October 14, 2026
October 14, 2026
Entering the 1981 season, it had been eight years since the San Francisco 49ers last made the playoffs. Over the previous three seasons, the 49ers could only muster a 10-34 record as they struggled in the basement of the NFC West. At the start of the 1981 season, the team handed the reins of the offense to third-year quarterback Joe Montana. Montana wasn’t the only change the 49ers made for the upcoming season. They also overhauled their secondary, adding rookie Ronnie Lott and giving Dwight Hicks a permanent starting role on defense. For the 1981 San Francisco 49ers, all of these adjustments fell into place, and a dynasty was born.
The start of the 1981 season didn’t help validate the changes the 49ers made during the offseason. They lost two of their first three games, but the 49ers righted the ship and won twelve of their final thirteen. They finished with an NFL-best 13-3 record and the No. 1 seed in the NFC, as the 1981 team page at Pro Football Reference shows.
In his first year as a starter, Joe Montana completed 64% of his passes for 3,565 yards and 19 touchdowns. He earned the first of eight career Pro Bowl selections. His primary target, Dwight Clark, was also selected to the Pro Bowl thanks to his 85 catches, 1,105 yards, and 4 touchdowns.
Head coach Bill Walsh’s West Coast Offense used short passes to control the clock. Only one of their running backs surpassed 500 rushing yards, but the 49ers used their backs as pass catchers out of the backfield. Fullback Earl Cooper was third on the team with 51 receptions and 477 receiving yards.
The offense scored 22.3 points per game, but the defense was the difference maker. The 49ers allowed only 15.6 points per contest, which ranked second in the NFL. They were also second in total yards allowed, and the secondary improved from 17 interceptions in 1980 to 27 interceptions in 1981. Dwight Hicks led the team with 9 interceptions. Rookie cornerback Ronnie Lott was second on the team with 7 interceptions, and he returned three of them for touchdowns.
The 49ers rolled through the regular season and earned a first-round bye.
San Francisco faced the New York Giants in the Divisional round of the playoffs. The 49ers led 24-10 at halftime, but the Giants cut the lead to 24-17. The 49ers answered with a 3-yard rushing touchdown by Bill Ring, and Ronnie Lott put the game away with an interception he returned 20 yards for a touchdown. San Francisco won 38-24 to advance to the NFC Championship Game against the Dallas Cowboys.
This was the 49ers’ third appearance in the NFC Championship Game, and they had lost the two previous appearances to the Dallas Cowboys. The 49ers led 21-17 entering the fourth quarter thanks to two Joe Montana touchdown passes and a 2-yard rushing touchdown from Johnny Davis. The Cowboys then scored 10 consecutive points in the fourth quarter to take a 27-21 lead.
Time ticked away, but Montana drove the 49ers into Cowboys territory. With less than a minute left to play and the 49ers on the Dallas 6-yard line, Montana rolled to his right and lofted a pass to Dwight Clark in the end zone. The pass was high, but Clark reached up and snatched it out of the air for the touchdown. The play would forever be known as “The Catch”, and it sent the 49ers to the Super Bowl.
Just like the 49ers, the Cincinnati Bengals were making their first franchise appearance in the Super Bowl. In Super Bowl XVI, Joe Montana threw one touchdown and ran for another as the 49ers built a 20-0 halftime lead. The Bengals fought back, but they couldn’t overcome their four turnovers. The 1981 San Francisco 49ers won the game 26-21, taking home the first of five Super Bowls the franchise would win in thirteen years.
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