Twenty-three years ago this week, the San Francisco 49ers travelled north to Seattle to face the Seahawks.
As is the case with the current team, the ‘91 side took the journey whilst in the possession of a record that tallied seven wins and six losses, as well as enduring a season marred by injuries to several key players.
After losing out on the chance of the ‘three-peat’ in 1990 thanks to a demoralising loss to the New York Giants in the NFC Championship Game, the front office of the 49ers undertook a severe cull of the roster that had earned them back-to-back Super Bowls and a host of accolades in the previous decade.
Some of the upper echelon of talent was retained including the likes of Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, but numerous elite players were either released or allowed to retire. Players such as Ronnie Lott, Roger Craig, Matt Millen, Jim Fahnhorst and Keena Turner departed as the front office desperately looked to balance the books after taking financial risks to retain every player for the 1990 assault to earn a third Lombardi trophy in a row.
Such was the depth of talent that Bill Walsh had accumulated, tthat he team was still expected to be competitive in the league and had a good chance of returning to the playoffs even with several starting places up for grabs in the preseason.
The hopes of returning to the postseason took a huge blow before the first regular season game had even taken place. Late in August it was discovered that Joe Montana had an elbow injury and after a few days of fans and media second-guessing each other, Montana was placed on injured reserve. He stayed there for the entire 1991 season.
Enter Steve Young. The former BYU star had sat behind Montana on the depth chart since being traded to San Francisco from the Buccaneers in 1987. Since then, Young had started on numerous occasions when the ageing Montana was injured, but he had never had the prospect of starting for an entire season before.
With so much of the veteran leadership on the team gone, plus the awkward task of adjusting to a completely different style of player behind center, the 49ers were understandably quite erratic in the beginning of the season. By the time the team lined up in Atlanta for a week 10 divisional game against the Falcons, the 49ers had a 4-4 record but were looking like they had turned a corner after impressive wins against the Lions and Eagles in the two previous weeks. However, fate dealt another blow to the team at Fulton County Stadium, when Steve Young suffered a knee injury that could have possibly meant him missing the rest of the season. The team were now down to third-string quarterback Steve Bono, who guided the team for the next several weeks.
The 49ers lost in Atlanta and in the following week against the Saints, but got back on track with three straight wins to bring them to 7-6 for the week 15 game against Seattle.
The 1991 Seahawks were three years removed from winning the AFC West division, but since then they had failed to finish higher than fourth whilst seeing their win-loss record hover around .500. By the time they welcomed the 49ers into the Kingdome, the Seahawks had accrued 6 wins and seven losses.
The game
Establishing a strong running game early, Seattle put their visitors on the back foot with a first quarter score when running back James Jones bustled in from a yard out. Seattle kicker John Kasay missed the extra point however, so the Seahawks were ahead by six points.
Starting once again for the injured Steve Young was third-string 49ers quarterback Steve Bono. San Francisco had struggled to run the ball all season and this trend continued against Seattle, meaning it was even more important for Bono to settle into the game if the team were going to be in with a chance of winning. Bono began to find a rhythm in the second quarter after struggling against a stingy Seattle secondary at the start of the game. After moving the ball deep into the Seattle red zone, Bono completed a pass to backup running back Harry Sydney for a 3-yard touchdown. Cofer kicked the extra point and the 49ers were in the lead, 7-6.
The lead didn’t remain static for long however, as the Seahawks came back with a 27-yard field goal after a promising drive fizzled out just shy of the goal line. Seattle were back in front but with seconds to go before halftime, Steve Bono was able to gain enough yardage for a speculative Mike Cofer 50-yard field goal attempt. The kick went up and squeaked through the uprights as time expired and so the visiting team held a 1-point lead going into the locker room. San Francisco 10, Seattle 9.
After the break the 49ers continued to see success through the air but the ground game continued to be stifled by the Seattle defense. Bono threw his second touchdown pass of the game to Jerry Rice from 9-yards out mid-way through the third quarter to extend the 49ers lead. The visitors were now in front by a score of 17-9.
Sensing that the game was on the line, Seattle responded with their best drive of the game. Continuing to be thwarted by the 49ers secondary, the Seahawks utilised running back James Jones and fullback John Williams to steadily pound the ball upfield. Quarterback Dave Krieg, who had found little success all game through the air, joined in on the rushing attack by reeling off a couple of runs of his own as the home side managed to manoeuvre the ball all the way to the San Francisco 5-yard line. From there the veteran fullback Williams rumbled through the goal-line defense to score. The Seahawks were now right back in the game and only a single point behind their opponents.
Both teams then began to feel the pressure, each losing the ball on their next possessions. In total seven turnovers would occur during the game, with the 49ers suffering five of them.
On their way to 150 total rushing yards in the game, the Seahawks moved to within field goal range in the fourth quarter and kicker John Kasey found his target firstly from 25 yards out to put the home side ahead for the first time, then again from 38 yards. Seattle were now winning 22-17.
Aside from an early score the 49ers had struggled offensively in the second half, accumulating nothing more than interceptions and fumbles as they watched the Seahawks clamber into the lead and extend said lead with field goals. With the game on the line and with interceptions fresh in his memory, how would Steve Bono react?
He may well have been only the third option at quarterback for the 49ers, but like his peers Steve Bono was well coached and took to his task of giving his side a chance at an unlikely win.
With the rushing game still faltering, Bono lent upon John Taylor and Jerry Rice for essential catches as the team made its way downfield with the game clock ticking ever closer to the final whistle.
Fifteen yards from glory and with time ebbing away, Bono dropped back from center and lobbed a pass up for John Taylor. The 49ers receiver, renowned for having a safe pair of hands, did not disappoint and came down with the touchdown catch! After the extra point, the 49ers were now back in the lead by 24 points to 22, with just over a minute left to play in the fourth quarter.
It was now time for the defense to stand stoutly and prevent the ‘Hawks from getting to within field-goal range and they succeeded!
The visitors had clawed back from a difficult second half performance to win away from home against a scrappy opponent. Surviving three lost fumbles, two interceptions and a surging home team in front of a raucous crowd, the 49ers had managed to compose themselves just in time to pull a come-from-behind win that put them at 8-6 for the season.
Steve Bono threw for 280 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. His main target that afternoon was John Taylor, who scored the game-winning touchdown on his way to a 113 yard day. Jerry Rice finished with 67 yards and a touchdown.
The 49ers went on to post a respectable 10-6 record, but sadly it was only good enough for third place in the NFC West, meaning that they failed to qualify for the playoffs.
Considering the drastic cull of the roster that happened at the start of the campaign, plus losing Joe Montana for the entire season and then Steve Young for a significant amount, the 1991 season should be looked upon as a successful one, even though the team failed to reach the playoffs.
References
SteveBonoCard, n.d. photograph, viewed 12 December 2014, < http://www.sfweekly.com/imager/todays-birthday-steve-bono-former-4/b/big/2656139/7164/SteveBonoCard.jpg >
No comments:
Post a Comment