4 reasons behind Christian McCaffrey’s no-show at the Dolphins

What were some reasons behind Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey’s no-show at the Miami Dolphins in Week 12?

If the Carolina Panthers stood any chance of attaining potential targets in 2021, then they need Christian McCaffrey playing at his peak level. The running back made an encouraging return from injury over the last three games, something that needed to continue in no uncertain terms in their crunch clash at the Miami Dolphins in Week 12.

This was a hugely important game for the Panthers coming off last weekend’s loss to the Washington Football Team. McCaffrey accumulated just 17 combined touches last time out, so many were expecting this workload to increase substantially before Carolina’s much-needed bye.

Cam Newton might be back. But this team will only go as far as McCaffrey takes them – at least until the quarterback has a full understanding of Joe Brady’s scheme.

In the end, McCaffrey was a non-factor on the field as Carolina fell to another embarrassing loss that sees their postseason hopes in tatters.

Without further ado, here are four reasons behind McCaffrey’s no-show in Week 12 at the Dolphins.

Reason No. 1

Christian McCaffrey was afforded no space

The offensive line showed signs of life over the last few weeks. Something that came to an abrupt halt at the Dolphins.

This made things extremely difficult for both Christian McCaffrey and Cam Newton in the backfield. Miami’s blitz-heavy front got some substantial push right out of the gate and continued this trend throughout the contest.

Although McCaffrey wasn’t on the field for the second half – we’ll get to that shortly – it’s hard to envisage a situation where this would have changed. Especially considering the Panthers were chasing the game.