After a performance like tonight, the Panthers have to be disgusted that they traded away Christian McCaffrey for pennies on the dollar.

"Never spend big money on a running back"

"You can't win with a top-tier running back"

"Christian McCaffrey is overrated"

There's a reason why CMC and the 49ers are headed to their second straight NFC Championship game, while the Panthers are sitting at home with a first overall pick that has already been packaged to Chicago after trading up last season for Bryce Young.

If the 49ers finally get over the hump, the conversation about premier running back spending is out the window, and it also solidifies the Panthers trading away Christian McCaffrey as arguably one of the worst trades in NFL history. Heck, it's starting to shape up that way already. When you break down the small sample size, you'd be shocked that the Panthers traded away one of the league's best for peanuts. To make matters worse, his stats have been astronomical since moving to the Bay Area.

It does take more than just one player, let alone one running back, for a team to succeed. San Fran is loaded with talent across the entire offense, and their entire team. However, it is pretty sweet when you have an ultimate workhorse like CMC who just makes football and winning for this team look way too easy. McCaffrey has scored a TD in 14 of the 17 games he's played this season, and he knocked in the game winner tonight. He clearly is the Offensive Player of the Year, and hopefully he is the catalyst to a Super Bowl run.