Super-troll Deebo Samuel crushed the Eagles after talking trash for months. Was he right?
The 49ers star wreaked havoc on the Eagles, backing up his words — and fashion statement — with three touchdowns on Sunday.
Deebo Samuel and several of his 49ers teammates dressed in all black for Sunday’s featured NFC title game rematch in Philadelphia, eager to play the villain role. The Niners got smoked by 24 points in January after they lost rookie quarterback Brock Purdy to injury early. They cried about it for the next 11 months. No one whined louder than Samuel, an all-purpose weapon whose trash talk both on and off the field often speaks louder than his play.
Not Sunday.
Samuel scored a career-high three touchdowns and gained 138 total yards despite touching the ball just seven times on offense. He even returned kickoffs in place of injured Ray-Ray McCloud.
He’d called Eagles cornerback James Bradberry “Trash,” and he’d complained that the Niners were better except “We had to play with 10 people,” and last week he’d declined the chance to retract any of his statements.
Then, on Sunday, he put up so he didn’t have to shut up, and his teammates loved him for it.
“I love the fact that he could talk, and set the stage, and then walk into a hostile environment and just thrive,” said defensive end Nick Bosa. “That’s what greatness is made of, for sure.”
Samuel has made just one Pro Bowl in his five seasons, so greatness might be an overstatement ... but, with his power and speed, he can be incandescent in the right situation. Sunday was that situation.
“I was in that zone all week,” Samuel said, in full gloat. “It’s amazing.”
Was Samuel right? Did the Birds dodge a bullet Jan 29 when Haasan Reddick tore Purdy’s ligament and shifted changed the trajectory of fate? Were the 49ers a better team?
No. That’s absurd.
Every football team’s primary goal is to score the most points. Close on its heels is to knock the hell out of the other team’s quarterback.
If knocking the hell out of Brock Purdy is the reason the Eagles won the NFC Championship game, then they were the better team. They failed to repeat that trick Sunday, and so were overwhelmed. The better team won in January, and the better team won Sunday.
Eagles players had been irritated for months that the 49ers didn’t lose with grace last winter, but they seemed relatively unaffected by Samuel’s pointed disrespect. The Birds’ 42-19 loss Sunday was not a result of distraction due to a vendetta versus Deebo. Simply put, Jalen Hurts kinda stunk, and the Eagles’ defense wilted under the heat of an attack that featured Christian McCaffrey’s 133 all-purpose yards, strong showings from Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle, and Purdy throwing for 314 yards and four touchdowns.
Amid all of that star power no Niner shined brighter than the man with the fitting Instagram handle, @19problemz. He was an insoluble problem for the Eagles on Sunday, though he said he had no problem with Eagles players in the game.
“At the end of the day we’re taking trash. Having fun. Playing football,” he said. “Hopefully, nobody took it to heart.”
Why the all-black theme? Some 49ers players wore all-black sweats, while some, like offensive tackle Trent Williams, wore more elaborate all-black outfits, including outlandishly chunky Prada patent-leather shoes. Samuel wore similar footwear, but his ‘fit -- leather pants zippered skin-tight at the calves and a leather biker jacket that would have made Judas Priest jealous -- won the day.
“I didn’t know about other players wearing all-black,” he claimed, with a dubious smile.
“Great minds think alike,” Williams capped.
That wasn’t the only postgame fibbing.
Samuel waved Eagles fans goodbye after his final TD, a 46-yard, screen pass, catch-and-run. Samuel claimed didn’t listen to the fans during the game. These same fans spent the week, at the urging Samuel’s friend, Eagles receiver A.J. Brown, insulting Samuel online. As the 29 other NFL markets will tell you, Eagles fans are impossible to ignore.
Their collective ire fueled Samuel, and, once on the stage, he preened. He remained on the field for about 20 minutes after the game, giving interviews, chatting with teammates, and basking in his own swagger.