1990 San Francisco 49ers season

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1990 NFL draft

Staff

• Owner/president – Edward J. DeBartolo Jr.

• Executive vice president/general counsel – Carmen Policy

• Vice president of football administration – John McVay

• Administrator of football operations – Neal Dahlen

• Administrator of college scouting – Tony Razzano

• Administrator of pro personnel – Allan Webb

• Executive administrative assistant – Dwight Clark

• Head coach – George Seifert

• Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks – Mike Holmgren

• Running backs – Al Lavan

• Wide receivers – Sherman Lewis

• Offensive line – Bobb McKittrick

• Offensive quality control – Jon Gruden

• Defensive coordinator – Bill McPherson

• Defensive line – John Marshall

• Assistant defensive line – Dwaine Board

• Linebackers – Bob Zeman

• Defensive backs/secondary – Ray Rhodes

• Defensive assistant – Tommy Hart

• Special teams coordinator/tight ends – Lynn Stiles

• Physical development coordinator – Jerry Attaway

Roster

Regular season

Schedule

Game summaries

Week 2: vs. Washington Redskins

Week 3: vs. Atlanta Falcons

Week 5: at Houston Oilers==== -->

Week 6: at Atlanta Falcons

• October 14, 1990 – Joe Montana set a 49ers record by throwing for 476 yards in one game and throwing six touchdown passes.
• October 14, 1990 – Jerry Rice set a 49ers record with 5 touchdown receptions and 30 points in one game.

Week 7: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 8: vs. Cleveland Browns==== -->

Week 9: at Green Bay Packers

• November 4, 1990 – In a game versus the Green Bay Packers, Joe Montana threw for 411 yards and 3 touchdown passes.

Week 10: at Dallas Cowboys

Week 11: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 12: vs. Los Angeles Rams====-->

Week 13: vs. New York Giants

;Giants

• Phil Simms 14/32, 153 Yds
• Ottis Anderson 19 Rush, 39 Yds
• Mark Bavaro 3 Rec, 43 Yds ;49ers
• Joe Montana 12/29, 152 Yds, TD
• Dexter Carter 12 Rush, 29 Yds
• Roger Craig 2 Rec, 42 Yds

It was the second highest rated Monday Night game ever at the time. The game had a 42% share and a 26.9 rating.

Week 14: at Cincinnati Bengals

• December 9, 1990 – The 49ers beat the Cincinnati Bengals in overtime. Mike Cofer kicked a 23-yard field goal to give the 49ers a 20–17 victory.

Week 15: at Los Angeles Rams

Week 16: vs. New Orleans Saints

Week 17: at Minnesota Vikings==== -->

Standings

Postseason

Schedule

NFC Divisional Playoffs: vs. (5) Washington Redskins

Montana quickly rallied the 49ers back in the second quarter, leading them on an 80-yard scoring drive that saw San Francisco fool Washington with a halfback option play in which running back Harry Sydney completed a 28-yard pass to tight end Brent Jones. On the last play of the drive, Montana fired a 10-yard pass to Rice in the end zone, who caught the ball between two defenders to retake the lead for San Francisco at 14–10. The team was aided by another controversial call on the drive; Jones caught his 47-yard reception in the air and landed with a foot out of bounds, but officials ruled he had been forced out in the air by safety Alvin Walton. At the time, a reception made by a player forced out of bounds still counted as a catch. This rule was changed in 2008. Then after a punt, Montana again went to work, completing a 32-yard pass to halfback Roger Craig and a 47-yarder to Jones before finishing off the 89-yard possession with an 8-yard scoring toss to Mike Sherrard.

Sherrard's touchdown made the score 21–10 going into halftime, and it turned out to be the final score of the day for the offenses of both teams. Washington advanced inside the 49ers' 15-yard line three times in the second half, but failed to score on all of them. On their second possession of the half, they advanced 66 yards to the 49ers' 7-yard line before Johnnie Jackson picked off a third down pass intended for Monk in the end zone. Early in the fourth quarter, Monk caught three passes for 63 yards on a drive to the San Francisco 15, only to see Rypien get hit as he threw a pass, which floated right into the hands of cornerback Darryl Pollard. Linebacker Monte Colemanquickly gave the Redskins another chance to get back in the game, intercepting a pass from Montana and returning it 18 yards to the 49ers 19-yard line with 10:28 left in regulation. Faced with fourth down and 5 from the 14, Rypien threw the ball to receiver Gary Clark in the end zone.  Eric Davis seemed to make contact with Clark before the ball arrived, but no flag was thrown and the pass fell incomplete, causing a turnover on downs. In the closing minutes of the game, 49ers linebacker Charles Haleydeflected a pass from Rypien into the arms of 295-pound defensive tackle Michael Carter, who rumbled 61 yards to the end zone to make the final score 28–10.

This was the third postseason meeting between the Redskins and 49ers. The teams split the previous two meetings.

NFC Championship: vs. (2) New York Giants

Just like the regular season game between the two teams won by the 49ers 7–3, the championship game was mostly a defensive battle. San Francisco running back Roger Craig's fumble with 2:36 left in the game led to Giants kicker Matt Bahr's 42-yard game-winning field goal as time expired. Bahr was New York's only scorer with 5 (of 6) field goals. Despite not scoring a TD in eight quarters against the 49ers, the Giants moved on to Super Bowl XXV with their victory. The 49ers ended their season but in 1991 they missed playoffs finishing 10-6

Awards and records

• Led NFC with 353 points scored
• Charles Haley, Led NFC, Sacks (16)
• Charles Haley, NFC Pro Bowl
• Ronnie Lott, NFC Pro Bowl
• Joe Montana, AP NFL MVP
• Joe Montana, Associated Press Athlete of the Year
• Joe Montana, NFC Pro Bowl Selection, Injured, did not play
• Joe Montana, Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year
• Guy McIntyre, NFC Pro Bowl
• Jerry Rice, NFL Leader, Receptions (100)
• Jerry Rice, NFL Leader, Receiving Yards (1,502)
• Jerry Rice, NFL Leader, Receiving Touchdowns (13)
• Jerry Rice, NFC Pro Bowl

Milestones

• Jerry Rice, First 100 reception season

References

References

1. "1990 NFL Pro Bowlers". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
2. "1990 NFL All-Pros". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
3. Goldberg, Dave. (December 12, 1990). "Forty-Niners also have super payroll". Victoria Advocate.
4. Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.
5. [http://www.nndb.com/honors/906/000166408/ Associated Press Athlete of the Year (male)]
6. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, {{ISBN. 0-7611-2480-2, p. 440