The 49ers have moved into pole position in the NFC playoff race over the last two weeks and wide receiver Deebo Samuel has had a major hand in their rise.
Samuel followed up a three-touchdown performance against the Eagles in Week 13 with another big day against the Seahawks on Sunday. Samuel put the 49ers into the lead for good with a 54-yard touchdown catch from Brock Purdy and he pushed their lead to 11 points with a one-yard run in the third quarter.
Samuel finished with seven catches for 149 yards and his offseason comments about being awful last year were referenced in a question for head coach Kyle Shanahan about his impressions of the wideout this season.
“It’s been very good,” Shanahan said in his postgame press conference. “We’re not done yet, so there’s a lot more football to play, so we’ll see at the end of the year. But I thought Deebo came into this season very ready to go. I thought he was looking really good those first couple weeks. He didn’t have all the stats to show it, but that was just the way the ball went, but he was really ready to go. Then he had a huge setback with his injuries which took him a while to get back from him and when he did, it still took some time to get back in the football shape. But starting a few weeks ago you could see it and I think he’s at the top of his game right now.”
Samuel said he “can see the level of play just getting better and better” since returning from a shoulder injury earlier this year and the thought that he hasn’t peaked yet is one that should make for a lot of smiles around the 49ers.