San Francisco 49ers: Ranking the top 10 teams in franchise history

No. 1: 1989 49ers

Record: 14-2, won Super Bowl

14 points for wins

5 points for division title

5 points for divisional-round win

10 points for NFC Championship game win

15 points for SB win

15 points for top 5 offense

5 points for No. 1 offense

15 points for top 5 defense

5 points for Joe Montana MVP

4 points for Jerry Rice leading league in receiving yards, receiving TDs

Total: 93

While the point total has the 1989 team winning out by a single point, there’s a statistic that didn’t factor into the formula that ultimately suggests the exercise holds up: The 1989 49ers still hold the record for largest margin of victory in a Super Bowl.

Yet the dominance didn’t just happen in the Super Bowl, as the 49ers were the top offense in the league and the No. 3 defense in the league through the regular season.

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Their two losses on the season were by a total of five points, and the defense allowed just 26 points in three playoff games, while the offense scored 126, an unthinkable 100-point margin of victory across three games.

Joe Montana won the NFL MVP award despite missing three regular-season games, and he continued his excellence in the playoffs, throwing for 800 yards and 11 touchdowns, including five in the Super Bowl, while neither tossing an interception or fumbling the football.

The offense also ran on a 1,000 rushing-yard campaign from running back Roger Craig (who compiled over 1,500 total yards from scrimmage), 1,000 receiving-yard years from both wide receivers Jerry Rice and John Taylor, and 500-plus receiving yards from both fullback Tom Rathman and tight end Brent Jones.

Defensively, Charles Haley and defensive end Pierce Holt tied for the team lead with 10.5 sacks, while Ronnie Lott snagged five interceptions. Linebacker Bill Romanowski and defensive end Kevin Fagan also contributed heavily to this dominant unit.

So while there wasn’t much that separated the 1989 team from the 1994 team, in the end, the overall dominance of the team on offense (and one more victory) set them apart as the best team in 49ers’ history.