1983 San Francisco 49ers season

The 1983 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 34th season in the National Football League and their 38th overall. The team attempted to improve on its 3–6 record from 1982. The 49ers started the season with a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, 22–17. However, the 49ers throttled the Vikings the next week 48–17 and then the Cardinals the following week 42–27. They ended the first half of the season 6–2 before splitting their last eight games to finish the season 10–6 and clinching the NFC West and the #2 seed in the playoffs. In the divisional round of the playoffs, the 49ers came back to beat the Lions 24–23 after Joe Montana found Freddie Solomon in the end zone with 1:23 remaining, and Lions kicker Eddie Murray missed a 41-yard field goal as time expired. However, in the NFC Championship game, the 49ers were not able to outlast the top-seeded Redskins, as after coming back to tie a game in which they trailed 21–0 at the start of the 4th quarter, they lost 24–21 after Washington took the lead on a field goal with 40 seconds left in the game.

1983 San Francisco 49ers season
Head coachBill Walsh
Home fieldCandlestick Park
Results
Record10–6
Division place1st NFC West
Playoff finishWon Divisional Playoffs (vs. Lions) 24–23
Lost NFC Championship (at Redskins) 21–24
Pro BowlersQB Joe Montana
DE Fred Dean
CB Ronnie Lott
FS Dwight Hicks

Offseason

NFL Draft
Main article: 1983 NFL Draft
1983 San Francisco 49ers Draft
RoundSelectionPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
15 Traded to the Chargers
22 Traded to the Chargers
249 Roger CraigRunningbackNebraska
359 Blanchard MontgomeryLinebackerUCLA
490 Tom HolmoeDefensive BackBYU
5117 Riki EllisonLinebackerUSC
7175 Gary MotenLinebackerSMU
9229 Mike MularkeyTight EndFlorida
10259 Jeff MerrellDefensive tackleNebraska
11289 Jesse SapoluCenterHawaii

Personnel

Staff
1983 San Francisco 49ers staff
Front office

Head coaches

  • Head Coach – Bill Walsh

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – Fred von Appen

Strength and conditioning

  • Physical Development Coordinator – Jerry Attaway

Roster
1983 San Francisco 49ers roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists

{{{reserve_lists}}}


Practice squad {{{practice_squad}}}


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 3 Philadelphia Eagles L 17–22 55,775
2 September 8 at Minnesota Vikings W 48–17 58,167
3 September 18 at St. Louis Cardinals W 42–27 38,132
4 September 25 Atlanta Falcons W 24–20 57,814
5 October 2 at New England Patriots W 33–13 54,293
6 October 9 Los Angeles Rams L 7–10 59,118
7 October 16 at New Orleans Saints W 32–13 68,154
8 October 23 at Los Angeles Rams W 45–35 66,070
9 October 30 New York Jets L 13–27 54,796
10 November 6 Miami Dolphins L 17–20 57,832
11 November 13 New Orleans Saints W 27–0 40,022
12 November 20 at Atlanta Falcons L 24–28 39,782
13 November 27 at Chicago Bears L 3–13 40,483
14 December 4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 35–21 49,773
15 December 11 at Buffalo Bills W 23–10 38,039
16 December 19 Dallas Cowboys W 42–17 59,957

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Week 2
1 234Total
• 49ers 13 2807 48
Vikings 7 370 17

[1]

Standings
NFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
San Francisco 49ers(2) 10 6 0 .625 4–2 8–4 432 293 W3
Los Angeles Rams(5) 9 7 0 .563 5–1 8–4 361 344 W1
New Orleans Saints 8 8 0 .500 2–4 7–5 319 337 L1
Atlanta Falcons 7 9 0 .438 1–5 4–8 370 389 W1

Postseason

Schedule
Round Date Opponent (seed) Result
Divisional December 31 Detroit Lions (3) W 24–23
NFC Championship January 8, 1984 at Washington Redskins (1) L 21–24

NFC Divisional Playoff
Game summary
1 2 34Total
Lions 3 6 01423
49ers 7 7 3724

at Candlestick Park, San Francisco

Game information
  • Scoring
    • DET – field goal Murray 37 DET 3–0
    • SF – Craig 1 run (Wersching kick) SF 7–3
    • SF – Tyler 2 run (Wersching kick) SF 14–3
    • DET – field goal Murray 21 SF 14–6
    • DET – field goal Murray 54 SF 14–9
    • SF – field goal Wersching 19 SF 17–9
    • DET – Sims 11 run (Murray kick) SF 17–16
    • DET – Sims 3 run (Murray kick) DET 23–17
    • SF – Solomon 14 pass from Montana (Wersching kick) SF 24–23

Quarterback Joe Montana hit Freddie Solomon with a 14-yard touchdown pass with 1:23 left in the game as the 49ers held off the Lions 24–23. Lions kicker Eddie Murray missed a 43-yard field goal with 5 seconds left in the game, one of his two misses in the 4th quarter. Five interceptions of Lions quarterback Gary Danielson played a major role in the 49ers' win.

NFC Championship Game
Game summary
1 2 34Total
49ers 0 0 02121
Redskins 0 7 14324

at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, Washington, D.C.

Game information
  • Scoring
    • WAS – Riggins 4 run (Moseley kick) WAS 7–0
    • WAS – Riggins 1 run (Moseley kick) WAS 14–0
    • WAS – Brown 70 pass from Theismann (Moseley kick) WAS 21–0
    • SF – Wilson 5 pass from Montana (Wersching kick) WAS 21–7
    • SF – Solomon 76 pass from Montana (Wersching kick) WAS 21–14
    • SF – Wilson 12 pass from Montana (Wersching kick) 21–21
    • WAS – field goal Moseley 25 WAS 24–21

The 49ers overcame a 21-point 4th-quarter deficit to tie the game. But two controversial calls against the 49ers set up a 25-yard field goal by Mark Moseley with 40 seconds remaining. Joe Montana was then intercepted on the last play of the game to seal the win for Washington.

Awards and records
  • Ray Wersching, Franchise Record, Most Field Goals in One Game, 6 Field Goals (October 16, 1983)[2]

References
  1. "San Francisco 49ers at Minnesota Vikings - September 8th, 1983". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  2. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 142
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