The 49ers plan to give Deebo Samuel the ball during the NFC playoff push

Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers (6-7) find themselves in an unfamiliar position heading into their division rival game against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 15.

The 49ers franchise, which has made three straight trips to the NFC Championship game and won two straight NFC West titles, is currently in the basement of the division with just four regular season games remaining.

“It felt like the playoffs last week,” Shanahan told reporters this week. “It’s been a playoff game every week since that Buffalo game. So this week it feels like that and hopefully we can take care of business so it feels the same way next week.”

Injuries have certainly played a big role in the 49ers’ 6-7 record. 49ers stars Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk and Javon Hargrave are among 13 San Francisco players on injured reserve. Left tackle Trent Williams (ankle) has not played since Week 11 and is out again for Thursday. Defensive lineman Nick Bosa, who has missed the last three games with hip and oblique injuries, is listed as questionable.

Despite being hampered by injuries, the good news for San Francisco is that they are just two games behind the Seattle Seahawks in the loss list (they split their season series against Seattle). And the Niners are one game behind a Rams club they host on Thursday night.

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A key factor that could help the 49ers make a late playoff push is finding a way to get versatile wide receiver Deebo Samuel to the football. Samuel is averaging career lows in receptions per game and yards per game.

The wideout vented his frustration on social media earlier this week.

“No problems at all, just not getting the ball!!!!!!!” Samuel wrote in a now-deleted tweet on Monday.

When local reporters asked Samuel about the deleted tweet. He replied, “(I’m) definitely a little frustrated.”

Shanahan admitted he would have preferred Samuel to keep his frustrations “in house,” but the head coach understands Samuel’s point of view.

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“Deebo and I talk every day, I understand Deebo saying that,” Shanahan said. “Deebo wants to help us and the only way he can help us is by getting the ball more and we would like to get it to him more and we will continue to work on that.”

The 49ers are a better team when they have multiple ways to get Samuel the ball, especially when the offense is missing players like McCaffrey and Aiyuk. The wideout is the second player in NFL history to record more than 4,000 receiving yards and more than 1,000 rushing yards in his first five seasons.

Samuel should be a focal point of attack for the 49ers as the team looks to defeat the Rams, climb out of last place in the NFC West and make a late-postseason surge. The 49ers seem to understand this after Samuel’s deleted social media post.

“I want to get Deebo the ball every play if I could. I want him to break all the records as best as possible. I want Deebo to do Deebo things, and that’s what we all do in this building,” 49ers QB Brock Purdy said.

“That’s just how the games went. But I love my husband and will do everything I can to give him the ball.”

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