GOODNEWS:Five Deebo Samuel, Trent Williams provide 49ers with leadership..

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It was July 30, 2022, three months after Deebo Samuel had requested a trade in the middle of lengthy and occasionally contentious contract negotiations, and the San Francisco 49ers receiver was sitting on a couch in left tackle Trent Williams’ home.

Samuel was waiting on a phone call, hoping to end the “most stressful” time of his life with a life-changing new deal. Finally, it came — official news from agent Tory Dandy that Samuel’s three-year extension with $58.1 million in guaranteed mone

“We was just chilling,” Samuel told ESPN, smiling at the memory while sitting near Williams on another couch in the 49ers’ public relations office. “And then we just went crazy.”

Samuel jumped off the couch, yelled and bolted out the door, running up and down the street of Williams’ Morgan Hill neighborhood in celebration. Williams, who served as consigliere to Samuel and Niners coach Kyle Shanahan throughout the negotiations, filmed it all.

“I just went on ahead and started recording,” Williams said. “I needed to capture that memory.”

In 49ers lore, it’s a moment that could be remembered for much more, as the team kept one of its best players and ensured that Samuel, 28, and Williams, 35, could continue setting a physical, confident tone in the franchise’s pursuit of a sixth Lombardi Trophy. It was a significant benchmark in a fast friendship that has developed since Williams was traded to the Niners in 2020.

Well, the NFL divisional round did not lack for drama. After a wild-card round with five blowouts, three of the four games over the weekend came down to the final meaningful possession for the trailing team. After a second-half surge by the Ravens, we saw a late comeback win for the 49ers, a game-sealing interception for the Lions and the latest in a series of harrowing playoff losses for the Bills at the hands of the rival Chiefs.

There’s a lot to talk about. There were a few plays that stood out to me in each game, and the simplest way to talk about what we saw might just be running through those plays and why they were interesting. In some cases, they were schematically fun and stood out for how they helped win or lose the game. Some were game-changing sequences, while others were lost in the shuffle. Many will hint at how the winning teams will fare in the conference title games this Sunday.

Since it’s my column, I chose the plays and sequences that seemed most interesting to me as opposed to the ones that might have impacted the game most significantly. This isn’t a win expectancy column. You don’t need me to tell you Jordan Love’s interception was a bad decision or that Tyler Bass’ 44-yard field goal attempt to tie the game late wasn’t a great kick. Instead, I want to take a closer look at what drove these games and the plays that might have mattered more than you think.

I’ll start with the final game of the round — one of the most dramatic of the season. On a day Josh Allen played unlike his usual self and spent most of the evening dumping the ball off short, one of the few shots the star quarterback took downfield might have ended up helping cost Buffalo the game, even if it was the right decision: