San Francisco 49ers’ Comfort Resting Deebo Samuel Is A Great Sign For Playoffs

There are no shortage of reasons to be encouraged about the San Francisco 49ers as they prepare for their third playoff campaign in four seasons.

This is a team firing on all cylinders on both sides of the ball having won eight successive games for the first time since the 2019 season, when the 49ers had a lead with seven minutes remaining in the Super Bowl only to squander it and suffer an agonising defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Both the offense and the defense appear to be rounding into the kind of form that will set the Niners up for another deep playoff run. A ferocious defense led by likely Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa is perhaps the 49ers’ greatest strength, but their recent offensive success should be just as worrying to San Francisco’s playoff rivals given who has been absent for the Niners’ recent impressive run of form on that side of the ball.

The 49ers’ attack has continued to excel with Brock Purdy, the final pick in this year’s draft, at quarterback following the foot injury Jimmy Garoppolo suffered in the first quarter of the Week 13 win over the Miami Dolphins.

Though they initially had problems scoring points on the Washington Commanders’ defense last Saturday, the 49ers found their stride on offense in the second half in rolling to a 37-20 victory at Levi’s Stadium.

Purdy has helped steer the Niners to successive wins over the Seattle Seahawks — whom they defeated to clinch the NFC West — and Commanders without the player whom many believed he would need to rely on to succeed in maintaining San Francisco’s Super Bowl aspirations. All-Pro wide receiver Deebo Samuel scored in Purdy’s first start against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but left that game with an ankle sprain and a knee sprain that have caused him to miss the last two.

The 49ers have hardly missed a beat on offense without Samuel. Over that two-week stretch, the 49ers are fourth in Expected Points Added per play on offense, per rbsdm.com.

San Francisco will need to maintain that offensive efficiency without Samuel again in Week 17. Samuel returned to practice this week but was ruled out for the Week 17 meeting with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Kyle Shanahan indicated Samuel could return in Week 18 ahead of the playoffs. While there had been hope Samuel could return earlier, the reality is the Niners do not need to rush him back given how well their other weapons have performed of late.

Christian McCaffrey has elevated the Niner offense to one of the best in the NFL — they are third in the NFL in EPA per play since Week 8, McCaffrey’s second game with San Francisco — while Purdy has built an excellent rapport with both Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle, who has 213 receiving yards and four touchdowns in his last two games and looks in his best physical shape since that 2019 campaign.

That trio, supplemented by the likes of Jauan Jennings and Ray-Ray.McCloud, should give the 49ers more than enough firepower to succeed against a Raiders defense that is 31st in the NFL by Football Outsiders DVOA and unlikely to receive much support from a Las Vegas attack led by Jarrett Stidham in the wake of Derek Carr’s benching.

While the 49ers will be careful to guard against complacency, they will be confident of extending their winning streak to nine games and at least keeping themselves in the hunt for the second seed in the NFC, with the first still a possibility given the Philadelphia Eagles’ injury issues at quarterback.

Regardless of what seed the 49ers claim, theirs will be an even more dangerous offense for Samuel’s presence in the postseason.

However, unlike last season, Samuel is not the undisputed focal point of the offense. The 49ers are not entirely dependent on him as they were a year ago, and their plethora of weaponry combined with a favourable end to the regular season means San Francisco can focus on keeping Samuel fresh for when his impact will be needed most.