Christian McCaffrey has turned into the kind of problem that keeps defensive coordinators up at night. Just ask Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald. When the Hawks’ boss was asked how he plans to slow down the San Francisco 49ers superstar, the answer barely landed. “All the plays. Terrible answer, but it’s by situation.” Still, there’s noise floating around that McCaffrey is slowing down.

Injuries, age, and workload. All the usual talk. However, former 49ers star Donte Whitner had no patience for it after the Niners took care of business against the Chicago Bears.

“When you hear people say, ‘Christian McCaffrey is slowing down,’ shut the fu-k up. You don’t know football, you never watched football, you never played football. Christian McCaffrey is solidifying himself as a legendary status in my opinion,” he said.

To be fair, the season has not been spotless. Earlier on, McCaffrey showed up on the report in Week 1 with a calf issue. Later, in Week 15, NIR-Rest landed next to his name. Then came another scare. Late in the Week 17 win over the Bears, he picked up a setback.

However, as per the latest updates, McCaffrey is good to go for Saturday night. He missed Tuesday with back stiffness. Then he returned on Wednesday on a limited basis. More importantly, the final injury report was clean. No designation. That lines him up for Week 18 against the Seahawks with the NFC West crown and the conference’s top seed on the line.

Because of that, the bigger picture matters. The 29-year-old is on track to play all 17 games. That alone is a win. Last season, he managed just four while battling bilateral Achilles tendinitis and a PCL injury in his left knee. This year looks nothing like that grind.

Still, McCaffrey played well. He ranks eighth among running backs with 1,179 rushing yards. He leads all backs with 890 receiving yards. On top of that, he has handled 303 touches and crossed the goal line 17 times. For the Niners and the faithful, that does not look like slowing down at all.

Christian McCaffrey was good against the Bears

The Niners walked out with a win in Week 17. More importantly, they now sit one victory away from the NFC top seed. A first-round bye is right there. But the game was chaotic.

With 5:22 left, the Monsters of the Midway grabbed a 38-35 lead on a field goal at Soldier Field. However, that edge barely had time to settle. Three minutes later, Brock Purdy struck again. His fifth touchdown, a 38-yard dart to Jauan Jennings with 2:15 left, swung the game back to San Francisco at 42-38. Still, Chicago refused to fold. On third-and-10, Caleb Williams found Burden to keep hope alive. After that, on fourth down with 33 seconds left, he hit Colston Loveland to move inside the 15.

So the final snap arrived with nerves everywhere. Chicago needed a touchdown. They reached the 2-yard line. Four seconds remained. Williams spun away from the pressure and sprinted toward the sideline. Meanwhile, nine Niners dropped into coverage. The throw went up. The ball fell just short of the receiver’s hands. Game over.

Amid all of that, Christian McCaffrey delivered again. He carried the ball 23 times for 140 yards and added four catches for 41 more. And now he edged closer to history. With one game left, he needs 110 receiving yards to become the first player ever with multiple seasons of 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards, after doing it before in 2019.

Now the debate continues, with some doubting him while others believe. Next week will answer it. McCaffrey gets another shot to silence the talk.