San Francisco 49ers Playoff History in the 1990s

[whcanuck]

So I've been looking at the 49ers playoff history, from the Bill Walsh era, through George Seifert and Steve Mariucci. Basically the span from the time they won their first Super Bowl in 1981, to their lopsided loss to eventual champion Tampa Bay in the 2002 Divisional Round.

I know they had some excellent teams in the 1990s, especially the period from about 1992 to 1998. Yet in that time span, only played in and won one Super Bowl, beating San Diego in 1994.

First it was Dallas that had their number, beating them in the NFC title game in 1992 and 1993, then they beat Dallas the next year en route to their 5th Super Bowl title. But after that they had a new nemesis. Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers. Green Bay beat San Francisco 3 straight years in the playoffs from 1995-1997, and none of the losses were particularly close, losing by at least 10 points each time. Again, they finally solved the Packer riddle with Terrell Owens famous catch in the closing seconds of the 1998 Wild Card Game.

What was the biggest issue with San Francisco not being able to play in a couple more Super Bowls in the 1990s? I don't think Green Bay or Dallas were THAT much better. Steve Young was an MVP caliber QB, Jerry Rice was still one of the best WRs in the game and they had lots of other talented players like Terrell Owens, Garrison Hearst and Dana Stubblefield.

Other than the Super Bowl year in 1994, their records in the 1990s went like this

1990 (14-2), 1991 (10-6), 1992 (14-2), 1993 (10-6), 1995 (11-5), 1996 (12-4), 1997 (13-3), 1998 (12-4)

After 1998, they dropped off significantly and took a couple years to get back into contention when Jeff Garcia came aboard.

Why didn't they have more success?

Click to read more...

 

[John Price]

Weigh in @Clowe Me

 

[John Price]

The core was getting older plus the new ownership. DeBartolo was a great guy. That and Walsh retiring. I remember watching the America's Game episodes of the Niners. Walsh's last game was very emotional.

By the 90's the rest of the league had started to catch up to them. The Niners weren't the Patriots. They became a victim of parity.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

Again, they finally solved the Packer riddle with Terrell Owens famous catch in the closing seconds of the 1998 Wild Card Game.

They didn't solve the riddle. The refs missed a call that should've ended the game. #RiceFumbled

 

[tony d]

Hard to say as they still had some very good teams there. Young and Rice were there as well so it is a surprise they didn't play in another Super Bowl post 1994 season.

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

They didn't solve the riddle. The refs missed a call that should've ended the game. #RiceFumbled

Yeah, that was a bad missed call.

Kap's teams owning the playoff matchups later on eased that decade a bit.

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

Weigh in @Clowe Me

Late 80's early 90's NY Giants won championship games against them because they had a defense good enough to keep their team in the game. Same with The mid/late 90's Packers and early/mid 90's Cowboys. The 49ers marched through the rest of the league until they got to these 3 teams that had a ton of talent. There is a reason that Dallas squad won 3 in a row, why the Giants won a couple and Farve's team won one and made another. While those 49ers teams were elite, they weren't head and shoulders above those individual teams. They went for it and got their SB win in '94 and were in salary hell for years after. They couldn't maintain the same level of depth they had before, which is why most years ended early after that.

 

[Halladay]

Roger Craig Fumbled.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

Late 80's early 90's NY Giants won championship games against them because they had a defense good enough to keep their team in the game. Same with The mid/late 90's Packers and early/mid 90's Cowboys. The 49ers marched through the rest of the league until they got to these 3 teams that had a ton of talent. There is a reason that Dallas squad won 3 in a row, why the Giants won a couple and Farve's team won one and made another. While those 49ers teams were elite, they weren't head and shoulders above those individual teams. They went for it and got their SB win in '94 and were in salary hell for years after. They couldn't maintain the same level of depth they had before, which is why most years ended early after that.

The 49ers also cheated the salary cap in the 90s.

 

[EpochLink]

There was a time in the mid 90's that Green Bay had San Francisco's number.
95 Divisional, 96 Divisional and the 97 NFC Championship game...Packers found a way to win.

2 out of the 3 games were won in San Francisco too.

 

[Scott Stevens]

I know it’s already been brought up, but like come on, how did they not call that Rice fumble?

 

[Terry Yake]

seifert was a terrible HC

rode the success and foundation that walsh was responsible for

 

[GKJ]

There wasn't a one thing that kept the 49ers out of more Super Bowls. People don't look back at it and feel they should've been in more Super Bowls. Dallas and Green Bay were on their level in the mid-90s. Green Bay had the #1 offense and #1 defense (which sounds impossible) the year they won the Super Bowl. It's just how football is. They were good enough to keep showing up the playoffs later on in the Jeff Garcia years, but that happens in football. Why didn't they have more success? Because you can't win every year.

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

The 49ers also cheated the salary cap in the 90s.

They mortgaged the future for a sb run and paid for it for years. They didn't cheat anything.

 

[EpochLink]

Was it 1997 I think they got Rod Woodson and Kevin Greene in the offseason to shore up the defense.

They went 13-3 that year, it was also this season Jerry Rice was out the majority of the year with a knee injury.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Their defenses weren't good enough especially the cornerbacks and then their LB's.

 

[AZviaNJ]

Been a 49er fan since 1970, a few thoughts:

1. No Joe Montana, no Ronnie Lott, no Bill Walsh - the 3 cornerstones of the franchise.
2. The Montana/Young debate divided the team, staff, ownership and fans.
3. Traded Charles Haley - made SF worse and Dallas better.
4. Defense was aging towards the end of decade
5. Teams figured how to defend the west coast offense since many started to run it themselves
6. Salary Cap started in 1994, SF had an older/expensive team compared to Dallas/other younger teams
7. Steve Young was overrated
8. George Seifert was handed the keys to a Ferrari and ran it in into a tree. He was ill-equipped to handle the issues referenced above.
9. Steve Marucci was awful, his tenure as 49er coach was more focused on camera's and auditioning for NFL Network job than leading an NFL team.
10. DeBartolo family started having financial/legal issues in the early 90's and continued to get worse throughout the 90's. Eddie D still owned the team, but he started to lose focus and control.

I could give about 20 more examples, but that's the bulk of it IMO.

 

[AZviaNJ]

They mortgaged the future for a sb run and paid for it for years. They didn't cheat anything.

Exactly they opted to mortgage the future, given they missed on multiple defensive 1st Rd round draft picks: Keith DeLong, Ted Washington (as a 49er), Todd Kelly, McGrew, McQuarters….all 1st Rounders. Throw in Jim Drunkenmiller and it's another reason they didn't get over the hump in the 90's and didn't have a winning record between 2003 and 2011.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

They mortgaged the future for a sb run and paid for it for years. They didn't cheat anything.

They paid guys under the table to avoid the salary cap and were fined close to $1M and lost multiple draft picks. You can't just erase what happened.

 

[John Price]

They paid guys under the table to avoid the salary cap and were fined close to $1M and lost multiple draft picks. You can't just erase what happened.

got any proof of this

 

[bambamcam4ever]

got any proof of this

Google it, there's a Washington Post article from 2000.

 

[John Price]

Google it, there's a Washington Post article from 2000.

i call mularkey

 

[Pinkfloyd]

i call mularkey

He's referencing this...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arch...82b645a/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.32efdec056c9

Considering the settlement let them not have to admit any wrongdoing, chances are there was some skirting of the cap but nothing they can definitively prove. Considering also that it was a 3rd and a 5th they had the team forfeit, it also wasn't much of anything and likely something every team was doing at the time and the NFL just wanted an example to be made.

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

He's referencing this...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arch...82b645a/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.32efdec056c9

Considering the settlement let them not have to admit any wrongdoing, chances are there was some skirting of the cap but nothing they can definitively prove. Considering also that it was a 3rd and a 5th they had the team forfeit, it also wasn't much of anything and likely something every team was doing at the time and the NFL just wanted an example to be made.

They did something because dirtballs like Davis and Art Modell whined and complained despite those 2 having more ethical and character issues than most owners.

49ers got what they deserved, which was almost nothing.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

They did something because dirtballs like Davis and Art Modell whined and complained despite those 2 having more ethical and character issues than most owners.

49ers got what they deserved, which was almost nothing.

Of course. But that kind of punishment for even then is light. 600k for Policy and 300k for Clark and a 3rd and a 5th is what you settle on when you know that if you applied the same standard to all teams, everyone would be paying and forfeiting. Both sides just wanted it done and over with because it does no one any good for something like that to drag out.