This is the first instalment of a weekly article that will pick an historical 49ers game from the corresponding week that the team is currently playing.
I aim to give an accurate account of the chosen game, including memorable occurrences, players and other interesting facts. It is our hope that the article will help older fans remember games from the past, and newer fans to get a taste of the rich history of our beloved gridiron team.
This week in 49ers history......Week 1: 1994
Twenty years ago this week, the 49ers found themselves in a similar situation to the team that we follow today: Ripe with talent at all positions with arguably the best and most complete coaching staff in the league, and yet haunted by bitter play-off losses in recent previous seasons.
As with the 2014 season, 1994 began with a matchup against one of our major historical rivals, the Los Angeles Raiders.
The Raiders had put together a consistently strong team and had finished there or thereabouts in the AFC for several years. 1994 was to be their final year in LA before heading back to Oakland.
One of our most beloved players, full-back Tom Rathman – now the 49ers' running-backs coach – joined the Raiders that same year to play his final NFL season in silver and black.
Coming off of back-to-back NFC championship game losses to the Dallas Cowboys, the 49ers rearmed an already talented team in the offseason, and the pressure was mounting to perform at an even higher level in '94.
And the 49ers were thrust into the spotlight immediately as they went against one of their biggest rivals in the first 'Monday Night Football' game of the season.
Three linebackers were added to the team in the offseason as Rickey Jackson, Ken Norton Jr (who jumped over to the Niners from the Cowboys) and Gary Plummer all signed with the 49ers, with the latter duo going on to become team stalwarts for several years to come.
Jackson, a four time All-Pro at the start of the '94 season, would retire at the end of 1995.
The 49ers' most high-profile signing of the year would not arrive until after the 49ers and Steve Young were handed a Week 2 loss by franchise legend Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs, with the acquisition of cornerback Deion Sanders really signalling San Francisco's Super Bowl intentions.
The Game
The 49ers started fast. Young connected with Jerry Rice to open the scoring with a 69-yard touchdown, although that was not to be the last time the two linked up on a night that ended up going down in history.
Before the end of the first quarter, Young found tight end Brent Jones for another score to make it 14-0.
Tim Brown pulled a TD back for LA in the second quarter to bring the Raiders to within seven points of the lead, only for running-back Ricky Watters to re-establish the 49ers' dominance as he bustled in from a yard out, although the subsequent missed extra-point kept the score at 20-7
The Raiders scored a one-yard rushing touchdown to reduce the advantage to 20-14 during the second quarter, but that proved to be the last time LA would have anything to celebrate.
The '94 San Francisco team is generally remembered as an offensive powerhouse with the added bonus of Sanders on defense.
That assessment is unfair to an extremely talented and well coached defense that proved to be just as efficient as the superstars on offense.
The 49er defense all but eradicated the LA running game, holding them to a total of just 34 yards at an average of 1.7 yards per carry.
Los Angeles were just as ineffective through the air, putting up under 200 passing yards with one TD and one interception.
Altogether, the San Francisco defense accumulated five sacks – including one from Jackson - one interception and two fumbles.
After a field goal stretched the San Francisco lead to 23-14 at half-time, the 49ers ran away from LA following the interval, with a second touchdown pass to Jones quickly putting the Niners 30-14 ahead.
This MNF game will always be remembered for the next two scores however, which firmly cemented the greatest player of all time's place in the record books.
With just under a quarter left to play, the 49ers found themselves at the Raider 23-yard line. Proving his game speed yet again, Jerry Rice took a reverse all the way around and through the over-aggressive Raider defense for a rushing touchdown which equalled the all-time TD record held by the legendary Jim Brown.
That score put San Francisco 37-14 ahead and effectively ended the game as a contest.
But the 49ers were not finished yet. This was Monday Night Football, this was Al Davis and the Raiders, and this was an opportunity not to be missed.
Rather than trotting out a team of backups to see out the remaining minutes, the 49ers kept their first-stringers on the field and gained possession of the football deep in opposing territory as Jackson recorded his first San Francisco sack to force the Raiders to concede possession with a failed fourth-down attempt.
With the aggressive playcalling of offensive co-ordinator Mike Shanahan, the 49ers went for broke on their first play. Young, harassed by a Raider defense determined not to be embarrassed on a national stage, threw down the middle and man of the moment Rice found space in-between the defenders to make the catch in the endzone.
The best wide receiver in the league was now enshrined as the GOAT, a moniker he only served to solidify in the rest of his career as Rice scored his 127th touchdown, passing Jim Brown at the top of the all-time list.
San Francisco ended the game as 44-14 victors, a win that began a season that is remembered for a glorious fifth Super Bowl triumph in perfect fashion.
The 1994 season started with a recent history of bitter play-off disappointments, and with a televised game against a major rival.
Let us hope we beat the Dallas Cowboys in week one of a 2014 season that will hopefully end with 49ers fans toasting a Super Bowl win 20 years after our last NFL title.
No comments:
Post a Comment