Pete Carroll praises Christian McCaffrey, calls his breakup "the best play of the day"

[Sir Purr]

CHARLOTTE -- This kind of production has become so routine for Christian McCaffrey.


McCaffrey recorded 175 scrimmage yards during Sunday's loss to Seattle, marking his eighth consecutive game with 100+ scrimmage yards and his 12th such game of the season overall, more than any other player in the NFL.


And on a day where he went over 2,000 scrimmage yards for the season -- becoming the first Panther to do so -- the head coach of the opposing team took a moment to heap praise on Carolina's star running back.


Here's how Pete Carroll responded when he was asked about any special preparations for a player of McCaffrey's caliber:


"Well, it was hard to tell, it didn't look like we did. He's such a fantastic player, I just marvel at his toughness, he's so consistently tough," Carroll said. "He's a great competitor and he battles every week. We hit the heck out of him today and kept bringing it and he kept fighting and getting up. And then I kept wondering, is he going to hang on the ground a little bit? He didn't. He's just a magnificent player."


Carroll then made mention of one specific play.


It was early in the fourth quarter when McCaffrey let a pass go off his hands -- something you hardly see. The ball bounced up perfectly for safety Ugo Amadi, who was about to have a pick-six. But McCaffrey turned into a defender in that moment, somehow getting a hand on the ball to force it out for an incompletion.


"The best play of the game was the one he knocks out of Ugo's hands. Amadi's got a touchdown play and somehow he figured out how to get the ball out of his hands," Carroll said. "He's an amazing player."