Upon his arrival last season, Christian McCaffrey immediately noticed a difference in how the San Francisco 49ers ran things. Despite the diverse personalities in the locker room, there was a singular goal. Each player is prepared to do whatever it takes to win football games. You won't last long with the organization if you fail to adhere to that mindset.
"There's such a high standard when it comes to the football, when it comes to the tape," McCaffrey told reporters on Thursday.
The entire roster has bought in. While there may be plenty of joking around, it's strictly business when it comes to the job at hand.
"I think the culture is incredible, and it's a huge reason of why you have success," McCaffrey said. "When you have a bunch of guys who are bought into the details, who take care of their bodies, who work in the weight room extremely hard, stay after, come in early, it's contagious, and this team has that."
Despite struggling through three consecutive losses in October, the 49ers have rebounded, becoming the first team this season to clinch a playoff berth and positioning themselves as front-runners for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Their upcoming matchup against the Arizona Cardinals provides an opportunity to clinch the NFC West title.
The 49ers may be 12.5-point favorites in this weekend's game, but they refuse to take the 3-10 Cardinals lightly.
"The record is one thing, but I don't look at them as a 3-10 team at all," McCaffrey said. "They play hard. They're fast. They run to the ball extremely well. Obviously, with [S] Budda Baker in there, I have the utmost respect for him, have for a long time. They're a really good team and can hurt you in a lot of different ways.
"So just like any other week, though, it's always going to be about us, and executing, and not hurting ourselves, not making mistakes, and just sticking to the script and going out there and balling out. But yeah, it's a very good football team."
Head coach Kyle Shanahan concurs, drawing parallels between the Cardinals and his 2017 49ers team that finished the season strongly.
"I thought they were real tough at the beginning of the year," Shanahan shared. "I thought we had to play flawless on offense to beat them, but that was a real tight game. Since then ... they're playing very hard, they're playing together. They've added some really good players, especially Budda, who they didn't have [in the first meeting]. I think they've always been real talented on special teams.
"They've also gotten a very great, talented quarterback back (Kyler Murray). They remind me a lot of us our first year, where we started out 0-9 and finished 6-10. I think everything they're doing is the right way, and I think they're a real tough football team."
Tight end George Kittle has seen the Arizona Cardinals a lot in his seven seasons and knows nothing comes easy in the NFL. Despite changes in their coaching staff and considerable turnover, Kittle recognizes the Cardinals' defensive prowess.
"If you watch the tape right now, they are flying around, and they're playing the defense that their coach wants them to play, and they're playing it at a really high level," Kittle shared. "It's completely different than really any other defense you've seen the league—how they're doing all their coverages, how they're using Budda Baker.
"And then, when you throw a guy like Budda into that defense, and if they're all on their Ps and Qs ... when they're all on it, they're playing really, really good defense. They have a great run defense, and they do a lot of weird stuff in the pass game, so we have to really be on our stuff and play a good game.
"And last time we played them, I think Brock was [20 of 21]. We have to be pretty damn efficient. So that's just the goal for us, to continue to be efficient, convert on third downs, and just stay on the field."
San Francisco's goal remains clear—keep playing to their standard and keep the momentum rolling.
