Christian McCaffrey and the San Francisco 49ers improved their 2023 record to a perfect 4-0 with a 35-16 home victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. McCaffrey was once again excellent, taking 20 carries for 106 yards and a whopping three touchdowns in the 49ers victory.

However, the game carried a special significance against the backdrop of San Francisco history. With his first rushing touchdown of the game, McCaffrey broke a tie with 49ers legend Jerry Rice for the most consecutive games scoring a touchdown, including the playoffs, in franchise history, per ESPN Stats & Info. McCaffrey now has 13 straight such games since joining the team last season, thus breaking the tie with Rice.

The 49ers acquired McCaffrey during the 2022 season to help supplement an offense that already featured several talented skill position players including Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and George Kittle, among others. The 49ers offense is led by quarterback Brock Purdy, who took over midway through last season due to an injury and has since established himself as a more-than-capable leader of the team's vast array of talent.

McCaffrey, however, might just be the most important player for the 49ers offense, which has been impressive thus far to open up 2023, registering scoring outputs of 30 (in each of the team's first three games) and now 35 on Sunday.

At 4-0, the 49ers sit tied with their 2022 NFC Championship foes, the Philadelphia Eagles, for first place in both the NFC and the NFL. San Francisco will look to make their record 5-0 when they take on the Dallas Cowboys on October 8. That game is slated to kick off at 8:20 PM ET.