Christian McCaffrey's timing on IR placement keeps him available to face Chiefs

For all of the tremendous games and primetime opponents scheduled for the Kansas City Chiefs during the 2024 season, only one can be heralded as the Super Bowl rematch. That game awaits the Chiefs in Week 7 upon their visit to Levi's Stadium when they face the San Francisco 49ers.

The Niners and Chiefs proved to be the class of their respective conferences in 2023, a familiar site for NFL fans in recent years as the pair of teams have played each other in two of the last five Super Bowls.

Starting out the new year, it was interesting to see just how complete San Fran and K.C. looked in Week 1\ compared to their peers in a season-opening slate that featured a lot of rust and mistakes—proving they might be aiming for a collision course in the postseason once again. But they'll have to wait for that match-up since they already have a contest scheduled in October.

The 49ers will have every chance to have their offensive MVP in Week 7 after all when they face the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Niners will host the Chiefs on October 20 in a must-watch game for all NFL fans no matter which individual players are involved. The star power is simply too great on both rosters. That said, the 49ers have to be happier knowing how the schedule played out when given the bad news that Christian McCaffrey was going to have to miss some significant time.

The 49ers running back is the most dangerous weapon in the team's offensive arsenal—a loaded bunch, to be sure—who put up over 2,000 yards from scrimmage in 2023. Unfortunately, McCaffrey's injury history bit him for the first time since he arrived in the Bay Area this summer with calf issues that have extended into the regular season.

After being inactive for Week 1, the Niners have placed McCaffrey on injured reserve before Week 2, which means that they expect him to miss a month at least. That also requires him to miss the next four games on the team's schedule against the Minnesota Vikings, L.A. Rams, New England Patriots, and Arizona Cardinals. Not exactly a murderer's row of opponents.

The fortunate timing for the Niners is that McCaffrey could return for Week 6, which gives him a tune-up game within the division against the Seattle Seahawks before facing the Chiefs and 49ers back to back.

It's entirely possible that McCaffrey will need more time than that, which would cause him to sit out even longer. And maybe that will be the plan knowing the team's bye week comes two weeks after K.C.'s visit. But for now, the 49ers will hope that the "calf tightness and Achilles tendinitis" keeping him out in the present can be alleviated with another month of treatment and rest.

If so, the Chiefs and 49ers will be the full-on fireworks display that everyone is hoping for.