1987 San Francisco 49ers season

The 1987 San Francisco 49ers season was the team's 38th year with the National Football League. The 49ers won the division for the second consecutive season, and ended the season as the top seed in the NFC playoffs. The season ended with an upset loss to the Minnesota Vikings in the divisional round of the playoffs.

1987 San Francisco 49ers season
Head coachBill Walsh
Home fieldCandlestick Park
Results
Record13–2
Division place1st NFC West
Playoff finishLost Divisional Playoffs (Vikings) 36–24

The season

The 49ers lost the first game of the season to Pittsburgh. In their second game against Cincinnati, it appeared that they were going to start the season 0–2, down by 6 points with just seconds to play. However, quarterback Joe Montana threw a 25-yard pass to wide receiver Jerry Rice as time expired. The 49ers used the victory as a springboard to a 13–1 run to end the season with the best record in the NFL.

The 49ers scored 459 points, the most in the NFL in 1987; they also scored 206 more points than they allowed, best in the league as well. The 49ers gained the most total yards (5,987), the most rushing yards (2,237) and second most passing yards (3,750) in the NFL in 1987.[1]

Wide receiver Jerry Rice was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year and the Bert Bell Award (for Player of the Year). Rice caught 22 touchdown passes in a strike-shortened 12 games, a record that stood for twenty years (with the 23rd reception occurring on the 16th and final game of the season).[2] Rice led the league in receiving yards per game (89.8), total touchdowns (23), and points scored (138). Quarterback Joe Montana (who crossed the picket line during the strike) led the league with 31 touchdown passes. He also led the league in passer rating (102.1) and completion percentage (66.8%).

The San Francisco defense was also very strong, surrendering the fewest total yards (4,095), fewest passing yards (2,484) and fifth-fewest rushing yards (1,611) in the NFL in 1987. The 1987 49ers have the best passer rating differential (offensive passer rating minus opponents' combined passer rating) of the Live Ball Era (1978–present), with +52.4.[3]

Offseason

When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected quarterback Vinny Testaverde first overall in the 1987 NFL Draft, Tampa Bay quarterback Steve Young was traded to the 49ers on April 24, 1987. The Buccaneers received 2nd and 4th round draft picks in the trade, which they used to draft Miami linebacker Winston Moss, and Arizona State wide receiver Bruce Hill.

NFL Draft
Main article: 1987 NFL Draft
  • Harris Barton was the first offensive lineman selected in the first round of the NFL Draft by the 49ers since Forrest Blue was selected in 1968.[4]

Personnel

Staff
1987 San Francisco 49ers staff
Front office
  • Owner – Edward J. DeBartolo, Jr.
  • President – Bill Walsh
  • Vice President/General Counsel – Carmen Policy
  • Vice President/General Manager – John McVay
  • Administrator of Football Operations – Neal Dahlen
  • Director of College Scouting – Tony Razzano
  • Director of Pro Personnel – Allan Webb
  • Executive Administrative Assistant – Norb Hecker

Head coaches

  • Head Coach – Bill Walsh

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Physical Development Coordinator – Jerry Attaway

NFL replacement players

After the league decided to use replacement players during the NFLPA strike, the following team was assembled:

Roster of the 1987 Replacement 49ers

Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

  • 17 Tony Gladney
  • 29 Terry Greer
  • 32 Ray Brown
  • 82 Kevin Collins
  • 83 Carl Monroe
  • 84 Dennis Allen
  • 84 Thomas Henley
  • 86 Thai Ivory
  • 86 James Hardy
  • 87 Dwight Clark
  • 88 Jeff Tiefenthaller

Tight Ends

Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

Linebackers

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

Roster
1987 San Francisco 49ers roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Regular season

In 1987, Jerry Rice led the NFL with 22 touchdown receptions. The runner-up was Philadelphia Eagles receiver Mike Quick with 11. This marked the first time in NFL history that a category leader doubled the total of his nearest competitor.[5]

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 13, 1987 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 17–30
55,735
2 September 20, 1987 at Cincinnati Bengals W 27–26
53,498
– September 27, 1987 Philadelphia Eagles canceled
3 October 5, 1987 (Mon) at New York Giants W 41–21
16,471
4 October 11, 1987 at Atlanta Falcons W 25–17
8,684
5 October 18, 1987 St. Louis Cardinals W 34–28
38,094
6 October 25, 1987 at New Orleans Saints W 24–22
60,497
7 November 1, 1987 at Los Angeles Rams W 31–10
55,328
8 November 8, 1987 Houston Oilers W 27–20
59,740
9 November 15, 1987 New Orleans Saints L 24–26
60,436
10 November 22, 1987 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 24–10
63,211
11 November 29, 1987 Cleveland Browns W 38–24
60,248
12 December 6, 1987 at Green Bay Packers W 23–12
51,118
13 December 14, 1987 (Mon) Chicago Bears W 41–0
63,509
14 December 20, 1987 Atlanta Falcons W 35–7
54,698
15 December 27, 1987 Los Angeles Rams W 48–0
57,950

Game summaries

Week 2
1 234Total
• 49ers 0 7137 27
Bengals 10 1006 26

[6]

Standings
NFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
San Francisco 49ers(1) 13 2 0 .867 5–1 10–1 459 253 W6
New Orleans Saints(4) 12 3 0 .800 4–1 8–3 426 283 W9
Los Angeles Rams 6 9 0 .400 1–5 5–7 317 361 L2
Atlanta Falcons 3 12 0 .200 1–4 3–8 205 436 L3

Postseason

NFC Divisional Playoff vs Minnesota Vikings
NFC Divisional Round: Minnesota Vikings at San Francisco 49ers – Game summary
1 2 34Total
Vikings 3 17 10636
49ers 3 0 14724

at Candlestick Park, San Francisco, CA

The 13-2 49ers suffered one of the biggest upsets in playoff history as the 8-7 Vikings came into Candlestick and beat the 49ers 36-24. Vikings QB Wade Wilson threw for 298 yards, and Anthony Carter caught 10 passes for 227 yards. Joe Montana struggled so much, that Steve Young came in to relieve him. Though he played better, it wasn't enough. The Vikings took a 20-3 halftime lead, and held on for the major upset.

Awards and records

Milestones

References
  1. Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1987 NFL Standings, Team & Offensive Statistics
  2. It was broken by Randy Moss in 2007.
  3. "Cold Hard Football Facts: 40 and Fabulous: in praise of passer rating". Archived from the original on 2012-08-17. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
  4. 1990 NFL Pro Set Harris Barton trading card, Card No. 284, Pro Set Properties
  5. Numbelivable!, p.147, Michael X. Ferraro and John Veneziano, Triumph Books, Chicago, Illinois, 2007, ISBN 978-1-57243-990-0
  6. Pro-Football-Reference.com
  7. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 142
  8. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 447
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-06-19. Retrieved 2012-08-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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