1984 San Francisco 49ers season | |
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Owner | Eddie DeBartolo, Jr. |
General manager | John McVay and Carmen Policy |
Head coach | Bill Walsh |
Defensive coordinator | George Seifert |
Home field | Candlestick Park |
Results | |
Record | 15–1 |
Division place | 1st NFC West |
Playoff finish | Won Divisional Playoffs (vs. Giants) 21–10 Won NFC Championship (vs. Bears) 23–0 Won Super Bowl XIX (vs. Dolphins) 38–16 |
Pro Bowlers | |
AP All-Pros | |
The 1984 San Francisco 49ers season was their 35th season in the National Football League (NFL) and 39th overall. The season was highlighted by their second Super Bowl victory. The franchise had its best season ever, with a record of 15 wins and only 1 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Quarterback Joe Montana was awarded the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player Award for the second time in his career, joining Bart Starr and Terry Bradshaw as the only two-time Super Bowl MVPs.
The 1984 49ers became the first team to win fifteen games in the NFL's regular season since the league went to a sixteen-game schedule in 1978. The 49ers, if not for their loss to the Steelers, would have become the 2nd team after the 1972 Miami Dolphins to complete a perfect season, and the Forty-Niners would have been the first to do so since the NFL expanded to a 16-game schedule. The 1985 Chicago Bears, the 1998 Minnesota Vikings, the 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers, the 2011 Green Bay Packers, and the 2015 Carolina Panthers would later join the 1984 49ers to finish 15–1, although the 2007 New England Patriots would exceed this feat by finishing the regular season at an unbeaten 16–0, losing the Super Bowl to the New York Giants 17-14. However, the only other one of these teams that won the Super Bowl was the 1985 Bears.
In the playoffs, the 49ers were the #1 seed. They defeated the Giants 21–10 in the divisional round. Then they shut out the Chicago Bears 23–0 in the NFC Championship and finally defeated the Miami Dolphins 38–16 in Super Bowl XIX. This 49ers team has gone down as the best in franchise history, and many call this season the best in Joe Montana's career.
NFL Films produced a documentary about the team's season entitled A Team Above All; Brad Crandall narrated it. On January 29, 2007, NFL Network aired America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions, in which they ranked the 1984 49ers at #8; the film was narrated by Gene Hackman and featured commentary from players Russ Francis, Keena Turner and Dwight Hicks. More than a decade later, the team gained greater esteem by ranking #4 on the 100 greatest teams of all time presented by the NFL on its 100th anniversary.[3][4]