The Best Seasons in San Francisco 49ers History

Photo by All-Pro Reels (CC BY-SA 2.0)

With over a century of history that dates back to 1920, the NFL has plenty of memorable seasons.

In the 2016 season, for instance, Tom Brady was suspended his first four games before he orchestrated a miraculous 28-3 comeback to cap the year in the Super Bowl. Then there’s the 1985 Chicago Bears and their Super Bowl Shuffle. The 2004 season saw a trio of astounding feats, with Peyton Manning breaking Dan Marino’s long-standing passing touchdown record, a rookie quarterback leading Pittsburgh to a 15-1 record, and Philadelphia’s Terrell Owens lighting up the league at wide receiver before a broken leg ended his regular season. The strike seasons of 1982 and 1987 were memorable in their own, unique ways, too. And who could forget the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only team to win a Super Bowl with a perfect record.

It’s hard to single out the best NFL season—and harder still to try and qualify or quantify what “best” really is.

But what about the best seasons of a single team? Can we determine the best seasons in a team’s history?

To a degree, that’s quantifiable, and where this list comes in. Stacker compiled the top 10 best seasons in San Francisco 49ers history using Pro-Football-Reference.com data that goes back to the first NFL season in 1920. Seasons were ranked based on how far the team progressed in the playoffs in a particular year. Any ties were broken first by each season’s regular season record, then by net points per game. Supplemental data points include the team’s head coach and, for years after 1931, top passers, rushers, and receivers of specific seasons.

Read on through to find out which seasons count as the San Francisco 49ers’ best. Of course, there’s wiggle room to define what makes a season one of the “best”—take a peek below to see if you agree with how the rankings played out.

#10. 1990
– Regular season record: 14-2
– Playoffs: Lost in conference championship
– Points per game: 22.1
– Opponent points per game: 14.9
– Net points per game: 7.1
– Head coach: George Seifert
– Top passer: Joe Montana
– Top rusher: Dexter Carter
– Top receiver: Jerry Rice

#9. 1992
– Regular season record: 14-2
– Playoffs: Lost in conference championship
– Points per game: 26.9
– Opponent points per game: 14.8
– Net points per game: 12.2
– Head coach: George Seifert
– Top passer: Steve Young
– Top rusher: Ricky Watters
– Top receiver: Jerry Rice

#8. 2012
– Regular season record: 11-4-1
– Playoffs: Lost in Super Bowl
– Points per game: 24.8
– Opponent points per game: 17.1
– Net points per game: 7.8
– Head coach: Jim Harbaugh
– Top passer: Colin Kaepernick
– Top rusher: Frank Gore
– Top receiver: Michael Crabtree

#7. 1949
– Regular season record: 9-3
– Playoffs: Lost in AAFC championship
– Points per game: 34.7
– Opponent points per game: 18.9
– Net points per game: 15.8
– Head coach: Buck Shaw
– Top passer: Frankie Albert
– Top rusher: Joe Perry
– Top receiver: Alyn Beals

#6. 2019
– Regular season record: 13-3
– Playoffs: Lost in Super Bowl
– Points per game: 29.9
– Opponent points per game: 19.4
– Net points per game: 10.6
– Head coach: Kyle Shanahan
– Top passer: Jimmy Garoppolo
– Top rusher: Raheem Mostert
– Top receiver: George Kittle

#5. 1988
– Regular season record: 10-6
– Playoffs: Won Super Bowl
– Points per game: 23.1
– Opponent points per game: 18.4
– Net points per game: 4.7
– Head coach: Bill Walsh
– Top passer: Joe Montana
– Top rusher: Roger Craig
– Top receiver: Jerry Rice

#4. 1981
– Regular season record: 13-3
– Playoffs: Won Super Bowl
– Points per game: 22.3
– Opponent points per game: 15.6
– Net points per game: 6.7
– Head coach: Bill Walsh
– Top passer: Joe Montana
– Top rusher: Ricky Patton
– Top receiver: Dwight Clark

#3. 1994
– Regular season record: 13-3
– Playoffs: Won Super Bowl
– Points per game: 31.6
– Opponent points per game: 18.5
– Net points per game: 13.1
– Head coach: George Seifert
– Top passer: Steve Young
– Top rusher: Ricky Watters
– Top receiver: Jerry Rice

#2. 1989
– Regular season record: 14-2
– Playoffs: Won Super Bowl
– Points per game: 27.6
– Opponent points per game: 15.8
– Net points per game: 11.8
– Head coach: George Seifert
– Top passer: Joe Montana
– Top rusher: Roger Craig
– Top receiver: Jerry Rice

#1. 1984
– Regular season record: 15-1
– Playoffs: Won Super Bowl
– Points per game: 29.7
– Opponent points per game: 14.2
– Net points per game: 15.5
– Head coach: Bill Walsh
– Top passer: Joe Montana
– Top rusher: Wendell Tyler
– Top receiver: Dwight Clark