The 49ers knew what to expect from their Week 4 matchup with the Denver Broncos, and it played out exactly as they anticipated.
San Francisco’s 24-14 win over Denver was a rock fight. An ultra-physical battle of wills in which the 49er offense had to be very patient in grinding down the Broncos’ vaunted defense, and which turned on a key special teams play from Siran Neal in the third quarter.
They were able to pull out win in no small part thanks two players whose physicality was missing from the
roster last season after they each made the decision to explore pastures new, only to find their way back to the 49ers this year.
Dre Greenlaw and Deebo Samuel each opted to leave the 49ers in 2025. Greenlaw signed with the Broncos as a free agent, while Samuel requested a trade and was dealt to the Washington Commanders.
Neither move worked out, and the 49ers made the decision to reunite with both players on one-year deals. Doing so is looking like an increasingly astute call by San Francisco, with their value to the team laid bare as they both produced key performances brought on by the same motivating factor.
Greenlaw successfully channels extra emotion
For Greenlaw, the motivation was obvious. The Broncos cut him in March, one year into a three-year deal, seemingly put off by an injury-affected 2025 season for the linebacker who infamously tore his Achilles running onto the field in the second quarter of the 49ers’ Super Bowl 58 defeat to the Chiefs.
This was a revenge game for Greenlaw, and he made sure to make his presence felt. Greenlaw was everywhere against his former team, making 12 tackles, forcing a fumble and recording three pressures, all while regularly talking trash to Broncos head coach Sean Payton, whom he had to held back from confronting at the end of the game.
Being deemed expendable by the Broncos lit a fire under a player who needs excuse to play with aggression, though the 49ers were happy he was able to keep it in check enough to avoid any costly unsportsmanlike penalties.
Said head coach Kyle Shanahan of Greenlaw:
“We knew he’d be excited going into this game. Dre’s excited going into every game, but this one meant a little more to him. I was a little nervous there in the first half. We told him, ‘You can get close, but don’t be so excited you give them an explosive with 15.’ And I really thought someone was going to get one in the second half of one of the teams, just challenged our team to make sure it wasn’t us. I don’t think anyone ended up getting one, but Dre held his emotions good enough today and led the team in tackles and had an unbelievable game. He’s had an unbelievable season so far and we’re so happy to have him back at home.”
Fellow linebacker Fred Warner added:
“There was definitely something a little extra for him this week. He got banged up last game. Everybody was asking him, ‘Hey, are you going to be able to make it?’ And he said, ‘I wouldn’t miss this one.’ He had extra emotion going into this game. I told him just to use it wisely, which he did. I was proud of him and he played a heck of a game. He’s played great all year. He’ll continue to play great for us. I’m glad he’s on our side now.”
Greenlaw heeded those words, his display was full of emotion and energy, channeled in the right way, and it provided the 49er defense with something it arguably lacked last season when he was in Denver and Warner missed most of the season to an ankle injury.
Pressed to elaborate on his feelings about Greenlaw, Shanahan replied:
“I think people know, but like if I had to wear a jersey, I’d probably wear his. Just the way he plays, what he’s done for us over these years, going back to his rookie year and getting us the number one seed in Seattle with the play he made on the goal line. Just the way he inspires people because the way he plays. I think he’s an intimidation factor for the other side of the ball because of the way he plays, and it’s hard for us not to be as aggressive as possible with how he is out there. So, we missed him for the year, but it was good to, as we feel, get a family member back.”
That intimidation factor was clear for all to see on Sunday and, in Samuel, the 49ers had a playmaker providing it on the other side of the ball.
Samuel produces vintage display
Greenlaw was given additional fire from the emotion of being doubted by one franchise. For Samuel, his impressive start to the season — which has seen him score three receiving touchdowns already — looks to have stemmed from a desire to dispel the notion that he had lost a step.
After an indifferent 2024 with the 49ers, Samuel looked a long way from his devastating best during his sojourn with the Commanders, and San Francisco fans would have been forgiven for being somewhat skeptical about the idea of a second spell with the Niners.
But his signing on a one-year, $7 million deal already looks like one of the best moves of the offseason, and left tackle Trent Williams believes the success Samuel has enjoyed through four games is a product of the wideout’s abilities being questioned.
“I think knowing him as well as I do, this offseason was probably the first time in his career that he was doubted,” Williams said.
“He’s always been supremely talented, always been a playmaker, and this league, it turns on you quick. I think him having to feel that doubt for the first time, I think it lit a fire in him.”
The 49ers are reaping the benefits of Samuel’s desire to prove the skeptics wrong. There is an evident explosiveness to his play and, against the Broncos, his trademark bruising style of running with the ball in his hands was crucial to the Niners wearing Denver down.
Samuel’s most tangible contribution to the win was, of course, his touchdown reception in the third quarter that gave the 49ers a lead they did not relinquish.
But he also had a 22-yard run in the first quarter, a 20-yard rush in the second on a drive that led to a game-tying field goal, and an eight-yard reception that set up third-and-short on a scoring drive that ended in a Christian McCaffrey touchdown.
In doing so, Samuel displayed the tackle-breaking ability that has underpinned his success in the NFL, leading to significant praise from Shanahan after the game.
“I thought Deebo was huge today,” Shanahan said. “Those two runs in the first half that he had, I don’t think many people get the amount of yards that he got on that. I think both of them, I think they were about eight yards, but he does something amazing to get over 20 on both of them.
“He was really big at the end on a couple. They’re all less than 10-yard catches, but they were big catches that kept us ahead of the sticks. Then Brock finding him to get in the end zone was huge too.”
In bringing back Greenlaw and Samuel, the 49ers took calculated, low-risk bets on players they developed and whom they trust. Four games into the season, both bets are paying significant dividends, with Sunday’s hard-fought victory perhaps the best illustration yet of their worth to this team.
Greenlaw and Samuel have had very similar journeys in recent times. On Sunday, they both thrived amid the same urge to silence those who doubted what they had left in tank. Now, back with the team that never lost faith in them, their shared desire has the chance to help make their reunion season with the 49ers a very special one.
