Wide receiver Deebo Samuel has experienced being part of a top-seeded team before. In his rookie year, the San Francisco 49ers finished the 2019 season with a 13-3 record, securing the top spot in the playoff rankings and home-field advantage. Despite their success, that team fell short in Super Bowl 54, losing to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Four years later, the 49ers have an opportunity to make amends for falling just short of their ultimate goal that season. San Francisco again owns the NFC's top seed, ensuring the path to Super Bowl 58 goes through Levi's Stadium.
Reflecting on the end of his rookie season during an appearance on Kay Adams' FanDuel TV morning show, Samuel was asked to compare this year to the 2019 campaign.
"I feel like as a team, as a player, I feel like we are better," Samuel said. "We've grown. We know what it felt like to be in that position to lose, and kind of get the number one seed after the game. And I'm just in the locker room, and I'm just talking to the guys that was here in 2019. I said, 'Bro, this kind of feels exactly the same besides the fact that we had to tackle the guy on the inch-yard line.'"
The 49ers nearly entered that postseason as a Wild Card. Instead, they secured the NFC West title and top seed in the closing seconds of a thrilling Week 17 game against the Seattle Seahawks. It took linebacker Dre Greenlaw stopping tight end Jacob Hollister just inches from the end zone to secure the victory.
ALL GAS, NO BRAKE ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/cuOXBEOljv
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) December 30, 2019
The 49ers were in that situation because two games earlier, they were upset at home by the Atlanta Falcons. The team had to fight until the very last play of the 2019 regular season to lock up the top seed.
"It just kind of made me reminisce a little bit of what happened that caused us to lose a game and what we did to win those two games to get there," Samuel continued. "And so we kind of got to stay above water, got to take it day by day and game by game."
There is no doubt that this year's squad, at least offensively, is much improved compared to 2019's team. In addition to Samuel being more experienced, the 49ers have other playmakers like Brandon Aiyuk and Christian McCaffrey. And they have quarterback Brock Purdy, who set a new franchise record for the most passing yards in a single season, slinging them the football.
Samuel and his teammates hope for a different outcome during this playoff run. The star receiver will celebrate his 28th birthday on January 15. When asked about his birthday wish, he responded, "I just want to win game by game and just be in the middle of February holding that trophy up. That's the only birthday wish I got right now."
