Getty Deebo Samuel stiff arms his way to a gain on January 22, 2023 in Santa Clara.
Four words typed out by Deebo Samuel and a series of photos sparked a strong reaction from Dallas Cowboys All-Pro Micah Parsons following their Sunday, January 23 playoff contest.
Samuel and the San Francisco 49ers were victorious over the edge defender and Dallas 19-12 at Levi’s Stadium, eliminating Parsons and his team from the postseason. But the 2021 All-Pro kept some receipts which prompted Samuel’s “Don’t poke the bear” caption on Instagram. Among them? Samuel posting a screenshot photo of Parsons saying “This is who I wanted” in Samuel’s slide. Parsons, though, decided to clap back in Samuel’s IG post.
“Lol what did you do today fam lol?! But congrats on the win! But don’t put me in this weak a** slide,” Parsons responded.
Parsons Before & During the Game
The “this is who I wanted” Parsons quote is in reference to Parsons telling reporters before the 49ers game of how he was energized to have a playoff rematch with the 49ers.
“I’m super excited. This is who I wanted. People like to go around, ‘If they lose here, then we get [a different opponent]…’ Nah, this the three-headed dragon,” Parsons told reporters. “We need to cut one of the heads off. I don’t care who it is. We gotta line it up. Either way, you’ve gotta meet them at some point. I’d rather now than later.”
Outside of facing Samuel, Parsons additionally sounded off on facing 49ers All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams.
“Trent’s cool. I think he’s one of the better tackles, but that’s what I look for, best on best,” he said while adding, “I’m not intimidated or feel like he’s a threat. I’m a threat, too. I want people to know I beat your best player.”
But in facing Williams, here were the final results for the multiple Pro Bowler when he crossed paths with the 49ers star: 15 pass rushing attempts, one quarterback pressure, but zero sacks according to Pro Football Focus.
Parsons, meanwhile, ended up finishing tied for fifth-most tackles by a Cowboys defender with five. However, he ended up with just one solo tackle. The Cowboys’ leader in the solo stops department ended up being fifth round rookie DaRon Bland with seven there.
Parsons Sounds Off on Loss
While Parsons and the Cowboys defense didn’t allow a single run surpass 15 yards or a pass completion stretch past 32 yards, the 49ers still found a way to wear down Dallas.
San Francisco controlled the clock better than the road team — finishing with a time of possession of 32:53 compared to the Cowboys’ 27:07. While the Niners matched the same rushing yards average with 3.5 yards per carry, San Francisco still hit 113 yards on 32 carries while Dallas had 10 less carries and etched out 76 ground-based yards. Parsons said “repetitive” mistakes his defense made contributed to the loss.
“The league is very repetitive. Things that hurt us early on are the same things that hurt us now. We have to find a way to fix it or we are going to be in the same situation,” Parsons said to reporters following the defeat.
However, he doesn’t believe the 49ers wore down him and Dallas.
“I don’t think we really ran out of gas. How can someone say that? I think everybody left it out there. But [the 49ers] made bigger plays,” Parsons explained.
As for Samuel? He combined for 56 yards on eight touches and took second in receiving behind George Kittle with four grabs for 45 yards. Samuel and the 49ers will now play in their third NFC title game together since the 2019 season.