The History of the San Francisco 49ers vs. New York Giants Rivalry

The San Francisco 49ers have played 35 games against the New York Giants.

We've won 18.  They've won 17.  We've played 7 times in the playoffs, we've won 4.

The Giants have never lost in the NFC Championship game.  They meet again Sunday.

Here are the 35 previous meetings.

San Francisco 49ers 14 at New York Giants 23

Sunday, November 9, 1952

A decade later he'd be a New York Giant, but in the first ever game between the Giants and Niners, YA Tittle was the 26 year old starting QB for San Francisco.  He threw 3 picks that day and New York won that matchup.


New York Giants 38 at San Francisco 49ers 21

Sunday, September 30, 1956

Four years later Tittle was joined by Perry, Johnson, and McElhenny in the Million Dollar Backfield, but we turned it over 4 times and got beat to open the season in '56.


San Francisco 49ers 27 at New York Giants 17

Sunday, December 1, 1957

A mediocre Niners team was our first ever representative in the NFL playoffs, a December win in New York helped get us there as we forced 7 Giants turnovers.


New York Giants 21 at San Francisco 49ers 19
Sunday, September 25, 1960




Three years later Candlestick was under construction, the Niners were still in Kezar and in the middle of a 13 year long playoff drought.  That didn't get any better in our season opener, as we lost to the Giants 21-19.


San Francisco 49ers 14 at New York Giants 48
Sunday, November 17, 1963




Three years later the longtime Niner Tittle was in New York throwing 4 scores against one of the all time terrible San Francisco squads the week before Kennedy was killed.  There wouldn't be a worse Niner team than this until 2004.  The QB - Lamar McHan.  The leading rusher - JD Smith.  The leading receiver - Bernie Casey.  There you go.


San Francisco 49ers 26 at New York Giants 10
Sunday, October 20, 1968



Dick Nolan took over in '68 and the slog through the 60s began to bear a little fruit; we tore through the Giants on the ground in this one; Gary Lewis went 16 for 101 and Ken Willard was 15 for 84 with a score and added four receptions.  We took a 23-3 lead into the 4th and eased into our second ever win over the Giants.


New York Giants 23 at San Francisco 49ers 17
Sunday, October 15, 1972


New York almost missed the upper tier Niner teams of the era, as we didn't play again until '72.  In the intervening years the Niners played in back to back NFC Championship games (losing, natch) but they caught  up with New York here.

And lost.

Gene Washington (see if you can find him next to his girlfriend in the above picture) caught two scores, but we lost what turned out to be the first of five straight times against the Giants.


New York Giants 26 at San Francisco 49ers 23

Sunday, December 21, 1975

Do you know who played for the '75 Niners?  Bullet Bob Hayes.

Hard to believe a team with Tom Owen as its starting quarterback lost this game to the Giants, but we did.


San Francisco 49ers 17 at New York Giants 20

Sunday, October 16, 1977

Eddie D had taken over the Niners two years later, but the losing continued - the Niners were winless when they went to New York in week 5 of '77 and left the same way, even though we held the Giants to 154 yards.  Here was Joe Pisarcik's passing numbers against us:

2 for 6.  47 yards.  1 TD.  Mysteriously, those numbers did not cause Joe Pisarcik to be revered for his high character and magical abilities to win football games.


San Francisco 49ers 10 at New York Giants 27
Sunday, September 24, 1978

The '78 team was my first ever Niners club; this game was the day before my 8th birthday and even though we were winless, I was all in with OJ Simpson  (my first ever favorite athlete) and the up and coming 49ers.  We lost an extra tight game in Houston against Earl Campbell the week prior, and this was going to be our coming out party.

Steve Deberg threw 4 picks and we got blown out.


San Francisco 49ers 16 at New York Giants 32
Sunday, October 14, 1979

Moustache Montana was on the bench watching Phil Simms throw for two scores when we lost this game in '79.

I was ready each week for things to turn around, Paul Hofer was good, averaging five yards a carry, James Owens seemed an exciting rookie kick returner.  And the losing continued - New York scored 27 in the second to win their fifth in a row and 9th of 11 against us.

New York Giants 0 at San Francisco 49ers 12

Sunday, November 23, 1980

When did Joe Montana make it clear he was the starting quarterback for the 49ers?

This game.

With Steve DeBerg still behind center, The Niners had lost 8 straight, but beat the Giants here 12-0 (the only shutout in the history of the rivalry) behind Montana's 66 yard score to Earl Cooper.  Two weeks later was the great comeback against the Saints, and the following season we won the whole thing.

New York Giants 10 at San Francisco 49ers 17

Sunday, November 29, 1981

We beat the Giants twice in '81; the first in Week 13; we forced 5 turnovers including 2 Carlton Williamson interceptions. Pretty good since Freddie Solomon was forced to take the field against 36 Giants at a time.  

New York Giants 24 at San Francisco 49ers 38

Sunday, January 3, 1982

And the second was the first round of the playoffs; Joe was 20 of 31 for 304 and scores to Young and Solomon.  The first ever playoff meeting between 49ers and Giants went to San Francisco 30 years ago.  We were penalized 14 times for 145 yards, both Freddie and Dwight had over a hundred yards receiving, Ronnie had two picks, returning one for a score.

San Francisco 49ers 31 at New York Giants 10

Monday October 8, 1984

The Giants then had to play us twice the next time we won the Super Bowl (perhaps it happens again this year?) when considering regular season and postseason, the best all around Niner team was '84, and our first ever Monday Night meeting against New York was in Week 6 of the '84 season, the week before we lost our only game of the year.  This game was never close, 28-3 at halftime following what was maybe the best moment of Skeets Nehemiah's NFL career, a 59 yard first quarter touchdown pass from Montana.  Joe threw two more (Frank/Craig) and Simms got picked twice.  It wasn't ever close.

New York Giants 10 at San Francisco 49ers 21

Saturday, December 29, 1984

Just as we did three years previous, we opened the playoffs by whipping New York.  All of the points were scored by halftime; New York didn't score an offensive touchdown.  Simms got sacked 6 times and picked twice.  We had beaten the Giants five straight times. What rivalry?  We own these guys.


San Francisco 49ers 3 at New York Giants 17
Sunday, December 29, 1985

A year later, it was San Francisco going to New York for a playoff game and the fortunes reversed.  It was the Niners who couldn't score a touchdown; Joe got sacked 4 times and intercepted once and the Niners got pushed around.


New York Giants 21 at San Francisco 49ers 17
Monday, December 1, 1986

A year later the Giants and Niners met for their second ever Monday night game, and this one went the other way. We went into halftime up 17-0 on two Rice scores and then watched it get away; New York scored 3 times in the third and the 4th turned into a war of attrition.  The "49ers aren't physical enough to play with these Giants" storyline became an official part of this rivalry when Bavaro carried our secondary twenty yards down the field.


San Francisco 49ers 3 at New York Giants 49
Sunday, January 4, 1987

We had beaten the Giants twice in both our Super Bowl seasons - this was New York's first Super Bowl, their second win of the season against us, and our bloodiest ever playoff loss.  Joe got knocked out on a second quarter Jim Burt hit, threatening his career.  We had fewer than 200 yards of total offense, and New York scored 21 points in both the second and third quarters.  We turned it over 4 times and the 49-3 final was reached by the end of the third quarter.  The Montana era Niners almost never just got their heads kicked in - this game felt like a punch to the prefrontal cortex


San Francisco 49ers 41 at New York Giants 21
Monday, October 5, 1987

The, er...rematch?...was 9 months later; the '87 Niner scab team got much needed revenge in front of 16,000 in the Meadowlands on a Monday night.  Mark Stevens threw a 39 yard TD pass to Carl Monroe (who scored a touchdown in a bigger game three years before) and also rushed for a score; the Niners scab team played well, the returning Niners then dominated the league when the stoppage ended, becoming the best 49er regular season team of all time and our most surprising non World Champion


San Francisco 49ers 20 at New York Giants 17
Sunday, September 11, 1988

A year later was a full fledged quarterback kerfuffle.  Joe was pulled at halftime of the playoff loss to the Vikings, and after theoretically injuring his elbow in week 1 he was on the bench the next week - Steve became the starting quarterback in Week 2 of the season in New York.  He was okay, 11 of 18 of 115 - but he got pulled at the half and, miraculously, Joe was healthy enough to replace him.  With 42 seconds left and the Niners down 17-13, Joe hit a streaking Rice for a 78 yard touchdown to give us the win.


New York Giants 24 at San Francisco 49ers 34
Monday, November 27, 1989

What a crazy ass Monday night game this was between two 9-2 teams.  Joe was 27 of 33 for 292 and 3 scores; LT got taken away in an ambulance, and we went into halftime up 24-10.  But New York closed on us with two second half scores to tie it at 24.  A late drive seemed to end on a missed Cofer FG - but New York lined up offsides, and he made the second kick.  A Simms pick turned into a meaningless Niner score (except, I'd guess, for those investing in the game) and we were on our way to Super Bowl number 4.


New York Giants 3 at San Francisco 49ers 7
Monday, December 3, 1990

By now the late season Niners/Giants MNF matchup was a standard part of the sports calendar.  This was the matchup of 11-1 teams that ended with Ronnie Lott and Phil Simms going nose to nose.  There weren't many penalties, there was only one turnover - this wasn't a mistake filled defensive struggle - this was the two best teams in the NFL punching each other in the neck for 60 minutes.  John Taylor's second quarter touchdown was the only one either team would get.


New York Giants 15 at San Francisco 49ers 13
Sunday, January 20, 1991

The 4th playoff meeting between the Niners and Giants was the end of the 1980s.  Joe Montana was never the starting quarterback for the 49ers again; there was no Threepeat, Ronnie Lott and Roger Craig played their last games in San Francisco and New York kicked 5 field goals to beat us in the NFC Championship game.  You may see some clips of that this week.  I've been a Niner fan with some memory of every single game since I was 7 years old; I'm now 41.  This was absolutely the worst loss we've had in those 34 years and there's not an argument to the contrary.


San Francisco 49ers 14 at New York Giants 16
Monday, September 2, 1991

The annual Niners/Giants Monday Night game opened the '91 season - Steve was now the starting quarterback, but again Matt Bahr kicked us to death, three field goals meant a 16-14 Giants win.


San Francisco 49ers 31 at New York Giants 14
Sunday, September 6, 1992

And then the Niners beat New York 6 straight times.  Goddamn right.  

First came the '92 season opener - Young got knocked out early; Joe was still injured from the 1990 NFC Championship - but Steve Bono went 15 for 22 for 187 and 2 scores.  We got 4 sacks and 2 turnovers and Tom Rathman scored twice.


New York Giants 3 at San Francisco 49ers 44
Saturday, January 15, 1994


How you like that, New York? It wasn't 49-3, but it was close.  The Giants came to Candlestick for the divisional round of the '93 playoffs and they got hit by 5 Ricky Watters touchdowns.  How about a 44 point 49er game without a single passing touchdown?  This was that.  New York had less than 200 yards of offense and as Joe's 49er career essentially ended against the Giants; this was Phil Simms' last game.


New York Giants 6 at San Francisco 49ers 20

Sunday, October 1, 1995

The Giants team which came to town the following season was Dave Brown and Herschel Walker.  We swept them away, up 20-3 in the third in a game never really in doubt.


New York Giants 7 at San Francisco 49ers 31

Monday, November 30, 1998

It had been 7 years since the previous Niners/Giants Monday Night game (and 13 years later, there hasn't been once subsequent) when New York came to town in 1998.  466 yards of offense later we sent them on their way - a 79 yard touchdown pass from Young to Owens, a 70 yard touchdown run by Hearst - the Kent Graham Giants were outgunned all night long.


San Francisco 49ers 16 at New York Giants 13
Thursday, September 5, 2002

Four years later the 2002 season opened with the Niners visiting the Giants; three Kerry Collins interceptions and 3 Jose Cortez Field Goals gave us the 16-13 win.


New York Giants 38 at San Francisco 49ers 39

Sunday, January 5, 2003


The second biggest comeback in playoff history.

Amani Toomer caught 3 first half touchdowns; the Niners were down 38-14 with 4 minutes left in the 4th quarter (which was when my parents left my house; this may have been the last Niners game the three of us watched together).  Then Garcia hit Owens from 26 (Owens's second score of the game) plus a 2 pt conversion to Owens; then Garcia, who had 331 yards passing and 60 rushing had a 14 yard touchdown run that was recalled this past Saturday by Alex Smith's run in the way that the Owens catch and cry against the Packers seemed reborn by Vernon Davis's game winner.  A second Owens two point conversion cut the deficit to 8.  A field goal and a 68 yard touchdown drive in two minutes capped by a Tai Streets score gave us the 39-38 win saved when New York botched a potential game winning field goal at the gun.

New York Giants 24 at San Francisco 49ers 6

Sunday, November 6, 2005

When the Giants came to San Francisco 3 years later, the 49ers starting quarterback was Cody Pickett.

San Francisco 49ers 15 at New York Giants 33

Sunday, October 21, 2007

When the 49ers went to New York two years later, San Francisco's starting quarterback was Trent Dilfer.


San Francisco 49ers 17 at New York Giants 29
Sunday, October 19, 2008

And when the 49ers went back to New York the next season, the San Francisco quarterback was JT O'Sullivan.

The worst stretch in 49er history, the mid 2000s, and 3 straight losses to New York.  You're welcome, Big Blue.


New York Giants 20 at San Francisco 49ers 27
Sunday, November 13, 2011



17-17.  That was the rivalry total as of November, 2011; David Akers kicked 4 field goals and the Niners withstood a Giant rally to win 27-20

60 years of football later; they meet again.  Niners/Giants this Sunday.

Every NFC Championship Game in San Francisco 49ers History-Part 3

Part 2 is here.


Dallas Cowboys 30 at San Francisco 49ers 20
Sunday, January 17, 1993

The 80s version of the Niners dynasty died at Candlestick two years previous, but the best stretch of uninterrupted great football was still to come - the Young Niners teams of the early 90s were 3 of the 10 best regular season squads in franchise history.

The best was the first group; the '92 Niners were the third best regular season 49er team ever.  We hit the playoffs having won 8 straight and 13 of 14; Joe had missed the entire '91 season and all of this one as well, until coming back for the last week to beat the Lions.  It was with a healthy Joe Montana on the bench that we beat the Redskins 20-13 to open the postseason. We lost 3 fumbles that day; minimizing our 400+ yards of offense but not enough to keep us from hosting the NFC Championship game the next week.

We were four point favorites against the Cowboys and that was the right number; we were the best team in football and at home.  As I would for each of these next 3 years, I watched this game by myself in what was now a law school apartment; the turnovers the week before were bad foreshadowing; we gave it up 4 times and got beat.

We went 3 and out on our opening drive; Dallas picked up first downs on each of their first two plays, but wound up punting at midfield - a punt that Alan Grant fumbled; two minutes later Dallas was kicking a field goal to go up 3 nothing.  Marc Logan returned the kick to midfield, setting up a 5 minute touchdown drive that ended with a Young one yard sneak to give us the lead.

Two sacks (Romanowski and Harrison) got us a punt on the next Cowboy series, and we ended the first quarter with the lead and the ball in Dallas territory.

Cofer missed a FG early in the second quarter, another sack (Brown) forced a Cowboy punt, our second fumble (Watters) gave Dallas the ball in our territory with 9 minutes left in the half.  It appeared that we had forced a field goal attempt after stopping Dallas on a third down inside our ten, but a tough holding penalty on Pierce Holt gave them a first down that quickly became an Emmitt Smith touchdown.  We tied it with a Cofer FG with a minute left in the half, which became the halftime score when Dallas missed a FG near the gun.

Dallas scored on the opening drive of the half; the big play being Alvin Harper's leaping over Eric Davis for a 38 yard gain on the right sideline on a third and 7.  Two plays later Johnston was in the end zone and we were down 17-10.  We cut it to 4 on the next drive, Young hitting Jerry over the middle with Rice then cutting right to pick up 36.  At 4th and 2 on the Dallas 24, presumably Seifert didn't consider going for it and Cofer kicked us to 17-13.

The Cowboys then went on a 9 minute drive that ended in an Aikman to Emmitt touchdown.  We were down 10 with 9 left.  They converted 4 third downs, including a third and 11 at midfield.

Two minutes later Kenny Norton picked off Young - and when Emmitt ripped off a 28 yard run on the next play that appeared to end the game.

But Jimmy made the call that Seifert didn't, at 4th and 1 on our 7, up by 11 with 7 minutes left - Dallas went for it; Mike Walter stuffed Emmitt, giving us a chance.

Young drove us 93 yards in two and a half mintues.

Screen to Watters for 17.
Pass to Watters over the middle for 10.
Sideline to Rice for 11.
Sideline to Sherrard for 15.
After an incomplete pass, a 17 yarder over the middle to Brent Jones.  Then two completions to Watters for a total of 18 more - and finally a five yard pass to Jerry.  93 yards in 2 and a half mintues - we had cut it to 24-20 with four and a half left.

The next play was Aikman hitting Harper for 70.  Dallas went in a few plays later and the season was done.

Only two players total were active for this game and didn't play.  One was Garin Veris.  The other was Joe Montana.

San Francisco 49ers 21 at Dallas Cowboys 38

Sunday, January 23, 1994




Joe was in Kansas City in '93, and when the Niners lost to Dallas again in Week 6, dropping to 3-3, the decision to send him away seemed hard to support.  But the 10th best regular season team in 49er history won the next 6 straight and then whipped the Giants 44-3 to open the playoffs.  Young went 17 for 22 and Ricky Watters scored 5 touchdowns.  Phil Simms didn't finish his last NFL game.

The Chiefs were in the AFC Title game - the Niners in the NFC Title game.

But the NFL is on the square, both of us lost.  Dallas scored 21 in the 2nd quarter and we got run out of the building.

Dallas Cowboys 28 at San Francisco 49ers 38

Sunday, January 15, 1995

The 5th best regular season team in 49er history won what is, to this date, our last Super Bowl.

There was a win or bust sense to the '94 season, longtime Niners Romanowski, Rathman, Griffin, Washington, and McIntyre were let go; replaced with Ricky Jackson, Gary Plummer, Derrick Deese, Bart Oates, Ken Norton, and finally, during the season, Deion Sanders.

In Week 2, on 9-11, the Niners went to Kansas City, in the only game I've ever actively rooted against one of my teams.  Young threw two picks and lost to Joe and all remained right with the world.

It should be insightful that the choice I made was player over team, not so much into my personality, but into demonstrating the relationship Joe Montana had with 49er fans.  There's probably a series of blog posts at some point about the hyperintense nature of this period in San Francisco sports history - the Giants had a crushing NLCS loss in '87, just a couple of months before the best regular season team in Niner history had a crushing playoff loss.  The Niners won back to back Super Bowls while the Giants were losing the Earthquake World Series.  A multi-season wrenching quarterback controversy occurred as the Giants were being sold and moving to Tampa.  The Giants were saved, Barry Bonds was signed, we won a hundred three games and didn't make the playoffs, Will Clark left town - while the Niners were losing consecutive NFC Championship games and Joe was traded to Kansas City.  

A blowout home loss to the Eagles in which Young got pulled was the turning point of the season - we didn't lose again until a meaningless week 16, including a home win over the Cowboys, and were the heavy favorites going into the playoffs.  The Bears were first - we were up 37-3 through three and cruised to a 44-15 win.

Then home for Dallas.  We were 7 and a half point favorites, but like the previous two seasons, the distance between the best and the second best team in football was virtually nonexistent.  

Two plays into the game Eric Davis (current color analyst for 49er radio, replacing Plummer who replaced Wayne Walker who was the radio analyst since 1928) took an Aikman pass 44 yards the other way for a quick pick 6; and two plays later he forced an Emmitt fumble.  90 more seconds passed and it was 14-0, Young to Watters.  Dallas fumbled the kick - and a half dozen plays later William Floyd was in the end zone; it was 21-0 with only 7 minutes gone by and the game was over.  We won 38-28 and went on to our fifth Super Bowl.

Green Bay Packers 23 at San Francisco 49ers 10

Sunday, January 11, 1998

Three years later we were back, Mariucci was the new head coach - Jerry had blown out his knee in the opening week, and Eddie D was forced out of the ownership chair.  We were just the 25th best regular season team in Niner history, but won 11 straight at one point and rolled through the Vikings in the first round of the playoffs, 38-14.

We were field goal favorites headed to the NFC Championship game, but couldn't move the ball at home against the Packers.  We were down 23-3 before Chuck Levy returned a kick for our only touchdown; Young got sacked four times and threw a pick - and our leading rusher was Terry Kirby with 21 yards. After appearing in the NFC Championship Game a dozen times in 27 seasons, the Niners would be absent for the next 14 years.

New York Giants 20 at San Francisco 49ers 17

Sunday, January 22, 2012

By the advanced metrics, of the ten worst seasons in 49er history, 4 were in the first decade of the 2000s; the franchise churned through multiple head coaches and front office personnel; ownership passed down to a younger generation of DeBartolo, and there was even talk of the club moving south...way south, to Los Angeles.

I'm a "history from the bottom up" guy, meaning that I don't see change as driven by "great men", and that impacts (or drives, hard to locate) my view that coaching is of the more overrated elements of sports analysis.  However, there are outliers, and in 2011 the 49ers moved from a clearly outmatched Mike Singletary to Jim Harbaugh, who I (as a USC Trojan fan) had watched dramatically turn around the Stanford football program over a few years previous, including kicking our ass at a time when USC bullied the collegiate football landscape.

And sure enough - it happened at the next level.  The 49ers weren't quite as good as their 13-3 regular season record would indicate; this team was the 14th best in Niner regular season history, and the best since '98 - but they managed a stadium rattling comeback to win the divisional round against the Saints, and in the conference championship hosted a Giants team they had beaten during the regular season.

The Niners were sizably, sizably advantaged heading to the title game, Vernon Davis caught two touchdown passes from much maligned (and rightly so) former number one overall pick Alex Smith, but Kyle Williams fumbled away two kicks, the first in the 4th quarter that flipped the game, turning a 49er lead into, within 3 minutes, a Giant lead; and the second in overtime - and New York coverting that drive into a game winning field goal.

It wouldn't take 12 years for the 49ers to return to the NFC Title game - they'd be back in 2013.

Every NFC Championship Game in San Francisco 49ers History-Part 2

Part 1 is here.

Chicago Bears 0 at San Francisco 49ers 23

Sunday, January 6, 1985

The '84 Niners are not the best regular season team in San Francisco history (that's the '87 team) but, when you consider the postseason as well, this is the best 49er team of all time.

After our week 7 loss to Pittsburgh, our only loss in the first 18 win season in NFL history, here was the rest of the regular season:

at Houston 34-21
at LA Rams 33-0
Cincinnati 23-17
at Cleveland 41-7 (I was there)
Tampa 21-17
at New Orleans 35-3
at Atlanta 35-17
Minnesota 51-7
LA Rams 19-16

We had over 400 yards of offense against the Giants in the playoff opener; their only touchdown in our 21-10 win an interception returned for a score (Joe threw three picks).  We were at home, 9 point favorites against the Bears the following week and the defense just throttled them; we had 9 sacks, they had 37 yards passing, a slow offensive start limited us to a 23-0 win.


San Francisco 49ers 28 at Chicago Bears 3
Sunday, January 8, 1989

We were 1 point dogs (fairly so) in 20 degree Soldier Field four years later when we met the Bears again in the NFC Championship.  This was the worst of our 5 Super Bowl winners; the '88 Niners were only the 26th best regular season team in San Francisco history, 6-5 and with a raging quarterback controversy before ripping off 4 straight to get into the playoffs.

The first to fall was the Vikings team that had come into San Francisco and shocked the best regular season team in 49er history in round one of the playoffs the year before - Joe threw 3 first half scores to Jerry and we ate them alive 34-9.

30 mile an hour winds were supposed to doom our passing game in the NFC Championship - but this was Joe's best NFC Championship game to that date, 17 for 28, 288 yards, 3 scores and no picks.  Jerry caught five balls for 133 and two first half scores and Chicago went down without much fight. This was the first NFC Championship game I watched by myself; I was off at college by this point - I came home for the Super Bowls, but I watched this and the next year's title game by myself at school.


Los Angeles Rams 3 at San Francisco 49ers 30
Sunday, January 14, 1990


The '89 team was the 7th best regular season team in 49er history - but had the most dominant playoff run, maybe in the history of professional sports.

Divisional Round: Niners 41 Vikings 13
NFC Championship: Niners 30 Rams 3
Super Bowl 24: Niners 55 Broncos 10

And as silly as it sounds, none of the games were as close as the scores would suggest.

The Joe Montana we saw in the Super Bowls, but who was a little less than that in the playoffs until '88, returned in '89; Joe hit the Vikings for four first half touchdown passes (Rice, Jones, Taylor, Rice) and we went up 27-3 at the half, easing through to the 41-13 divisional round win.

We were 7 point favorites in the NFC Championship against the Rams; it wasn't nearly enough - Joe went 26 of 30 for 262 and 2 scores (Jones and Taylor)..let's consider Joe Montana's 1989 postseason:

65 of 83 for 800 yards, 11 touchdowns and no picks.  


We took a 21-3 lead into the half and cruised to a 30-6 win.

How about the combined scores at halftime of the three games: 75-9.

75-9!


New York Giants 15 at San Francisco 49ers 13

Sunday, January 20, 1991

When did the 1980s end?  January 20, 1991, when Leonard Marshall killed Joe Montana.

The Not Quite Threepeat 1990 Niners are the 24th best regular season team in San Francisco history, not as good, frankly as the Giants team who beats us in the NFC Championship game (despite our being a wildly outsized 8 point favorite). The difference was the lack of running game; Roger went down early in the year with a knee and never was the same player again; we relied on Dexter Carter to be our leading rusher

Second quarter TD passes to Rice and Sherrard put us up 21-10 in the division playoff game against the Skins; we picked Rypien three times, including Michael Carter's 61 yard touchdown return in the 4th to get the final 28-10 score.

It felt like we were still the same invincible team; we were 14-2 and the amount of confidence you had at that point as a 49er fan was unreasonably high.  We had beaten the Giants earlier in the year in that 7-3 Monday Night game; this was that again, New York won despite not scoring a touchdown, 15-13.

We took a 13-6 lead in the third on the only TD of the game; Joe hitting JT for a 61 yard score; a quarter later he was getting crushed by Leonard Marshall, ending his tenure as our starting quarterback in what was also the last game as a Niner for Ronnie and Roger.  We had the ball though, with Young in the game, and less than 6 minutes to go after New York cut it to 13-12 on Bahr's 4th FG.

Then Roger fumbled.  And that was that. I was home for this game; I've forgotten the circumstance as to why I came back for this game as opposed to the two previous years when I waited for the Super Bowl...it could be that I didn't get CBS in my apartment; this was my first year out of the dorms, and I didn't have cable - the only station I had was the NBC affiliate, so that's what it was - that means this would be the last NFC Championship game that I watched with my family.

You can, if inclined, watch Matt Bahr beat us. here.

8 down.  Part 3 to come.

Every NFC Championship Game in San Francisco 49ers History-Part 1

Sunday will be the 14th NFC Championship Game in 49er history.  We're 5-8.  Here are the first four.
Dallas Cowboys 17 at San Francisco 49ers 10

Sunday, January 3, 1971

The 49ers lost the first ever NFC Championship Game. How long ago was January, 1971?  This game was our last in Kezar.

How old am I?  I've been alive for every single Niner NFC Championship game, although I was only a couple of months old for this one and can't claim any of the disappointment that marked the early 70s Brodie teams.  I don't remember Plunkett as a Niner at all; so my first 49er team was '78, 8 years after this group.

The 1970 49ers were first in the NFL in offense and the best of the 70s 49er teams; at 35, John Brodie had his career year; two years before, he led the league in picks with 21, the next year, he threw for 24 - but in 1970, Brodie led the league in fewest interceptions per pass attempts with only ten picks.  He led the league in quarterback rating, yards per game, and TD passes with 24; Gene Washington had 20 yards a catch.

Despite that, beating the Vikings in Minnesota in the opening playoff game was a significant upset; I can't say this enough, those Vikings teams of the Purple People Eaters era were among the very, very best in NFL history - their defense was significantly better than ours, but in 10 degree weather we forced four turnovers and won 17-14.

This was a Craig Morton Cowboy team; they were maybe a little better than we were, but given home field advantage and the win the week prior, it would have been reasonable to think the Niners were headed to the Super Bowl.  We were, in fact, 4 point favorites.  Favorites!  Favorites to win the first ever NFC Championship Game!

We did not win.  This was an ugly game.  3-3 at the half.  Brodie was 19-40 with two picks, both of which led to Cowboy touchdowns, and Morton was 7-22 for 103; Dallas put the ball on the ground 4 times but only lost one of them.   We went into the 4th quarter down 17-10, after a late third quarter Brodie to Witcher score got us close.  Dallas missed a FG with 11 minutes to go; two minutes later, we missed one.

With a little less than 5 minutes left, we forced a punt and took over at our 23.  We converted one 4th down, but a sack left us 4th and 6 at our 39 and they stopped us.  We got it back with just a few seconds left, and died in the middle of the field.


San Francisco 49ers 3 at Dallas Cowboys 14
Sunday, January 2, 1972

That 1970 team was the 18th best regular season Niner team of all time; the next year was our 20th.  The core of the club was exactly the same, and the defense, with some of the all time best Niners ever (Jimmy Johnson, Charlie Krueger, Tommy Hart) was the better of our two sides of the ball, with Brodie throwing more picks than scores.  We won our playoff opener, again at home, beating the Redskins 24-20; we broke the game open in the 4th after they botched a punt at their goal line.  The rematched title game was in Dallas this time (we were 7 and a half point dogs) Staubach was the Cowboy quarterback and his game (9-18 103 yds) was as bad as Morton's the year before - but Brodie was bad again, he threw 3 picks and we lost 14-3.  Cedrick Hardman dominated the line of scrimmage; sacking Staubach 3 and a half times (what's the record for most sacks in an NFC Championship game?  It can't be higher than that.)  We were down 7-3 going to the 4th quarter, but a 14 play drive that ended in a Duane Thomas score put us down 11 with 10 to play and we only got one more first down the rest of the game.

Dallas Cowboys 27 at San Francisco 49ers 28

Sunday, January 10, 1982

Ten years later, we made it back.

I don't recall the specific point during our game winning drive that our power went off, but I didn't watch Dwight's catch (the signed photo of which I have hanging right now in the room in which I'm writing these very words); instead, my parents and I listened to the radio call.  I was 11 years old in January of '82; huddled around the radio with my parents as we beat the Dallas Cowboys remains my favorite sports memory.

The '81 team, despite the rhapsody, was only our 21st best regular season team ever, and the weaker element was the offense as the defense finished second in points allowed.  But we won games, 12 of our last 13, including kicking the hell out of the Cowboys in what was literally the first time of my life that it ever struck me that the 49ers were a good football team.

We beat the Giants 38-24 in the first round of the playoffs; Joe threw for 2 scores (Young and Solomon, both in the first half) and Ronnie had two picks, one for a 4th quarter touchdown that effectively ended the game.

Then - Dallas.  John Brodie might as well have been Frankie Albert in my mind; games played before my memory were all in a box marked history that I enjoyed opening but had no real ability to appreciate the lineal progression of.  But I recognized that we didn't like the Cowboys, that they had snuffed out our previous attempts to go to the Super Bowl, and that despite our having beaten them earlier in the year, they were still the team through which we had to go.  We were 3 point dogs which was clear error; the teams were essentially evenly matched, and given our home field advantage and having beaten them earlier in the year, the number should have been exactly the opposite - but it demonstrates the way the public (and, in my mind's eye, the football media) viewed our relative positions.

I won money on this game.  Yes I did.  Money won when you are 11 is twice as sweet as money given to you by your dad.

The '81 NFC Championship was a pain in the ass; we had a hundred yards in penalties and 6 turnovers (has a team ever won the NFC Championship with more than 6 turnovers?) Joe Montana never threw a Super Bowl interception - but in his first NFC Title game he threw 3.  Fumbles by Ring and Easley led to two Cowboy scores; Ronnie picked up two pass interference calls, one of which (a phantom call) took away a pick.

 Dallas went 3 and out on the opening drive; Dwaine Board sacking Danny White to end the series.
We went down and scored.  Joe hit Schumann for 11, Charlie Young for 17; Lenvil Elliott for 24, and Freddie Solomon for the first score.

Dallas kicked a FG on the next drive, the big play a 20 yard White pass to Butch Johnson.

Then the turnovers started - Billy Ring fumbled at our 29 and fifty seconds later White hit Tony Hill for a 26 yard score that flipped the lead.

We traded 3 and outs and that ended the quarter.

We got down to the Cowboy 27 on the next drive, Joe to Dwight for 38 was the big play, but an attempt to connect with Mike Wilson was picked by Everson Walls just outside their endzone, and with 10 minutes left in the half we had turned it over twice and were still down 10-7.

We forced a three and out and got good field position after a short White punt (yes, the starting quarterback was the starting punter in an NFC Championship Game in my lifetime, it must sound like Chuck Bednarik to newer ears) and 4 plays later we had the lead on a 20 yard Montana to Clark.

The Cowboys went 80 yards on the next drive, and its reasonable to begin to worry now; back to back plays saw a 17 yard reception by Hill and then the bad interference call on Lott that took away the pick.  That gave Dallas 35 free yards, and 3 plays later Dorsett was in the end zone.

They gave us a chance late in the half when Jones fumbled a punt and we took over at their 42; but after a 15 yard penalty against Dwight for an illegal block Joe fumbled (3 picks and a fumble) after a Harvey Martin sack.

Our defensive line didn't let up - a Stuckey sack and then a Pillers hit on White forced a fumble, but they kept possession, the half ended with our having the ball.

We went 3 and out to begin the second half.  They followed with a 3 and out after pressure from Board led to an intentional grounding call.  Their punt gave us the ball at midfield and we drove to the 16, but again, Joe got picked deep, this one when the ball went off Elliott's hands and into Randy White's.

7 and a half left in the third and we're still down.

Seven plays later we were ahead.  Bobby Leopold got a pick, Joe threw a two yard score to Johnny Davis and it was 21-17.

Ronnie's second pass interference penalty came on a third and five on the next drive, and put them at our 12, down 4 as we went to the 4th quarter; he got bailed out by Eric Wright, who broke up what would have been a score on third and 3 at our five.  A Septien field goal made it 21-20 with 14 minutes to play.

Joe hit Freddie for 21 to get us out to our 40, but two plays later Walt Easley fumbled at midfield.

Two minutes later White hit Cosbie for the score, the Cowboys were up 27-21 with ten to play and when a Joe deep ball to Solomon was picked by Walls, Dallas had possession at their 27.

They converted on two third downs, eventually punting from our 47.  We took over at our 11 with 4:54 left, down by 6.

-Incomplete pass.
-Elliott up the middle for 6.  Third and 4.
-Joe to Freddie for 6.  First down at the 23.
-Elliott around the left side for 7.
-Incomplete pass.  Third and 3.
-We picked up the first down on an Elliott run, but the Cowboys were offsides and we took the penalty.
-Joe to Cooper for five.  At the Cowboy 49.  2 Minute Warning.
-Freddie around left end on a reverse to their 35.
-Joe to Dwight for 10.
-Joe to Freddie for 12.  We call time out with 1:15 left at their 13.
-Incomplete pass.
-Elliott sweep left for 7, we call timeout with 58 seconds left before the third and 3.
-Dwight.

Dallas took over at the 25, and on the first play White hit Pearson in the middle of the field for 31, only a Wright horse collar saves the game.  Dallas called timeout, only down 1, at our 44 with 38 seconds left.  My power was still out.  Pillers forced a White fumble on the next play, Stuckey recovered, and we had won our first NFC Title.

San Francisco 49ers 21 at Washington Redskins 24

Sunday, January 8, 1984

To that date, the 1983 49ers were the second best regular season Niner team of all time (1953); '82 had been a disaster, we missed the playoffs coming off our SB win.  The Rams, of all teams, helped us out in the offseason with the Wendell Tyler trade - we added Roger Craig in the draft, and suddenly we had our first real backfield in years.

We again opened the playoffs with a home win, this time over Detroit - who had a fourth quarter lead after two Billy Sims touchdowns, but Joe hit Freddie to get us to our 4th NFC Championship.

We were 10 and a half point underdogs in DC against the Redskins; our biggest ever NFC Championship spread, either for good or ill.  That was a little heavy maybe, but they were the better club.

You can watch the NFL Network version of the game here.

The Niners were down 21-0 going to the 4th quarter.  Joe hit Mike Wilson (Dwight was hurt) for a five yard score at the top of the quarter.  After Mark Moseley's fourth missed FG of the day, Joe hit Freddie for a 76 yard score and with 7 left, Joe hit Wilson again for 12 yard score - we had 21 points in 7 minutes to tie the game.

We never really got the ball back - they got two terrible penalties to keep a long drive alive, a pass interference against Wright and a holding against Lott; they got the winning FG almost at the gun and we went home 24-21 losers.


So, we lose 3 of our first 4 shots at the conference title.  In part two of this list, we flip that record.

1st and Ten - The Weekly Tendown January 8-14 2012 (Who's Got it Better Than Us?)

Dear Internet:



It's Tendown 110.  109 is here.

1. We're Going to the What Now?
With Sunday's games still to be played, I'm 5-1 against the spread in the NFL playoffs so far (you can also find my Golden Globe predictions by clicking that link)

Of course, I picked the Saints to win the whole thing - the Saints will not win the whole thing.

I don't think we're going to beat the Packers, but the team that played yesterday could win the Super Bowl.

How ridiculous is that?

In my preseason picks piece, I wrote this:

You give me that choice right now, I can either have the top pick, meaning I go 2-14, or go 12-4 and get beat in the conference title, and I want the pick and it isn't close.  Anything short of a Super Bowl appearance is not worth Andrew Luck.


I still maintain that position, but it's an understandably lonely one among Niner fans this morning, I'd guess.


I've redone my rankings of every 49er team ever by regular season quality, the current group is the 13th best regular season Niner team since we joined the NFL.  Here's the top 20. 

1.     1987 – 13.5 Lost in playoffs to Vikings, Montana, Craig, Rathman, Rice, Lott, McKyer, Haley, Griffin

-Our last 3 regular season games in '87:  

Niners 41 Bears 0

Niners 35 Falcons 7

Niners 48 Rams 0

2.     1984 – 12.7 World Champions beat Dolphins, Montana, Tyler, Craig, Solomon, Clark, Francis, Lott, Board

-We lost to the Steelers in week 7, 20-17; after that, including the playoffs, here was the combined score of all of our remaining games:

Niners 377

Opponents 131

3. 1992 – 11.8 Lost NFC Title to Cowboys, Young, Watters, Rice, Taylor, Jones, Davis, Griffin, Romanowski

-The first game in NFL history without a punt was our week 2 loss in Buffalo.

4. 1995 – 11.8 Lost in playoffs to Packers, Young, Rice, Jones, Taylor, Norton, McDonald, Jackson, Plummer

-The Packers rushed only 3 men, dropping 8 into coverage, but we couldn't run the ball and they beat us; might be a lesson for next week if we go into Green Bay.

5.  1994 – 11.6 World Champions beat Chargers, Young, Watters, Floyd, Rice, Taylor, Jones, Norton, Deion

-I gave 17 in the Super Bowl.  This is too many points to give, don't ever do it (we won by 23)

6. 1991 – 10.9 Young, Rice, Haley, Hanks, Rathman, Griffin, Holt, Barton, Foster, McIntyre, Taylor

-We didn't make the playoffs; this was the Bono season - Joe went down, Young went down, we were 4-6 and then won our last 6 games of the season, finishing off 52-14 against the Bears. 

7. 1989 – 10.7 coach-Seifert, World Champions beat Broncos, Montana, Craig, Rice, Taylor, Haley, Lott

-If you've never had the experience of rooting for a team that was so good that there literally was never a second during the postseason that you doubted you were going to win the whole thing...it ain't bad.  Here was the Niner playoff run:

Niners 41 Vikings 13

Niners 30 Rams 3

Niners 55 Broncos 10

8. 1953 – 10.7 Tittle, Perry, McElhenny, Nomellini, Wilson, St Clair

-We joined the NFL in 1950, so the first 4 Niner teams aren't included in this list; in terms of these old groups, the '49 Frankie Albert team that lost to the Browns in the AAFC title game was probably better than this group and the '48 team may have been one of the 5 best Niner teams of all time.

9. 1998 – 10.6 Lost in playoffs to Falcons, Young, Hearst, Owens, Rice, Norton, McDonald, BY, Doleman

-TO made a last second catch in traffic to beat the Packers in the playoffs and sobbed on the sideline.  I'm guessing you'll see some clips of that play at some point this week.  

10.  1993– 9.7 Lost NFC Title to Cowboys, Young, Watters, Rice, Taylor, Jones, McDonald, Stubblefield

-Goddamn Cowboys.

11. 1985 – 8.8 Lost in playoffs to Giants, Montana, Craig, Tyler, Solomon, Clark, Francis, Lott, Board, Hicks

12. 1983 – 8.7 Lost NFC Title to Redskins, Montana, Craig, Tyler, Clark, Solomon, Francis, Lott, Board, Dean

13. 2011 – 8.3 Smith, Gore, Staley, Crabtree, JSmith, Willis, Bowman, Rogers, Akers, Lee, Davis

14. 1996 – 8 Lost in playoffs to Packers, Young, Rice, Owens, Jones, Norton, McDonald, BY, Doleman,

15. 1965 – 7.1 Brodie, Willard, Crow, Johnson, Hazeltine, Wilcox

16. 1986 – 7 Lost in playoffs to Giants, Montana, Craig, Rathman, Rice, Clark, Francis, Griffin, Lott, Haley

17. 2001 – 6.8 Lost in playoffs to Packers, Garcia, Hearst, Owens, Plummer, Peterson, Carter, BY

18. 1970 – 6.5 Lost NFC Title to Cowboys, Brodie, Willard, Washington, Johnson, Wilcox

19. 1972 – 6.4 Lost in playoffs to Cowboys, Spurrier, Washington, Johnson, Wilcox

20. 1971 – 6.3 Lost NFC Title to Cowboys, Brodie, Willard, Washington, Johnson

2. Would You Like to See the Last Drive for the 1981 NFC Championship Game?

Cause you can.

3. How About A Highlight Package of the 1989 NFC Championship Game?

We Can do That Too.

4. And the Celebration After the 1994 NFC Championship Game?

Yup.

5. It Won't Surprise You That I Think This Girl in Rhode Island is a Hero

That's the mural that was displayed at her public school.  It violates the Establishment Clause.  Jessica Ahlquist sued and won.

And of course, got eviscerated by Christians.

Here's a question - when's the last time you read about a bunch of atheists threatening to kill Christian teenage girls?  It is just so hard to be a Christian in America.

6. 43%

That's the percentage of Americans who believe God helps Tim Tebow win football games.

In unrelated news:

T. Tebow

9/26

136

5.2

0

0

And a lost fumble.  Which, since he led the league in fumbles (not lost, but total fumbles) is not a surprise.  

Tim Tebow's completion percentage was below 50% and he led the league in fumbles.  

And he's America's favorite athlete.  It's just so hard to be a Christian in America.

7. Do You Know About This?

They're called Bronies.  Adult men who love My Little Pony.

8. My Favorite Thing Rush Limbaugh Said This Week.

Go ahead, click.

9. Welcome, Comrades.

Newt Gingrich attacked Mitt Romney this week...from the left.  

How wild is that?

The Romney/Obama matchup has not interested me much, but now I see the value in Romney as the candidate of the 1%.  Income Inequality is the primary narrative that I'd like to see continue, really as long as possible, and Romney (did you see him say we should only talk about inequality in quiet rooms?) is exactly the wrong face to put on the opposition party in 2012.  Obama's going to be re-elected.  

10. 3 Catches

That's all for this time.  I'll be back next time.  If there is a next time...