The 49ers were established in 1950 as the Bay Area's NFL franchise, but struggled for their 1st 20 years of existance, with just 1 playoff berth. The team had a few
good runs with 3 playoff berths in the early 1970s, but did not become the outstanding franchise that fans remember until the early 1980s. In 1981, with Joe Montana in his first year at starting quarterback and receiver Dwight Clark having an amazing year that would culminate in a game winning catch in the
AFC title game, the 49ers made the playoffs and their 1st Super
Bowl. The Niners
win Super Bowl XVI in a 4th quarter comeback against the Bengals. After a poor season the next year,
San Francisco went on a streak of 8 straight playoff berths from 1983-90. During that
time, the team's powerful offense, now with excellent receiver Jerry
Rice, won 3 more
Super Bowls. They dominated the Dolphins to
win Super Bowl XIX in
1984 and then won back to back crowns in 1988 and 1989, in what were 2 totally different championship games. The Super Bowl XXIII
win was in a thriller against the Bengals, while the Super Bowl XXIV title was an
easy victory. After just missing the playoffs in 1991, they went on another postseason streak from 1992-98. Now with Steve Young under center, they won their 5th Super Bowl in 1994, a blowout to take SB XXIX. The team was dismantled after 1998, but with a new cast, they returned to dominance a few years later, with playoff berths in 2001 and 2002. However, since then, the team has been struggling and were the league's second worst team in 2005.
