49ers’ Samuel on scoring spree as Ravens come to town
SANTA CLARA, CALIF. >> Deebo Samuel acknowledges he’s in the most productive stretch of his 49ers career, scoring more touchdowns than even Christian McCaffrey over the past four games.
“It’s just crazy, because every time I get the ball, I try to score,” Samuel said Thursday. “It’s just tending to happen a lot right now.”
Not that the 49ers are lacking points from others, but Samuel’s goal-line gumption could prove critical Monday when the 49ers (11-3) host the Baltimore Ravens (11-3), in a matchup pitting teams currently atop their respective conference standings, with three weeks until the playoffs.
Will it be a defensive duel between the NFL’s stingiest squads? The Ravens allow a league-low 16.1 points per game and the secondranked 49ers tout a 16.7-point average.
Or could a prime-time shootout ensue? The 49ers rank third in scoring (30.4 points per game) and the
Ravens check in fourth (27.4 ppg.). Ahead of them are the Miami Dolphins (31.5 ppg.) and the Dallas Cowboys (30.8 ppg.), who meet Sunday in Miami in a matchup of their respective conference’s second-best teams.
Samuel expects the 49ers-Ravens game to offer a playoff-type atmosphere, because, “for us to continue to be the No. 1 seed, we know we have to continue to stack these days, stack these games and do what we.”
What he’s done is produce over the best four-game clip of his fiveyear career. He’s scored eight touchdowns during that stretch, with five scores coming on 22 receptions and the other three on just nine carries.
He concurs that he’s playing at a career-best level, stating: “I kind of think so, but there’s still a lot of stuff I need to work on to get better, week in and week out.”
“He’s hot right now, but I’ve seen him on hotter streaks, in playoffs and at times before,” wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk said. “We’re going to need to keep the hot streak going this week, for sure.”
The 49ers have not lost since Samuel returned to the lineup after
a hairline fracture in his shoulder. That first-drive injury on Oc. 15 sent him out after only nine snaps in Cleveland, where the 49ers began a three-game losing streak.
“He’s come back and gotten healthy,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “When Deebo’s out there, stringing together practices and weeks, it’s a matter of time for the ball to come his way.”
Samuel has 11 touchdowns on the season, and his eight-touchdown tally the past four games came in wins over Seattle (twice), Philadelphia and Arizona. In that same stretch, six touchdowns have come from McCaffrey, whose 20 overall scores are tied for the NFL lead (with Miami’s Raheem Mostert) and three shy of Jerry Rice’s single-season 49ers record.
In fact, Samuel and McCaffrey are
the first duo in NFL history to each score five touchdowns rushing and receiving in a season. “That’s crazy,” Samuel said following Sunday’s 45-29 win in Arizona, where both he and McCaffrey scored two touchdowns.
Yet an element of surprise exists with both of them on the field together. “You never know when I am back there if I am going to get the ball,” Samuel added, “Or if we are back there together, you never know where it is going.”
“Props to those guys over there,” Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton told Baltimore media Wednesday. “There are playmakers all over the field, (with) a solid front line. And we’re just the guys to go handle it.”
Samuel’s scouting report on the Ravens: “The way they fly around, (there is) no hesitation whenever they see the ball in the air.”