49ers history of games played on Christmas Day
By Peter Panacy
The 49ers will host the Ravens for a Week 16 showdown on Christmas Day, but when have the Niners played on this holiday before?
For years, the NFL dominated Thanksgiving and gave way (mostly) to the NBA featuring high-profile games on Christmas Day.
Given that the NFL is king, though, it was only a matter of time before football became more of a Christmas mainstay instead of basketball.
Especially when the holiday lines up with the league calendar in a perfect setting.
Such is the case this year with three games being played on Monday, Dec. 25:
- Las Vegas Raiders @ Kansas City Chiefs: 1 p.m. ET
- New York Giants @ Philadelphia Eagles: 4:30 p.m. ET
- Baltimore Ravens @ San Francisco 49ers: 8:15 p.m. ET
It's the last game we here at Niner Noise are most interested in watching, although it would be great to see the G-Men beat Philly earlier on the holiday.
The 11-3 Niners host the 11-3 Ravens in a Monday Night Football showdown that could easily be a Super Bowl preview.
Having already played on Thanksgiving, San Francisco is making its second round of holiday features, but have the 49ers played on Christmas day before?
Yes. They have.
Brief history of 49ers and Christmas Day games
The Niners have played on Christmas before. But not a lot.
According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, San Francisco has just one game that fell on Dec. 25, and it was back in 1993.
Unfortunately, it was a low-scoring 10-7 home loss at Candlestick Park to the Houston Oilers, which is somewhat ironic given the fact that the 49ers blew out the Detroit Lions on the road 55-17 the week before.
Quarterback Steve Young went 15-of-29 in the game for just 178 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions.
See? Even the best quarterbacks who end up in the Hall of Fame have bad days, and Young had one here against what ended up being the fourth-best defense in the NFL that season.
The Niners would lose the following week in overtime to the Philadelphia Eagles, too, but they still managed to make it to the NFC Championship game that season, ultimately losing to the Dallas Cowboys.
The following year was much, much more awesome for San Francisco, though.
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