Back in 2022, the San Francisco 49ers decided to try disproving a theory ahead of the trade deadline.

That theory was that running backs no longer matter in the modern NFL.

With the 49ers mired in the mediocrity of a 3-3 start, general manager John Lynch sent the Carolina Panthers a second-round pick in 2023, third-round pick in 2023, fourth-round pick in 2023, and a fifth-round pick in 2024 for a rising star by the name of Christian McCaffrey.

Talk about a steal for Lynch, head coach Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers.

“Christian McCaffrey gives them a 3-down back in their zone run scheme, plus a back that can catch ball out of backfield,” an NFC Personnel Director told me shortly after the trade went down nearly four years ago to the day, and he wasn’t alone in his praise.

“The 49ers might be the biggest winner of the trade deadline. The McCaffrey trade makes them quite a bit better,” an NFL personnel executive echoed.

Quite an understatement.

Not only did McCaffrey rush for 746 yards with six touchdowns, while adding four more receiving scores serving as a catalyst in the 49ers turning their season around sprinting to the NFC Championship Game that season, but the 49ers own a 41-14 record since the trade, have appeared in seven playoff games and a Super Bowl.

Another offseason addition, this year’s signing of veteran wide receiver Mike Evans (much more on him later in this column) may prove to be the 49ers’ missing piece to winning a Super Bowl this season, but McCaffrey has long established himself as San Francisco’s missing piece to consistently be in a position to make a Super Bowl run.

Now, who knows if the Texans and general manager Nick Caserio’s trade to pluck disappointing former No. 4 overall pick, wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. in a trade with the Arizona Cardinals will have anywhere close to the impact McCaffrey’s arrival had on the 49ers.

But, the Harrison Jr. trade is already paying dividends in Houston.

After all, the Texans are trying to join the 1992 San Diego Chargers as the only team to ever overcome an 0-4 start to a season and make the playoffs, and Harrison Jr.’s presence Sunday in London against the Jaguars already seems to have leveled up quarterback C.J. Stroud and Houston’s offense.

Harrison Jr. was clearly on a pitch count, after having to adjust to the time zones going from Arizona to Houston to London in the span of less than a week, but the former Ohio State standout reunited with his college quarterback caught three of his four targets for 34 yards.

The former Buckeye and Cardinal’s presence, though, helped create space for Nico Collins, who might be the most important player on the Texans’ roster and one of the most vitally important receivers on any roster anywhere, catching three passes for 74 yards.

Meanwhile, Jaylin Noel was a perfect four-for-four on his targets for a team-high 107 yards and a teardrop touchdown catch from Stroud.

The Texans improved to 2-4 on the season, with a last-second 34-31 win delivered off the toe of Ka’imi Fairbairn from 49 yards out.

Somehow, still not dead in the AFC South, and with a victory over the Jaguars now stashed away should they need it from a tiebreaker standpoint, the Texans are playing like the Texans, again.

But, bigger picture, if this is the version of Stroud — 24-of-34 for 312 yards with three touchdowns to one interception Sunday in London, that the Texans get moving forward, a receiving corps of Collins, Harrison Jr., Noel, and Jayden Higgins next season has the potential to be among the more formidable in the league and a menu of potentially explosive options for the 25-year-old quarterback.

Who knows what the immediate future holds for these Texans, but Harrison Jr. played, at least on Sunday, like he figures to raise the ceiling on what Houston’s offense can become in the long-run.

[My] Reports of the Packers’ demise were greatly exaggerated and extremely premature.

Green Bay was all but left for dead after being run out of Lambeau by Bijan Robinson, Drake London and the Atlanta Falcons back in Week 3 but have come barnstorming back rattling off three straight wins following Sunday night’s 23-13 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.

Quarterback Jordan Love has always been lethal in the vertical passing game and that was no different on Sunday night.

But the Packers’ catalysts against Dallas were some of the young, recently drafted players who are picking up steam into the roles Green Bay needs them to thrive in this season and are counting on being big pieces of the future.

At one point in the second quarter, former Packers first-round pick Matthew Golden dropped a pass in the end zone at the last second, that the fireworks operator must have thought was pulled down for a touchdown and set off the fireworks above Lambeau before it was ruled incomplete.

It was one of the few miscues for Golden, Love and the Packers’ offense all night.

Golden skyrocketed to the top of Love’s target hierarchy, catching six of his 13 targets for 104 yards, including opening the scoring with 4:43 remaining in the first quarter when he ran a post pattern and Love hit him in stride for an 11-yard touchdown.

Love was downright surgical on the Packers’ opening possession, starting 6-of-8 for 109 yards on the 90-yard scoring drive that was forced to be longer due to penalties.

It was merely Love’s mission statement for what was to come Sunday night and a continuation of a dominant two-game stretch against teams the Packers just might see again in the postseason.

Love finished 23-of-41 for 276 yards with one touchdown to one interception, looking like he’d shrugged off his sluggish start to the season.

“He’s not afraid to make throws right now,” an AFC Scout tells Between The Hashmarks, of Love. “You can just see that he’s playing with a lot of confidence.”

Love has now passed for 643 yards with three touchdowns to one interception over the past two weeks, but Sunday was Golden’s coming out party.

While Golden struggled with a couple of nasty drops, he more than made up for it as a bail out option for Love, when he was nearly obliterated by Cowboys rookie safety Caleb Downs before hitting Golden on a hot-route for 21 yards.

Later that same series, Golden broke loose before Love led him towards the sideline for a 12-yard pitch and catch.

Over the past two games, Golden has doubled his number of 100-yard receiving games, but it feels like he’s just hitting his stride.

“My confidence is through the roof,” Golden said, on the NBC Post-Game Show. “I never lost confidence in myself. J-Love told me from the jump to never lose my confidence, get too high or too low and just stay here.”

Through six weeks, Golden has already surpassed his rookie production, with 508 yards, and alongside Christian Watson, who now has 538 receiving yards, they’re the first Packers receiver duo in franchise history to produce more than 500 yards through the first six games of a season.

Golden wasn’t alone, though, as Matt LaFleur started to lean on Savion Williams, also chosen by the Packers in 2025, in the slot, to the tune of four catches for 32 yards.

There was a certain feel of efficiency to the Packers’ offense on a night that Green Bay’s defense stifled what, at least on paper, is a high-powered Cowboys offense.

Second-round rookie cornerback Brandon Cisse was stellar, and when Cisse was knocked from the game with an injury with 7:36 remaining, Carrington Valentine intercepted Dak Prescott. And, while Lukas Van Ness was flagged for roughing the passer negating the pick, the play underscored how improved the depth in the Packers’ safety has quickly become.

Whether it was Cisse, safety Evan Williams who also intercepted Prescott, or Golden, the Packers have to be optimistic not just about the play of their rising stars, not just about improving to 4-2 to keep pace with the Vikings who spent this week on the bye, but because in the coming weeks, Micah Parsons is about to take a blowtorch to the fuse of the Packers’ defense.

This isn’t over for Green Bay, contrarily, the Packers may just be getting started.

But, for the Cowboys, Sunday night’s loss underscores just how far away Dallas is from relevance in the NFC.

Sure, the talent is there for the Cowboys to win the NFC East, after Joey Porter Jr. had a couple of pass breakups, Quinnen Williams finished with three tackles, one sack, and two tackles for loss, but coordinator Christian Parker and new consultant Mike Pettine’s defense gave up 23 points and 318 yards of offense.

It’s also hard to point fingers exclusively at the Cowboys’ defense, when an offense heralded by Dak Prescott, George Pickens, and CeeDee Lamb score 13 points against a Packers defense that has allowed 39 points to the Minnesota Vikings, and 35 to the Falcons in the first six games of the season.

There are no easy fixes for the Cowboys when it comes to raising the ceiling above winning something like nine games, hosting a playoff game, and then getting boat raced in their own building come January.

The Packers, on the other hand, are starting to establish an identity, starting to lean on their young players, with arguably their best player about to get back on the field in the weeks ahead, ahead of a closing stretch that features the eighth-toughest remaining schedule in the league.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see these teams meet again in the postseason, but it just feels like Green Bay is heading in the right direction while the Cowboys are merely struggling to find ways to survive.

Caleb Williams’ return Sunday was supposed to be a test, against a Falcons pass rush that entered with 11 sacks.

Instead, the Chicago Bears’ quarterback and former No. 1 overall pick turned Sunday afternoon at Mercedes Benz Stadium into target practice.