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1981 San Francisco 49ers: The Drive, The Catch & The Goal-Line Stand

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The San Francisco 49ers had been a moderately successful franchise in the early 1970s with John Brodie at quarterback, but those teams came up short in the playoffs and the team then fell on hard times. San Francisco struggled to a 6-10 finish in 1980, finishing third in the four-team NFC West they shared with Atlanta, the LA Rams and the New Orleans Saints. Atlanta had gone 12-4 and Los Angeles was 11-5 the previous year, with both making the playoffs, but losing to perennial power Dallas.

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Head coach Bill Walsh was of a mind to change that, having already made a jump from two to six wins and now was aiming for more. The godfather of the West Coast offense had his quarterback in place with Joe Montana and a good tandem of receivers in possession man Dwight Clark and deep threat Freddie Solomon.

Defensively the Niners needed help and they were banking on three rookie defensive backs—Eric Wright, Carlton Williamson and Ronnie Lott to step in and make immediate impact. No one was thinking Super Bowl, but the 1981 San Francisco 49ers had reason to think the winning was around the corner.

The season didn’t start off well. They lost their opener in Detroit and a Week 3 game at Atlanta gave absolutely no evidence that a changing of the guard in the NFC West in the offing. The Niners fell behind early, Montana did not play well and Atlanta’s Steve Bartkowski carved up the young secondary in a 34-17 final.

Consecutive wins over New Orleans and Washington got Walsh’s team to 3-2 and set up a mid-October home game with Dallas. No one was prepared for what happened in Candlestick Park. The 49ers had a 21-0 lead by the end of the first quarter and the Cowboys never got back into the game. Montana was efficient and Clark racked up over 100 yards in receiving. The 45-14 final sent a clear message to the conference’s traditional power.

There was no letdown afterward, as a win over Green Bay set up a game with Los Angeles. The 49ers again got off to fast start, leading 14-0 after a quarter. Montana and Ram quarterback Pat Haden—a future TV analyst and current USC athletic director—each played well, but Montana was able to play with a lead, Clark again had 100-plus receiving yards and San Fran churned out a 20-17 win.

One week later it was the defense who took center stage in Pittsburgh. While the Steelers, the dominant team of the 1970s, had begun their decline the previous year and missed the playoffs, they were still respected and the 14-3 shutdown performance was yet another sign that Walsh had something special going by the Bay.

In the meantime, Atlanta and Los Angeles were fading fast and would fall to 7-9 and 6-10 respectively. San Francisco was able to coast home, winning both remaining games against its division rivals, finishing 13-3 and securing both the NFC West and the top seed in the playoffs. They and Dallas were light-years ahead of the rest of the NFC and the October win was the difference in making the road to the Super Bowl come through Frisco.

San Francisco took the field for their first playoff game, facing the New York Giants. The Niners again scored first. Their fast starts were no coincidence, as Walsh had instituted the practice of scripting the first 25 plays, regardless of down and distance and San Fran used its preparation to consistently get the early edge.

In this game, Giant quarterback Scott Brunner wiped out the early deficit with a 72-yard strike to Earnest Gray, but the 49ers kicked into another gear for the second quarter, scoring 17 points, including a 58-yard pass from Montana to Solomon. The day of long scoring passes continued when Brunner completed a 59-yard play to cut the margin back to 24-14, but ultimately the Giant signal-caller was not efficient, completing only 16 of 37 passes, while Montana was a cool 20-for-31. The final was 38-24 and when Dallas destroyed Tampa Bay in the other divisional game, the NFC title showdown was set.

The 1981 NFC Championship Game was about more than who would play in the Super Bowl. It was about one proud traditional power looking to keep what it saw as their rightful place atop the conference, and another up-and-comer looking to change the landscape.

It was a game worthy of those stakes. San Francisco—have you heard this before?—struck first and took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, but Dallas scored 10 points before the quarter was out. The teams traded TDs and the lead in the second quarter and it was 17-14 Cowboys at the half.

San Francisco was nursing a 21-20 lead into the fourth quarter when Dallas quarterback Danny White found tight end Doug Cosbie for a touchdown. With the 49ers pinned on their own 12-yard-line and only 4:54 left, it looked like the Old Guard would hold on.

Dallas went to its softer coverages, and Walsh took advantage by running sweeps—without blitzing or constant penetration, the pulling guards could get good blocking angles, and San Francisco ran its way out of the shadow of their end zone. They eventually worked their way down to the Dallas 6-yard line with less than a minute to go, facing third-and-goal.

Montana rolled right, under pressure. He decided to throw the ball away, but didn’t quite get it out of the end zone. It was Clark who skied and snared the ball by his fingertips. An epic Sports Illustrated cover caught Clark’s catch at its apex and it went into NFL lore as simply “The Catch.”

 

 

The game didn’t end there. A Cowboy field goal could still undo The Catch and White hit Drew Pearson over the middle and got to the 50-yard line. Pearson nearly pulled away, but Eric Wright grabbed the receiver’s jersey and hung on for dear life. One play later, gut pressure forced White into both a sack and fumble and the 49ers had won.

San Francisco’s win had already ensured a changing of the guard in the NFL. A new team was coming out of the AFC as well, with Cincinnati validating its #1 seed with two home playoff wins over Buffalo and San Diego, the latter played in frigid and windy temperatures. The Super Bowl would be the first one played at a non-warm weather city. Detroit, with the old Pontiac Silverdome, would host the game.

Continuing their pattern, Montana’s offense got on the board with a first-quarter touchdown and with the Bengals suffering turnover problems, The 49ers added another TD in the second quarter and followed it up with two field goals to take a 20-0 lead into the locker room. The lead could’ve been larger, as the Bengal defense had stiffened near the goal line on the last two scoring drives. But it was nothing compared to what the Frisco defense had in store for the nation.

Cincinnati cut the lead to 20-7 and then drove to the 1-yard-line for a 1st-and-goal. Big fullback Pete Johnson was one of the best short-yardage bruisers in the league. He went into the line once and was stopped. He went into the line again and was stopped.

On third down, Cincinnati threw a swing pass to the goal line, but an outstanding tackle saved the touchdown. On fourth and less than a yard, Johnson tried again. And again was stopped. Even though the Bengals did cut the lead to 20-14, the momentum seemed clearly in San Francisco’s direction.

The Niners used that momentum for a pair of time-consuming drives that both ended in field goals from veteran kicker Ray Wersching. The Bengals got another late touchdown to make it 26-21 but when the 49ers covered the onside kick, it was all over.

Not only were two new teams in the Super Bowl, but San Francisco’s win ushered in a new dynasty. The 49ers would win three more championships with Montana at the helm, another with Steve Young in 1994, while Walsh’s successor George Seifert would lead the way to two of those rings. Walsh’s West Coast offense revolutionized the game and his “Coaching Tree” of assistants became the most successful ever spawned.

It all began with the 1981 San Francisco 49ers and The Drive, The Catch & The Goal-Line Stand.

NFL Analysis: Seattle’s Big Win More About Sloppiness

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I don’t want to take anything away from the Seattle Seahawks. Their 29-3 victory over the San Francisco 49ers was a big statement win , after the Niners had played so well in a Week 1 win over the Green Bay Packers. And beyond all the “statement” stuff that doesn’t mean much in Week 2, the Seahawks’ win had a big practical effect, in giving them the early lead in a division race that may settle homefield advantage in the NFC playoffs and ultimately who wins the Super Bowl.

My preface to this praise has led you to the correct conclusion that a “but” is coming, and that is this—my biggest takeaway from Sunday night’s game is more the sloppiness of play on both sides, not all of which can be blamed on the lightning storm that caused a long delay just prior to halftime.


The two teams combined for 22 penalties, and each got into double digits. The yardage lost from the yellow laundry neared the 200 point. The pass protection was not very good, with San Francisco getting four sacks and Seattle getting three. When you consider that the quarterbacks in question where Colin Kaepernick and Russell Wilson, it makes you wonder how bad it might have been had a conventional slow dropback passer been in the game.

Finally, the deciding factor was San Francisco’s completely inability to take care of the ball. They lost two fumbles and Kaepernick threw three interceptions. While Seattle was no prize in this area, Wilson only threw one interception and no fumbles were lost. A 5-1 turnover margin is way too much in any game, much less a battle like this one.

Even though my biggest takeaway from this game is the poor quality of play, Seattle still made one very significant positive step—they ran the football. Marshawn Lynch ground out 98 yards on 28 carries and the team overall went for 172. While Lynch’s yards-per-rush wasn’t high, this is against a good run defense and it showed the Seahawk rush game hadn’t lost its mojo after a poor showing in Week 1.

San Francisco, on the other hand, has now failed to run the ball effectively in two straight games. While the quality of competition has been pretty high, the conventional wisdom says the Seahawks and Packers are the two teams Frisco needs to beat in order to get back in the Super Bowl. And after just missing a title in 2012, that’s the only goal that matters in northern California.

There is a long way to go, and we have to extremely careful about not rushing to broad-based conclusions in the excitement of the early weeks of the season. The long grind is still ahead. But it seems apparent that both Jim Harbaugh and Pete Carroll have plenty to work on if their teams are going to meet expectations this season. At least Carroll is the one doing it at 2-0 and secure that his team held serve at home in the first a long, drawn-out fight.

More NFL analysis From Week 2
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AFC Powers Struggle
Final Week 2 Wrap-Up

NFL Analysis: Green Bay & San Francisco Set The Bar High

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If you’re a part of the conventional wisdom that sees Green Bay-San Francisco as a logical—even likely—matchup in this coming January’s NFC Championship Game, then nothing happened on Sunday afternoon to change your mind. The 49ers held serve at home with a 34-28 win over the Packers, but both teams set a high bar for any challengers to come after.

Green Bay did a lot of what they could realistically do on defense. After the playoff meltdown of 2012 where San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick ran wild, the Packers kept the mobile QB in the pocket. Green Bay also stopped the run, holding Frank Gore to 44 yards. It put the 49er offense in the place where opposing defenses want—making Kaepernick try and win the game from the pocket.


What happened in the pocket is what makes San Francisco positively frightening. Kaepernick threw for 412 yards and didn’t have a single interception. His athletic ability means defenses have to play conservative, which means time to throw. If Kaepernick is now going to start picking secondaries apart, this turns into the biggest advantage since 1980s Tecmo Bowl players could run wild with Bo Jackson.

But in spite of Kaepernick’s brilliance and in spite of being on the road, Green Bay hung right in the game the entire way and nudged out in front, 28-24 in the fourth quarter. The Packers had their own problems running the ball—Eddie Lacy had just 41 on the ground, and made my Monday podcast colleague, Greg DePalma at Prime Sports Network accurately wonder why Green Bay won’t play fellow rookie Jonathan Franklin.

But the Packers also had Aaron Rodgers, and #12 worked over the San Francisco corners, combining with Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson for 14 catches and 238 yards. Rodgers ended up at 333 yards on the day and his one interception was a fluke, where tight end Jermichael Finley dropped a perfect pass and batted it into the hands of a defender. Actually correct that—it was a fluke that Rodgers threw a pick, but Finley’s drops are anything but a fluke. It’s persistent Green Bay problem that has to change.

If there’s one thing the Packers have to be disappointed in, it’s the play of the secondary in some key situations. The most notable was San Francisco’s 4th-and-2 play in the final two minutes of the game, from the Green Bay 37. If the Packers stop this play, it’s a three-point game and Rodgers has plenty of time to tie, or even win it.

The front seven defended Kaepernick perfect. He rolled right, just like at the end of last year’s Super Bowl, and saw a wall of defenders. Only this time, Green Bay corner Tramon Williams lost track of San Francisco receiver Anquan Boldin, who was wide open for a easy first down pass. It begs the question of how the team’s go-to receiver, who had 208 yards on that day, gets left wide-open. If Kaepernick beats you going to his third or fourth options fine, but Williams can’t make it that easy.

San Francisco’s win will loom large in the tiebreaker picture, presuming both teams end up in the fight for homefield advantage and first-round byes. But in the bigger picture, this was the best Green Bay played in what is now three successive losses to the 49ers. If you’re a Packer fan, you have to feel like you’ve got a real shot in a January rematch, wherever it’s played. If you’re  a Niner fan, you just watched your quarterback be defended as well as any defense can, and he still lit it up. Yup, the bar in the NFC was set high on Sunday afternoon.

NFL analysis of Week 1concludes with a look at the other 15 games right here.  

NFL Analysis: The Niners Try And Climb The Last Step

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The San Francisco 49ers come into a season looking for redemption off of heartbreak for the second year in a row. In 2011, they lost a gutwrenching NFC Championship Game to the New York Giants. Last year they lost the Super Bowl to the Baltimore Ravens when they were stopped three times inside the 5-yard-line. There’s only one way to keep moving forward and it’s to win it all. Today’s NFL analysis measures the Niners against that very high bar.

It’s the running game that has been the cornerstone of San Francisco’s offensive success over the last two years, but there are reasons to expect that to change. Jim Harbaugh’s gutsy quarterback change from Alex Smith to Colin Kaepernick in the second half of last season gave the offense some extra juice and drastically altered the team’s personality.

No longer should the Niners be near the bottom of the league in sacks allowed, as they were a year ago. Kaepernick creates more big-play possibilities with his mobility and forcing secondaries to be on the alert. Even if the rush yardage continues to dominate this team’s offensive box score, it’ s more likely to be off the read-option than the conventional attack.


The offensive personality change is coming in time, because I don’t know how wise it is to continue to rely on Frank Gore for rushing yards, especially now that Gore has hit 30-years-old. LaMichael James has great talent as the backup, but is also a question mark for consistency.

San Francisco has ultimately won with defense, but here too, I expect the times to change. They didn’t defend the run very well in 2012, and while the pass defense remains solid, 33-year-old Justin Smith is showing some wear and tear at defensive end. Smith was hurt in the latter part of last year, and when he was out, or playing wounded, the team’s pass rush suffered noticeably.

The Niners still have a fantastic linebacking corps, the lynchpin of any 3-4 scheme. Aldon Smith had 19.5 sacks and made a run at Defensive Player of the Year, coming up short to Houston’s J.J. Watt. On the opposite side, Ahmad Brooks is a solid pass rusher, and Patrick Willis is as good on the inside as anyone in the game.

Super Bowl or bust is the mindset in the Bay Area, and the betting markets in Las Vegas have obliged, posting this team’s Over/Under win total at 11.5. I have my doubts that this is going to be a big year for the Niners. They’ve already lost wide receiver Michael Crabtree, and they’re counting on a 32-year-old wide receiver in Anquan Boldin to take on an outsized role in the passing attack.

It’s going to be a fun year and the team transitions to relying more on the offense. But I think there’s going to be some growing pains, as defenses have had a full year to study Kapernick and the read option, and the Niners own D is going to experience a drop off. San Francisco is still good, still a contender, but I’m going Under on the number.

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