Despite a strong late-season run, the San Francisco 49ers were unable to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl this season, falling to the Philadelphia Eagles by a score of 31 to 7 after Niners star quarterback Brock Purdy left the game with a shoulder injury during the first half. But star receiver Deebo Samuel thinks the game would have gone differently had that injury not happened.
During an interview with Complex this week, Samuel had quite a blunt assessment of the game.
“We lost because we played with 10 people,” Samuel told Complex regarding the Eagles’ win over the 49ers in the NFC title game. “ I ain’t going to keep going on about what could’ve happened and what would’ve happened but yeah, it would’ve definitely been a different outcome (if healthy).”
Samuel was then asked directly if he thought the game would have gone differently had Purdy been healthy for the duration of the game.
“100 percent. I ain’t going to keep going on about what could’ve happened and what would’ve happened but yeah, it would’ve definitely been a different outcome,” Samuel said.
We’ll obviously never know exactly how it would have played out, but it’s safe to say it would have been a more interesting game at the very least.
[Complex]
