The San Francisco 49ers are an American football franchise representing the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers are members of the West division in the National Football Conference (NFC) of the National Football League (NFL).
The 49ers began play in 1946 as charter members of the All-America Football Conference. They joined the NFL in the AAFC-NFL merger in 1950; from then through 1969 they did not win a division or conference title, and only finished as high as second once. After winning three consecutive division titles from 1970 to 1972, they would return to losing in 1973 and achieved only one winning season for the rest of the decade.
From 1981 to 1998, the 49ers had one of the most successful stretches of dominance in NFL history. Armed with Bill Walsh's innovative West Coast offense, Hall of Fame level quarterback play in Joe Montana and later Steve Young, and a dominant defense, the 49ers would win five Super Bowls in 1981, 1984, 1988, 1989, and 1994, and made the playoffs every year but 1982 and 1991 during their run of dominance.
Another playoff drought lasted from 2003–2010, a stretch of eight non-winning seasons. This drought came to end under rookie head coach Jim Harbaugh when the 49ers won their division with a 13–3 record in 2011. From 2011 to 2013, they earned three straight berths in the NFC Championship Game, which included a loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII. They would have another stretch of non-winning seasons from 2014–2018 before a 13–3 turnaround season in 2019 under head coach Kyle Shanahan saw them win the NFC, but lose to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV. Since then, the 49ers have been to two NFC Conference Championship Games and another Super Bowl, losing both NFCCGs on the road and losing Super Bowl LVIII once again to the Chiefs.
This list documents the season-by-season record of the 49ers franchise from 1946 to present, including postseason records and league awards for individual players or head coaches.
NFL champions (1920–1969)§ | Super Bowl champions (1966–present)† | Conference champions * | Division champions ^ | Wild Card berth # | One-game playoff berth + |
Statistics above are current as of January 6, 2025.
Statistic | Wins | Losses | Ties | Win % |
---|---|---|---|---|
All-America Football Conference regular season record | 38 | 14 | 2 | .722 |
AAFC postseason record | 1 | 1 | — | .500 |
National Football League regular season record | 592 | 512 | 14 | .536 |
NFL postseason record | 38 | 24 | — | .613 |
AAFC and NFL regular and postseason record | 669 | 551 | 16 | .548 |
1 Due to a strike-shortened season in 1982, all teams were ranked by conference instead of division.
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Joseph Clifford Montana Jr. is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. Nicknamed "Joe Cool" and "the Comeback Kid", Montana is widely regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. After winning a national championship with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Montana began his NFL career in 1979 at San Francisco, where he played for the next 14 seasons. With the 49ers, Montana started and won four Super Bowls and was the first player to be named the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player (MVP) three times. He also holds Super Bowl career records for most passes without an interception and the all-time highest passer rating of 127.8. In 1993, Montana was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs, where he played for his last two seasons and led the franchise to its first AFC Championship Game. Montana was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000.
Jerry Lee Rice is an American former professional football wide receiver who played for 20 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He won three Super Bowl titles with the San Francisco 49ers before two shorter stints at the end of his career with the Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks. For his accomplishments and numerous records, Rice is widely regarded as the greatest wide receiver of all time and one of the greatest players in NFL history. His biography on the official Pro Football Hall of Fame website names him "the most prolific wide receiver in NFL history with staggering career totals". In 1999, The Sporting News listed Rice second behind Jim Brown on its list of "Football's 100 Greatest Players". In 2010, he was chosen by NFL Network's NFL Films production The Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players as the greatest player in NFL history.
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Kyle Michael Shanahan is an American professional football coach who is the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He came to prominence as the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons, whose offense in 2016 led the league in points scored and helped the team reach Super Bowl LI. Shanahan became the head coach of the 49ers the following season, leading the team to three division titles, four postseason appearances, four NFC Championship Game appearances, and two Super Bowl appearances.
Ke'Aundre J'Quan "Dre" Greenlaw is an American professional football linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks and was selected by the 49ers in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL draft.
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