Deebo Samuel proves 'talk is cheap,' backs it up with 3-touchdown game vs. Eagles

The Eagles might have accused Deebo Samuel and the 49ers of cheap talk, but a three-touchdown game in Week 13 certainly gave Samuel the last laugh.

Just days before the San Francisco 49ers visited the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 13, Philly edge Haason Reddick added some fuel to what was already a heated fire of words between his team and the Niners, almost all of which began after Philadelphia knocked off San Francisco in the NFC Championship game last January.

Reddick's words were pretty blunt.

"Talk is cheap," Reddick said. "You know, they get to come back in [Lincoln Financial Field]. It was a lot of boo hoos last year, a lot of crying, a lot of what if, a lot of this, a lot of that. They get a chance to come back in here, line that sh-t up, and prove it again."

While not directly in the quote, 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel had to be the direct object of Reddick's comments, as no other Niners player came close to echoing the trash talk between the two teams. From saying San Francisco lost the conference championship because it "played with 10 people" after losing quarterback Brock Purdy to an elbow injury to calling Eagles cornerback James Bradberry "trash," the heat was going to be turned up for Week 13's tilt between the two NFC powerhouses.

If Samuel's comments were seen as potential motivation for Philly to wallop the 49ers, it apparently had the opposite effect, as the All-Pro wide-back backed up his smack talk with a career-best kind of performance on Sunday.

Deebo Samuel claps back at Haason Reddick, Eagles with 3-touchdown game

Samuel would probably agree with Reddick in that talk can be "cheap."

But it's rare for any player to back up the trash talk with such a game, yet Samuel certainly did by leading all receivers with 116 yards on four catches while netting 22 rush yards on three carries and three total touchdowns.

"I ain't gonna lie," Samuel revealed in his postgame presser. "I was in that zone like all week long for us."

While Purdy tried to downplay the matchup, the quarterback did notice how Samuel was amped up for a "revenge game" against Philadelphia.

"Going into this game, he had a little something, a little history with obviously the way things went down last year in the playoff game," Purdy said of Samuel after the Niners' 42-19 victory. And he definitely looked forward to this game coming back into this place. So, he was pumped about it and stoked and ready to go."

It was hard not to notice Samuel's added determination during the game, particularly during his 46-yard catch-and-run touchdown late in the fourth quarter that all but sealed San Francisco's win:

"People were saying things about things that he may have said before the game," linebacker Fred Warner added. "But I think it's safe to say his actions spoke louder than his words."

While Purdy had a four-touchdown performance in his return to the same venue where he suffered that torn UCL last January, it was Samuel who stole the show.

And backed up his trash talk in the process.

"Talkin' trash, it's just part of the game," Samuel pointed out. "Hopefully, nobody took it to heart because it's just all fun and games at the end of the day."

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