Top performers from an ugly 49ers win over the Panthers

Though a trio of Brock Purdy interceptions made "Monday Night Football" more interesting than it had to be, San Francisco ultimately came away with a pivotal 20-9 victory over the Carolina Panthers.

With the win, the 49ers improved to 8-4 and stay on the right side of the NFC Playoffs picture. San Francisco remains in the No. 7 slot in the NFC standings with five games left to play.

As San Francisco collects a key win for its postseason hopes, let's take a look back at some of the 49ers' best performers:

Jauan Jennings

Jauan Jennings got the scoring started for the 49ers with a terrific 12-yard touchdown grab where he bounced off Panther defenders for the score. The 6-foot-3 wideout finished with five grabs for 41 yards.

Christian McCaffrey

On a night where Purdy really struggled, the 49ers needed their star running back to deliver. Christian McCaffrey did just that to the tune of 142 all-purpose yards on 31 touches.

McCaffrey had a 12-yard rushing touchdown that built a 17-3 San Francisco lead. In what feels like a weekly occurrence, McCaffrey knocked off some more historical milestones during the performance.

It was McCaffrey's 14th game with 50 rushing yards and 50 receiving yards with the 49ers, matching Frank Gore for the second-most in franchise history. McCaffrey also joined Larry Centers and Marshall Faulk as the only running backs in NFL history to have 50-plus receiving yards in at least 50 career games.

Oh, and McCaffrey is leading the NFL in receptions.

Ji'Ayir Brown

Ji'Ayir Brown had a sensational day, intercepting a pair of Bryce Young passes. The first came in the end zone on 1st-and-goal snap from the 1-yard-line that directly took Panthers points off the board and made amends for one of Purdy's three picks.

Then, Brown effectively iced the game with his second interception.

Clelin Ferrell

The 49ers are banged up across the board. After Sam Okuayinonu exited with an ankle injury early on Monday night, the 49ers were down to just Bryce Huff, Clelin Ferrell and Keion White as active defensive ends.

Ferrell came up with the 49ers' only sack of the day and San Francisco's first sack in the past two weeks. It snapped a stretch of 85 passes in those two games without the 49ers sacking the opposing quarterback.

But, most importantly, it backed Carolina up into a 3rd-and-18 which led to a missed 57-yard field goal and the 49ers running out the remainder of the clock.

Matt Gay

Called up from the practice squad to fill in for an injured Eddy Pineiro, Matt Gay was perfect on Monday night. Gay booted through field goal tries of 47 and 29 yards and also connected on each of his PAT tries.

In a game where points were at a premium, the 49ers needed Gay to come through for them and the Utah alum certainly did.

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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers vs. Panthers: Christian McCaffrey headlines best performances