49ers ‘pissed’ after Seahawks’ cheapshot on Deebo Samuel

Things broke down between the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks, two NFC West rivals, during the second half of Saturday’s playoff game — and the result was a much-needed adrenaline boost for Kyle Shanahan and the rest of the Niners.

On the first drive of the second half, Niners quarterback Brock Purdy completed a 21-yard pass to Deebo Samuel, and the receiver was brought down by Seahawks defensive back Johnathan Abram. After the play was whistled dead, Abram stood up still holding Samuel’s leg and gave him a slight twist.

Deebo Samuel didn’t appreciate Jonathan Abram’s hot sauce after treatment pic.twitter.com/Mo3JjLFACy

— Christian D’Andrea (@TrainIsland) January 14, 2023

This resulted in some brief pushing and shoving between both sides before the officials stepped in to break things up. Samuel stayed on the field and had to be taken out for one game due to the league’s injury protocols. No penalties were called.

The game broadcast showed an absolutely wild Shanahan going after an official and saying “bulls-t.” The coach said after the game that he couldn’t remember exactly what he said, as that “line went dark at the time”.

“I lost my mind a little bit about it,” Shanahan said. “I was really worried that he was hurt. I didn’t like how it looked. I thought it looked pretty bad, the point of the game. I think it pissed off a lot of people, I think it pissed off our team and you could feel our team react to that afterwards.”

Shanahan praised how the team continued with their movement. The Niners went on five straight calls to take the lead, which they held on to in an eventual 41-23 victory.

“I wish we were always like this from the first game, but … it was nice to watch [us] come together,” Shanahan said. “I know Deebo was worried. It was good that we came back and responded.”

The good news is that one of the offense’s top players wasn’t seriously hurt, and he ended up finishing the game with 133 receiving yards and a touchdown. However, Samuel was really upset about what happened, as evidenced by what he said after the game.

“I stayed a little bit down because I almost lost my temper,” said Samuel, before praising his teammates. “You can see your team’s definition, IGYB: I’ve got your back. … At the end of the day, I felt like it took our team up a notch and, as you can see, we went out there and made plays.”

Samuel added that the sprained ankle “hurt, for sure, but in my mind, I was going to lose it. I just kept my composure. Just watching Kyle come out of the sideline is the true definition of our team.”

Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who made a crucial block on Samuel’s 74-yard touchdown later in the game, echoed how much that incident inspired the Niners during their comeback from a 17-16 halftime deficit. “There’s no place for that in this league,” he said. “He lit a fire in everyone.”