Niner Noise
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San Francisco 49ers: 10 best teams in franchise history

By Bryan Knowles

Dec 20, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; General view of the Lombardi Trophies from the San Francisco 49ers won in Super Bowls XVI, XIX, XXIII, XXIV and XXIX at the 49ers museum before the game against the San Diego Chargers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 20, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; General view of the Lombardi Trophies from the San Francisco 49ers won in Super Bowls XVI, XIX, XXIII, XXIV and XXIX at the 49ers museum before the game against the San Diego Chargers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 8, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; ESPN analyst Steve Young prior to the game between the Detroit Lions and New York Giants at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 8, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; ESPN analyst Steve Young prior to the game between the Detroit Lions and New York Giants at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports /

7. 1992

Record: 15-3 (Lost in NFC Championship to Dallas)
Head Coach: George Seifert
Starting Quarterback: Steve Young
Best Players: QB Steve Young, WR Jerry Rice, RB Ricky Watters

The irony, in my opinion, of 1994 being the year Steve Young finally “got the monkey off his back” was that Young’s ’92 MVP season should have been more than enough to get people firmly behind him. Young led the NFL in completion percentage, touchdowns, quarterback rating, yards per attempt—pretty much every efficiency rating and statistic you could name, Young led the league in it.

He had to win a quarterback competition to even get the job, however. Joe Montana was still around, even after missing the entire 1991 season with an elbow injury. Montana had to have a couple extra surgeries, and the team was “forced” to turn to Young, who just responded by winning the freakin’ league MVP.

The offense set franchise records in 1992, which is impressive considering the offensive output the team had in the ‘80s. They set the franchise record for most points in a game in a 56-17 rout of Atlanta. They set a-then franchise record for most yards in a game with 598 in a legendary shootout with Buffalo’s K-Gun offense. They led the league in points scored by a substantial margin. Ricky Watters rushed for over a thousand yards as a rookie, while Jerry Rice led the league in receiving with over 1,500 yards and 15 receiving touchdowns, the beginning of the best three-year stretch of Rice’s unparalleled career.

Harris Barton was an All-Pro on offense, holding his own at right tackle, and Guy McIntyre and Steve Wallace also made Pro Bowl appearances, as did tight end Brent Jones.  Add in Jesse Sapolu, and that’s a heck of an offense—a combination of the great players on the late ‘80s teams of Walsh and the mid ‘90s teams of Seifert; a sort of best of both worlds.

While only Pierce Holt made the Pro Bowl on defense, they were very, very good at keeping teams out of the end zone, surrendering the third-fewest points in the league that year. They gave up far more than their fair share of yards, but there’s a myth that the 49ers of the early ‘90s couldn’t win the big one until they signed a bunch of free agents on defense before the 1994 season; it’s worth noting that the ’92 squad actually allowed fewer points than that free-agent loaded ’94 team.  Michael Carter and Merton Hanks also were on this year’s roster.

Unlike some of the other teams on this list, they don’t have an excuse for losing their conference title game; they were simply outplayed by a superior Dallas Cowboys team at the peak of their dominance. But that MVP for Young, and those offensive records, showed that the 49ers were going to be just fine in their transition from one era to another.

Next: 1994