1997 San Francisco 49ers: New Coach, Same Outcome

1997 was a year of change for the San Francisco 49ers, with Steve Mariucci taking over as head coach. For almost two decades the franchise had been the gold standard in the NFL—winning Super Bowl titles under Bill Walsh in 1981, 1984 and 1988, and then doing it twice more under George Seifert in 1989 and 1994. The last two 49er editions, however, while still playing at an elite level, had seen their seasons end with decisive losses to Brett Favre’s Green Bay Packers in the playoffs. The 1997 season saw Mariucci continue the pattern of success—along with the pattern of how it ended.

Steve Young was now 36-years-old, but the future Hall of Fame quarterback still played at a Pro Bowl level in ’97. Young’s 68 percent completion rate and 8.5 yards-per-attempt were both the best among starting quarterbacks. He also stayed away from mistakes, with a 1.7 percent interception rate ranking fourth.

San Francisco didn’t throw the ball a lot, but when they did, Young was razor-sharp, and he finished fourth in the MVP voting. Terrell Owens and J.J. Stokes were both young receivers, and when Jerry Rice suffered an early-season injury, the young duo stepped up and combined to catch 118 passes. William Floyd came out of the backfield to catch 37 more.

The running game was built around Garrison Hearst. Running behind a line anchored by Pro Bowl left guard Kevin Gogan, Hearst had 1,000-plus yards at 4.4 a pop before an injury sidelined him down the stretch. All in all, the balanced 49er offense, even without Rice, still finished fifth in the league for points scored.

Dana Stubblefield led an aggressive defense. The tackle recorded 15 sacks and won Defensive Player of the Year honors. Chris Doleman, another great 36-year-old vet, finished with 12 sacks of his own and made the Pro Bowl. Linebackers Lee Woodall and Ken Norton Jr both punched Pro Bowl tickets. So did free safety Merton Hanks.

The defense further benefitted from bringing in the great Rod Woodson from Pittsburgh, and the 32-year-old corner still had productive football left in him. San Francisco’s defense ranked third in the NFL for points allowed.

An early August 31 start to the season was in Tampa Bay, where a young head coach named Tony Dungy saw a young team that would ultimately make the playoffs come together. It started right here, aided by the 49ers having a particularly disastrous afternoon. Young was knocked out of the game early with a concussion and San Francisco quarterbacks were sacked seven times. They gave up ten fourth-quarter points and lost 13-6.

Did anything else go wrong in Tampa? Oh yes, Rice tore an ACL and was presumed gone for the season. That’s the backdrop for how the 49ers entered a stretch of four straight divisional games.

The alignment of the pre-2002 NFL, with just three divisions per conference, left something to be desired geographically. Atlanta, New Orleans, and Carolina were all in the NFC West. As were the Rams, who then played in St. Louis. So, the 49ers were the only NFC West team that played west of the Mississippi River.

Jim Druckenmiller started in place of Young in Week 2 at St. Louis. It was a sloppy game, with both teams turning the ball over four times. San Francisco trailed 12-7 in the fourth quarter. But Hearst, on his way to a 92-yard day, galloped 35 yards for a touchdown that produced a 15-12 win.

Young returned for the home opener against the Saints. Pass protection continued to be a problem, and he was sacked five times. But when he was able to throw, he completed 18/21 for 220 yards. Meanwhile, the defense, led by Woodson’s three interceptions collected eight turnovers. The 49ers rolled to a 33-7 win.

Atlanta came in next, and Young was even better. He hit Stokes with a 10-yard touchdown pass early, then hit Owens with a 56-yard scoring strike and San Francisco led 24-0 by halftime. Young finished 17/24 for 336 yards with no mistakes in the 34-7 win.

Carolina had surprised everyone by winning the NFC West a year earlier, when both they and the 49ers went 12-4. The Monday Night game in Charlotte was a highly anticipated early season test. But this year’s Panther team was mediocre, and it showed. Hearst rolled up 141 yards and San Francisco outrushed Carolina 219-44. The 49er D intercepted three passes, two by Hanks. The 34-21 final was not close.

San Francisco rolled into their bye week at 4-1, having beaten everyone in a division where none of their rivals would even get to .500. They had set the tone for the season.

A schedule frontloaded with NFC West games continued on the far side of the bye. The 49ers outrushed the Rams 156-30, Young threw three touchdown passes, and Doleman led a pass rush that produced four sacks. San Francisco cruised to a 30-10 win at home.

The 49ers went to Atlanta and spotted the Falcons a 7-0 lead, before reeling off 21 unanswered points. Hearst ran for 105 yards, while the defensive line shut down the Atlanta ground game and generated six sacks. Three of those came from tackle Roy Barker. While the pass defense was a little wobbly, San Francisco still got out of town with a 35-28 win.

Young was sharp in New Orleans, going 20/32 for 230 yards and no mistakes. That was more than enough on a day the defense was completely dominant, led by Stubblefield’s two sacks. The result was a 23-0 whitewash.

After seven straight divisional games, it was time to play an old friend. San Francisco had joined the Dallas Cowboys as the NFL’s pre-eminent franchises in the first part of the 1990s, before Green Bay rose up in recent seasons. The 49ers and Cowboys had played in some memorable games. But this year’s Dallas team would fall out of the playoffs. While San Francisco trailed 10-7 after three quarters, they were getting after Troy Aikman with the pass rush—two more sacks by Stubblefield. Hearst ran for 104 yards. The 49ers controlled the fourth quarter and won 17-10.

That set up a Monday Night trip to Philadelphia. The Eagles were lingering in playoff contention, although they would fall hard down the stretch. Hanks got the party started for San Francisco by scooping up a fumble and going 38 yards to the house. With the lead at 14-6, Chuck Levy returned a punt 73 yards for a touchdown. And Stubblefield put on an electric show for the prime-time audience, getting four sacks and leading the way to a 24-12 win.

The final divisional game of the year took place at home with Carolina in mid-November. Young threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Floyd as the 49ers raced to a 17-0 lead by the second quarter. Young finished 17/22 for 221 yards and no interceptions. The result was another not-as-competitive-as-it-sounds final against the Panthers, this one 27-19.

A home date with a bad San Diego Chargers team was next. San Francisco didn’t play their best game, but the stars did what they had to do. Young went up top from 37 yards to Owens and 36 yards to Stokes for touchdowns. Two sacks apiece from Stubblefield and 35-year-old Kevin Greene led the defense. The 49ers got a 17-10 win.

San Francisco was soaring at 11-1. The NFC West race was officially clinched. With the top two seeds getting first-round byes, the 49ers were in firm control to get a week off in the playoffs. They needed only to hold off the 9-3 Packers to get homefield advantage throughout the NFC bracket.

As the postseason loomed, San Francisco also needed to show they could play with top-level competition. Tampa Bay was the only opponent to date who would finish with a winning record. The consistency against mediocre-to-bad teams was admirable, but now it was time to see if the 49ers could take the next step.

To that end, an early afternoon visit to Kansas City on the Sunday after Thanksgiving was nothing short of a disaster. Facing the team who would get the top seed in the AFC, the 49ers couldn’t protect Young and couldn’t run the ball. They had just 24 minutes of possession time, were in a 28-3 hole by halftime and suffered an embarrassing 44-9 loss.

Anything else? Oh yes, Hearst was lost for the season. Young’s supporting cast at the skill positions was down another big contributor. San Francisco was still a game up on Green Bay and owned the conference record tiebreaker, but the 49ers did not look the part of a favorite.

Playoff-bound Minnesota presented another opportunity. This time, San Francisco was ready. Without Hearst, they weren’t able to run the ball, but Young answered the bell. He spread the ball around, going 20/25 for 280 yards and played clean football. The 49ers got their best win of the season to date, an efficient 28-17 triumph.

The Denver Broncos were neck-and-neck with Kansas City at the top of the AFC and came in for Monday Night Football. It was a game of enormous consequence for both teams. And in a highly improbable development, Rice was going to come back from an injury that was supposed to sideline him for the rest of the year.

It didn’t start well, as San Francisco fell behind 10-0 and Rice reinjured his knee, affirming that he had tried to come back too soon. But the defense got settled in and contained Terrell Davis and the potent Bronco running game. They forced the great John Elway into an erratic night. Young played well, going 22/34 for 276 yards. The 49ers pulled into a 17-17 tie.

Then the defense took over. Hanks picked off an Elway pass and brought it back 55 yards for a touchdown. After a field goal stretched the lead to ten, Greene delivered the coup de grace—returning a fumble 40 yards to the house. With a 34-17 win, San Francisco got an even better win than the week prior, against a team that eventually won the Super Bowl. And the 49ers had secured the #1 seed in the NFC.

Late-season Sunday Night games weren’t flexed in this era, so San Francisco’s now-meaningless game with Seattle (an AFC West team prior to 2002) stayed in prime-time. Young played just enough to keep sharp going into the bye week, but the 49ers just mailed in a game they lost 38-9. But they had closed the year at 13-3, gotten their best wins in December, and were primed for the playoffs.

On the Saturday after New Year’s the Vikings were back in the Bay Area for the Divisional Round. San Francisco was a healthy 11 ½ point favorite. They got a short touchdown run from Floyd to start the scoring, although Minnesota responded with a 66-yard TD catch by the great Cris Carter. It was 7-7 after a quarter.

Terry Kirby was getting the carries since the Hearst injury and he would finally find his groove. On a day where Kirby went for 120 yards, he scored a second-quarter TD to put his team back ahead. Norton then made a defensive play, with a 23-yard Pick-6. It was 21-7 at the half and the 49ers were in control.

They added a field goal before Carter kept the Vikes in it with another touchdown catch. But Young immediately responded with a 15-yard toss to Owens. It was 31-14, and all but over. Young finished 21/30 for 284 yards, while Stokes caught nine balls for 101 yards. The defense held Minnesota to 57 yards rushing. Both teams scored in the fourth quarter, and San Francisco finished off an easy 38-22 win.

A familiar foe was now coming in for the NFC Championship Game. Oddsmakers made their position known—even playing at home, the 49ers were a (+1.5) point underdog to the defending champion Packers. As it turned out, that was generous to San Francisco.

Playing on a rainy, sloppy field, the 49ers got nothing going offensively. They were held to 33 yards rushing. They couldn’t pressure Favre, while Young was sacked four times. Green Bay just methodically pulled away. The only San Francisco touchdown came on a Levy kickoff return with under four minutes to play. The final was 23-10 and didn’t feel even that close.

It was a disheartening end to an otherwise fine start to the Mariucci Era. And with Young’s career winding down, it did signal that San Francisco’s time as a member of the NFL elite was also starting to fade. But these 49ers weren’t done yet—in 1998, Young and Mariucci got back to the playoffs—and this time, they finally beat the Packers.