The Philadelphia Eagles defense got the best of the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game, but that doesn’t mean SF was all that intimidated.
Deebo Samuel certainly wasn’t. He told ESPN’s First Take on Wednesday morning that the 49ers had the Eagles schemed up, and that the NFC championship didn’t paint a clear picture of how good Philly’s defense actually is.
“In the nicest way, we didn’t really get to see how good the Eagles defense was if that makes sense,” Samuel said. “We had them schemed up, we had them dialed up, what a coincidence we don’t have a quarterback.”
Samuel does believe that what the 49ers did to the Eagles before Purdy got hurt informs how the Chiefs should attack the Eagles in the Super Bowl.
“You go at the back end,” Samuel said. “All game long you go at the back end. If you going at them guys up front it’s going to be a long day. Cause them boys up front, they real, they legit. Protect the passer and get back there in the back end.”
That’s an interesting take for a defense that was ranked 21st in DVOA against the rush but 1st against the pass. Kansas City is better through the air than on the ground, however, and if they can give Patrick Mahomes time, Deebo believes they can make Philly pay.
Samuel said he wasn’t as devastated about the Eagles loss as he typically would have been losing in the NFC championship, because the 49ers were without a QB who could throw for half the game.
“It really didn’t hit as hard as it was supposed to if that makes sense,” Samuel said. “At the end of the day we knew when we lost both our quarterbacks, what are we gonna do? It was kind of like we don’t have a chance at this point. It hurt for sure, but I wish we took one more quarterback into that game and it probably would have been a different outcome.”