The 49ers' 24-21 defeat of the Green Bay Packers in the NFC divisional playoff round was no easy feat, as the team was down star wide receiver Deebo Samuel roughly 10 minutes into Saturday's game at Levi's Stadium.
Samuel, a fifth-year NFL veteran, is severely missed when unavailable, especially after completing the third 800-plus-yard receiving season of his career in 2023. Nevertheless, San Francisco got it done.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, 49ers Pro Bowl quarterback Brock Purdy explained how the team made adjustments after losing a crucial piece to their offense against the elite Packers defense.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
“For us, it was like, all right, now’s the time,” Purdy told Breer. “We have to do this as a team and push through whatever that lull is at the end of the game when we need to come back. We have too many good guys, too many good players and too good of a team chemistry to not be able to pull through.”
San Francisco did pull through, victoriously, as a team.
However, Purdy and coach Kyle Shanahan had to switch around the playbook on the fly -- a move the 49ers survived, supported by players who stepped up big-time.
“Going into the game…in the run game, we actually had Deebo involved pretty heavily,” Purdy told Breer. “When he went down, it’s like, all right, we know we have to change it back up and sort of go back to basics.
San Francisco 49ers
“Ray-Ray [McCloud III] came in. JJ [Jauan Jennings] played his position a couple of times. Those were the things that were a little different. Deebo, obviously screens and the quick game, you give him the ball, he makes explosive plays.”
Without Samuel, San Francisco had to get uncomfortable in order to send Green Bay packing.
Thankfully for Purdy and Shanahan, the 49ers had three of their All-Pros rise to the occasion.
“When [Deebo’s] not playing, it’s tough to get those plays, but at the same time, we have playmakers like George [Kittle] and BA [Brandon Aiyuk] and JJ and Christian [McCaffrey],” Purdy told Breer.
McCaffrey punched in two 49ers touchdowns, while Kittle and Aiyuk made huge receptions throughout the game.
San Francisco's talent took over down the stretch. While it took every last drive to get it done, Purdy and San Francisco live to see another day.
Even though the 49ers didn't have Samuel for the majority of their NFC divisional-round matchup with the Packers, San Francisco's year-long focus in practices allowed the team to be flexible, which paid off in the biggest way.
“We had gone through a lot of plays throughout the game that we had dialed up going into the game,” Purdy told Breer. “At the end, we were like, all right, we can run our base plays that we’ve been running all year. They’re going to be there. Sure enough…”
Due to their quick thinking, Purdy and the 49ers proudly await the Detroit Lions in what should be a thrilling NFC Championship Game at 3:30 p.m. PT Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
San Francisco is hopeful Samuel will be available to potentially help the 49ers reach their eighth Super Bowl.