Jimmy Garoppolo didn't have his strongest performance in the 49ers' 17-11 road win over the Philadelphia Eagles, but he made enough big throws to get the job done.
His best throw of the entire day, a 40-yard completion to Deebo Samuel that set up San Francisco's first touchdown of the game just before halftime, required pinpoint precision to execute. But it turns out, there was an additional complicating factor aside from the three Eagles defenders that surrounded Samuel.
In speaking with 95.7 The Game's "Damon, Ratto and Kolsky" on Wednesday, Samuel made a startling confession.
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"You know what's crazy? Not too many people know this, but I actually lined up wrong," Samuel said. "I was supposed to be on the right side, and I ended up on the left. We didn’t have enough time on the clock for me to get back on the other side of the field, so we just went with the flow and it just happened."
Whoa.
So, if Samuel was on the wrong side, how then did the play come to such successful fruition? It wasn't pure luck, as Samuel credited fellow receiver Trent Sherfield with keeping everything on track.
San Francisco 49ers
"Trent being the pro that he is," Samuel explained, "he knew I lined up wrong so he had to change his route and he knew what the concept was so we just made it happen."
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Sherfield is still relatively new to coach Kyle Shanahan's offense, so that's some impressive awareness from the fourth-year receiver. He only had one reception for nine yards in the victory, but clearly, his contributions stretched far beyond the box score.