NFL appreciation: 49ers play
4 NFC Championship Games
without giving up a touchdown
Posted: June 2018
The closest thing to a nickname ever given to the 1980s San Francisco 49ers was the quickly ubiquitous term "West Coast Offense."
Surely no one ever thought the defense deserved its own label. That may be one of pro football's great oversights.
From the 1984 through 1990 seasons, 7 total, the San Francisco 49ers played in 4 NFC Championship Games.
They didn't give up a touchdown in any of them.
That's not only a staggering achievement of defense but offense and special teams, who avoided critical, game-changing mistakes.
It's an almost unthinkable statistic.
The Steelers in 78-79 held the Oilers to 1 TD (on an interception) in 2 AFC title games, and in 74-75 held the Raiders to 1 TD in each game. But in 1972, they gave up 3 scores to Miami, and in 1976, 3 scores to Oakland, and finally by 1984, a heap of TDs by Dan Marino that are still too plentiful and painful to count.
Close to the 49ers' accomplishment is the late 1970s Dallas Cowboys, who played 3 NFC title games over the 4 seasons from 1975 through 1978 and gave up just one TD in those games, winning all 3. But they lost 2 of those Super Bowls.
Typically in conference championship games, at least one team, and sometimes both, plays great defense. In most conference championships, great offenses are stymied, and weaker ones are downright humiliated. Consider what happened to the 2017 Minnesota Vikings against the Philadelphia Eagles, or the 2016 Pittsburgh Steelers in New England.
The 49ers blanked the Chicago Bears 23-0 in the 1984 title game. By 1988, the Bears had another journeyman QB but could do no better than 28-3. In 1989, the flashy Los Angeles Rams were drilled 30-3 in the NFC title game. In the 1990 NFC Championship, one of the greatest football games ever played, the Giants too failed to get in the end zone — Maurice Carthon dropped a TD pass, and that was as close as they got — but prevailed on 5 field goals.
As for the 3 49er Super Bowls produced from those efforts, Dan Marino's Dolphins (who had just rampaged through the AFC) were held to 1 touchdown, same for the 1988 Cincinnati Bengals (on a kick return), same for the 1989 Denver Broncos (after the score was 41-3).
Skeptics can view the 49ers' defensive success in a different way. As in, it might've been contingent on the competition. They faced two journeymen backup QBs in the Bears games and lost to the Giants' backup (later a quality NFL starter).
Furthermore, the 49ers throughout the '80s had a heap of trouble with the Giants and lost their only playoff game with the Redskins. They had the best team in the NFL in 1987 and were upset by the Minnesota Vikings.
But the 1989 Rams, embarrassed 30-3 in the NFC title game, were the league's No. 2 scoring team and had starting QB Jim Everett under center.
No question, the 49ers should be known for their landmark offense. The stats show, in the biggest games, the D was money, too.