Last month’s NFC title game is still the talk of the town for many San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles players. Deebo Samuel was the latest player to add fuel to the rivalry between the two teams.
During a recent appearance on the “I AM ATHLETE” podcast, Samuel took some time to look back at the 49ers’ NFC Championship game defeat to the Eagles. Veteran cornerbacks Darius Slay and James Bradberry have been lauded as of late for their keen contributions in the Eagles’ run to Super Bowl 57, but Samuel believes that the two defensive backs have garnered too much credit for Philadelphia’s success on defense this year.
“The D-line makes both of them All-Pros,” Samuel said.
Samuel added that while he does “respect” Slay, he is not much fond of Bradberry.
“Trash,” Samuel said of Bradberry.
“Did you see the play that Brandon [Aiyuk] had in the second play of the game … the separation.”
Samuel touched on Aiyuk’s 10-yard reception in the early stages of the NFC title game, where the third-year wideout had Bradberry in coverage against him. Overall, Bradberry allowed a 107.3 passer rating when targeted mark against the 49ers.
San Francisco came away from the contest with plenty of what-ifs, and Samuel did recently note that had Brock Purdy not suffered a UCL injury in the first quarter, then the reigning NFC West champions would have gone on and clinched a spot in Super Bowl 57.
“We can just go back to the first quarter, the first half,” Samuel said. “Just look how well our defense was actually playing, keeping Jalen [Hurts] in the pocket, which he doesn't like to do at all. On fourth-and-6 you grant them a catch that you know is not a catch on fourth down.
“Then after that, Brock [Purdy's] fumble, they're right there at the 25-yard line, like that's points right there. And then just the amount of penalties. … I feel like if Brock was in at quarterback and how our offense moves, I don't think it would have been close, if that makes sense.”
The 49ers and the Eagles will meet in the 2023 regular season, which sure will be a contest to watch.
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