Deebo Samuel scored three touchdowns for the San Francisco 49ers against the Philadelphia Eagles on Dec. 3, 2023 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
Tim Nwachukwu/Getty ImagesNo member of the 49ers was talking as much trash about the Eagles after last year’s NFC title game loss than Deebo Samuel. With the chance to finally go back to Philly again and face the chirpy Eagles, the Niner star sure backed up all of his talk — and then some.
Samuel was the star of Sunday’s shellacking for the 49ers, scoring three touchdowns on seven touches in the 42-19 win. Samuel finished with four catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns while adding three rushes for 22 yards and a score.
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“I ain’t gonna lie, I was in that zone all week long for us,” Samuel said. “They beat us in the NFC Championship and at the end of the day, like talking trash, it’s just part of the game. Hopefully nobody took it to heart because it’s all fun and games.”
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Purdy agreed: “Going into the week, obviously Deebo had a little something to him. That’s just who he is and he can do that, he’s good enough to do that but was it a distraction or anything like that? No … He was pumped about it and stoked and ready to go. And man, all I had to do was get the ball in some space and he did the rest.”
It’s especially all fun and games after wrecking the second half of the game. Samuel scored on his first touch of the second half, a reverse for a rushing score. He scored on his second touch, taking a short pass from Purdy over the middle near midfield and running through traffic for a 48-yard score. He scored on his third touch, catching a quick pass on a tunnel screen and running untouched for a 46-yard score.
“You notice that cornerbacks and safeties aren’t very excited to tackle him and he knows that as well,” Trent Williams said. “He knows that once he gets that full head of steam, you don’t gotta bring a lot of finesse to the party.”
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Samuel won’t be in the running for an MVP this season, in part because on a team of superstars, Samuel’s touches have been affected perhaps more than anyone on the Niner offense. That seems to have only made him into a bigger presence and leader in the locker room, though.
“I think he’s the epitome of unselfishness,” Nick Bosa said. “He got paid and obviously that comes with a lot of the pressure to be the guy and when you have so many dudes, you’re not going to get those opps very often. But I just love the fact that he could talk and set the stage and walk into a hostile environment and thrive. That’s what greatness is made of for sure.”
Purdy added, “Deebo’s Deebo, man. He’s fun to be around, he’s electric. Within meetings and then obviously out on the practice field, in the locker room and stuff, maybe he was saying some stuff that [was] fun for all of us to hear. … We all knew he was ready for this game. He’s been waiting for a long time and that was that. His play did the rest.”
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And it’s worth pointing out: all three of the games that the 49ers lost were games that Samuel missed either most (Cleveland) or all (Minnesota, Cincinnati) of the game. With a healthy Samuel? The 49ers are undefeated this year.
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