ALLEN PARK — It’s still early. But news about star receiver Deebo Samuel gives status to the NFC title game between the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers.
Samuel suffered a shoulder injury during San Francisco’s divisional-round win over the Green Bay Packers. And ESPN thinks the 49ers have a “50-50” chance they can take on the Lions. 49ers are a versatile machine. But not many players can do what Samuel did with that offense. He is one of the most versatile All-Stars in the game and a big receiver who has proven to be a liability in the backfield.
Samuel suffered a hairline fracture in his left shoulder when he was six weeks old. But the 49ers are confident the injury isn’t that serious.
“A lot of things can change, especially when you have wrists and things like that and you have to rotate some guys, it’s always tough,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan told ESPN. “It happened against Cleveland (in Week 6) and we didn’t do very well. I thought we were doing better today than before, but it’s a big challenge. “Devo is definitely one of our best players, but he’s also a special guy who gets to certain points every game where he has to make adjustments.
“Samuel was injured in the first quarter against the Packers. He tried to re-enter but was unable to finish the game. He caught both targets for 24 yards before scoring a touchdown in the 49ers’ 24-21 victory. The Lions have struggled at wide receiver this season, especially over the last month. They’ve mastered the curveball but haven’t broken their mindset as they’ve handed monster games to Justin Jefferson (twice), Siddhi Lamb, Puca Nacua and now Mike Evans.
Each player offered a different skill set, and Detroit’s outside corners struggled. Samuel has 225 yards and five scores in 15 games this year, catching 60 passes for 892 yards and seven touchdowns. There are plenty of players to replace, but he’s not the only one leading the offense led by quarterback Brock Purdy.
The 49ers also have tight end George Kittle and wide receiver Brandon Ayuk, who each topped 1,000 receiving yards this year. Taking Samuel would be a big deal. But that doesn’t make it any easier heading into next weekend’s Super Bowl against archrival San Francisco.
“Yeah, it’s really exciting, really exciting,” Jared Goff said of the upcoming game. “I was there, joking after the game. Ironically, most of us played against each other last time. I was with the Rams and Dan (Campbell) was with the Saints. (Alex) Anzalone was there.
Aaron Glenn was there. Yes, very interesting. “Not just for me, but for our whole team, and that’s what we’ve got. I don’t want to be cocky, but we expected to win the first game. We expected to win this game … and now “Go into the game expecting- let’s play a very good team in their place and expect to win. It will be a tough game, but it will be fun.”
