1 1981: In an era during which the NFL was ruled by enduring powerhouses, the upstart49ers changed all that with their quick rise and momentous, out-of-nowhere run to the franchise’s first Super Bowl championship. After taking over a 2-14 team and then repeating that record during his first season as head coach in 1979, Bill Walsh and his innovative West Coast Offense gained traction during a 6-10 finish in 1980, then improved seven games in the win column during a 13-3 finish in 1981 that earned San Francisco the NFC’s No. 1 playoff seed. The rest, as they say, is history.
2 2019: Had the 49ers been finishers after holding a 10-point lead with seven minutes to play in Super Bowl LIV, this turnaround season could have topped this list — and perhaps the list of any team in NFL history. As it was, coach Kyle Shanahan’s gang became just the third team in league history to reach the Super Bowl after winning only four games the previous season. The 49ers transformed into a true juggernaut after their 4-12 finish of 2018, with their nine-win leap to a 13-3 season and No. 1 playoff seed paralleling San Francisco’s 1981 turnaround in several ways — except for that resounding thud at the end.
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EIGHT IS ENOUGH
Set 49ers lineup still has several new starters
Calling all cornerbacks
Loss of Verrett exposes 49ers’ thin depth at CB
Always finding their way to run
49ers system accomplished at developing homegrown talent
ANOTHER COMEBACK?
Resilient veteran Verrett to miss rest of season
TOP 10 Rookie running backs
THE BACK LIST
STOCK UP STOCK DOWN
DEOMMODORE LENOIR | AMBRY THOMAS
Will Mostert run for 49ers again?
Raheem Mostert was primed this year to be the centerpiece of one of the NFL’s most dynamic offenses, featured as the lead performer in San Francisco’s grinding rushing attack while making his climb among the league’s top running backs.
THE WONDER OF WARNER
49ers make All-Pro star highest-paid LB in NFL
Making the right choice at QB
In the weeks that follow after you read this — and perhaps sometime even sooner than that — Kyle Shanahan and the rest of the 49ers organization will make a titanic decision that will have present, future and perhaps even everlasting implications for the franchise. It will chart the course for the team’s pivotal 2021 season while determining whether San Francisco really does have the juice to return to powerhouse status and again be considered a legitimate contender to get back to the Super Bowl.
TOP 10 Linebacker seasons
Fred Warner vaulted to stardom with a spectacular 2020 season — and the 49ers rewarded him this summer with a $95.225 million deal that makes him the highest-paid inside linebacker in NFL history. By today’s standards, Warner’s performance last year was worth the money as he posted an Approximate Value of 19 — matching the highest score ever recorded by a San Francisco defender according to a Pro Football Reference formula that puts a single number on each player-season across all positions since 1960. Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman (twice) also had seasons with an AV of 19 as they dominate this list of the greatest individual seasons by a linebacker in 49ers history.
