standards) -185 for an anytime TD against a good Jaguars defense. The Niners are -3 on the SportsLine consensus.
McCaffrey and Miami’s Raheem Mostert are tied for the NFL lead with 13 touchdowns from scrimmage, but McCaffrey is the only player in the league with a scrimmage touchdown in each of his team’s first eight games of the season. In rushing TDs alone, Mostert leads with 11 and McCaffrey is second with nine. On the updated odds to win the rushing TD title, Mostert is +225 and McCaffrey is +275.
Dating to Week 13 of last season, McCaffrey has recorded at least one scrimmage touchdown in 17 consecutive games. With another Sunday, he would surpass Hall of Famer Lenny Moore (17 straight from 1963-64) for the longest such streak, including postseason games. McCaffrey also can become the third player with a touchdown in at least 15 consecutive regular-season games, joining Moore (18 in 1963-65) and LaDainian Tomlinson (18 in 2004-05), also a Hall of Famer.
McCaffrey is on track to join them in Canton someday. He leads the NFL in rushing yards with 652 (+225 favorite to finish the season in the lead) and is the only player since 1970 to lead all running backs in rushing and receiving yards through Week 9. The last 49ers player to win the rushing title was Joe Perry in 1954. Jacksonville is one of the NFL’s best teams against the run, allowing just 79.3 yards per game on the ground. The Jags have surrendered five rushing TDs. McCaffrey is set at over/under 66.5 rushing yards.
McCaffrey may get Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams back in front of him on Sunday. BothWilliams and Pro Bowl receiver Deebo Samuel have each missed the past two games. Samuel says he will play, but Williams remains in question. Both have been highly missed in a three-game skid — both went out injured in the first game of the losing streak streak. The Niners are the fifth team in NFL history with a three-game losing streak after a 5-0 start. The previous team to do so was the 2016 Vikings, who finished 8-8. Three teams have lost four straight games after 5-0 start (2016 Vikings, 2009 Giants, 1989 Rams).
Jacksonville comes off its bye at 6-2 and is running away with the AFC South. Its five-game winning streak is the NFL’s longest. The Jags have trailed for only seven minutes and 10 seconds during the winning streak. Jacksonville running back Travis Etienne is having a massive season. He’s No. 1 in the league among running backs in touches, second in scrimmage yards, third in receiving yards and sixth in rushing.
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