McCaffrey shoulders blame for 49ers' loss after fumble vs. Vikings originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

If you were to ask 49ers star running back Christian McCaffrey who is to blame for the crushing 22-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on "Monday Night Football" at U.S. Bank Stadium, the finger would be pointed at himself.

After San Francisco's defense intercepted Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins on the opening drive of the game, the 49ers' offense marched down the field on its first drive before McCaffrey fumbled in the red zone, giving Minnesota the ball back.

The Vikings responded with a touchdown and jumped out to an early 7-0 lead.

In speaking to reporters after the game, McCaffrey was asked about the 49ers' loss and was critical of his first-quarter mistake and believes the outcome would have been different had he secured the ball and San Francisco scored on that drive.

"Any time you lose, it's a bad feeling," McCaffrey said. "I think we have a team that's hypercritical of each individual and we can't let it trickle down and we've got to take a good, hard look in the mirror. I'll do that. I made a bad mistake today that I believe cost us the game if I don't fumble that ball, so I'm going to put it on me and go from there."

The fumble was McCaffrey's second this season after coughing the ball up in the 49ers' blowout win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 5.

While McCaffrey understandably is his harshest critic, there is no guarantee the 49ers would have scored on that drive.

Although in a five-point loss, every mistake -- including quarterback Brock Purdy's two backbreaking interceptions -- stands out for all the wrong reasons.

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