Niner Noise
FanSided

San Francisco 49ers: Top 30 all-time moments in franchise history

By Peter Panacy

SAN FRANCISCO - AUGUST 10: (L-R) Former San Francisco 49er players Steve Young, Jerry Rice and Joe Montana stand with a Super Bowl trophy during a public memorial service for former 49ers coach Bill Walsh August 10, 2007 at Monster Park in San Francisco, California. NFL Hall of Famer Bill Walsh, who was known by many as 'The Genius' for leading the San Francisco 49ers to three Super Bowl championships, died last week at the age of 75 after a long battle with leukemia. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO - AUGUST 10: (L-R) Former San Francisco 49er players Steve Young, Jerry Rice and Joe Montana stand with a Super Bowl trophy during a public memorial service for former 49ers coach Bill Walsh August 10, 2007 at Monster Park in San Francisco, California. NFL Hall of Famer Bill Walsh, who was known by many as 'The Genius' for leading the San Francisco 49ers to three Super Bowl championships, died last week at the age of 75 after a long battle with leukemia. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) /
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Candlestick Park hosted many of San Francisco’s greatest moments. And the 1980 Week 14 comeback against the New Orleans Saints was one of them. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Candlestick Park hosted many of San Francisco’s greatest moments. And the 1980 Week 14 comeback against the New Orleans Saints was one of them. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 16: 49ers Comeback vs. the Saints in 1980

The 1980 49ers weren’t exactly a good team as San Francisco finished with a 6-10 record. But the 49ers did have a young quarterback in Joe Montana and a number of new faces that would forever change the franchise the following year.

Late in the season, in Week 14 to be exact, the 49ers were hosting the New Orleans Saints and quickly found themselves trailing 35-7 at halftime.

“Bill got to the point where things were just not going our way offensively or defensively and called us up and said, ‘Look guys, it’s not our day today. We’re going to start over from right now and let’s try to build something going forward to the end of the game and let’s get going something positive to get us into next week,’” Montana recalled of then-coach and Hall of Famer Bill Walsh via Andrew Pentis of 49ers.com. “He didn’t do anything crazy, he didn’t just (say), ‘Throw it down the field and try to hope for plays.’

“We went back into our base-offense. And we found out that our offense, the base-side of our offense, was pretty good and allowed us actually to come back and win that game.”

San Francisco would rally for 28 unanswered points in the second half to tie the game and send it into overtime.

49ers kicker Ray Wersching would seal San Francisco’s amazing comeback victory with a 36-yard field goal in the extra frame.

The win was the greatest comeback in NFL history up to that point and still stands as one of the most memorable moments in San Francisco history.