Former DB Explains Why the 49ers Shouldn’t Blame Deebo Samuel for Their Loss to the Los Angeles Rams

The San Francisco 49ers needed to beat the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football to keep their season alive. Instead, they suffered an excruciating 12-6 loss that all but sealed their postseason fate. At 6-8, the 49ers’ playoff odds now stand at 0.1%, per Amazon’s telecast.

Wide receiver Deebo Samuel is facing immense criticism for his role in the defeat. Three days after saying he was “just not getting the ball“, Samuel failed to capitalize on the chances he was given versus the Rams. The 2019 first-team All-Pro gained a paltry 19 total yards against Los Angeles and dropped a key third-down pass in the third quarter.

Fans have pounced on Samuel following the poor performance and are attributing the loss to him. Locked on 49ers host Eric Crocker – a former defensive back – isn’t joining that crowd. He believes San Francisco’s loss came because of a team-wide issues.

Crocker has a point about the 49ers failing to execute offensively sans Samuel. San Francisco accumulated 191 only yards of total offense and went 3-for-12 (25%) on third down. Their struggles allowed Los Angeles to rack up a nearly nine-minute edge in time of possession (19:14-10:46) in the second half and dictate game flow down the stretch.

Eric Crocker isn’t entirely absolving Deebo Samuel of blame

Twitter/X users jumped on Crocker for not placing fault for the 49ers’ loss on Samuel. They interpreted his message as clearance of Samuel from any blame. That couldn’t be further from the case. He replied to numerous comments following his initial post, ensuring fans he’s aware of Samuel’s on-field troubles.

Samuel’s drop was a momentous play in the game; had he secured the pass, he may have scored a touchdown. At the very least, San Francisco would have earned a new set of downs in the red zone. However, Brock Purdy’s atrocious interception while the 49ers were in game-tying field goal range was an equally-critical error.

Electing to force the ball downfield to a triple-covered Jauan Jennings instead of taking one of two wide-open alternatives – Ricky Pearsall on a flat route or Patrick Taylor Jr. on a checkdown – on 2nd-and-10 constitutes as an incredibly bad decision. The Rams essentially drained the remaining clock following the interception, which was the game’s lone turnover.

The main sentiment of Crocker’s post was that Samuel is not the biggest or only reason San Francisco scuffled versus Los Angeles. Most fans didn’t seem to agree, but he did have his supporters.

There’s a reason 49ers fans have blasted Samuel; including Thursday, he has recorded just 14 catches for 101 yards across his last five games. He hasn’t been able to shoulder a heavy offensive load in the wake of Christian McCaffrey and Brandon Aiyuk’s injuries. That has certainly contributed to San Francisco’s inability to win, but pointing the finger solely at him is naïve.

Los Angeles (8-6; 7-2 since their Week 6 bye) aims to continue surging in Week 16 against the New York Jets. The 49ers, meanwhile, will travel cross-country for a matchup with the Miami Dolphins (6-7).