1983 San Francisco 49ers season

American football team season August 2023 March 2026 San Francisco 49ers 1983 10–6 1st NFC West Edward J. DeBartolo Jr. John McVay Bill Walsh Bill Walsh George Seifert Candlestick Park Won Divisional Playoffs(vs. Lions) 24–23Lost NFC Championship(at Redskins) 21–24 QB Joe MontanaDE Fred DeanCB Ronnie LottFS Dwight Hicks 49ers seasons thumb | right | alt=The uniform of the San Francisco 49ers, 1976-1983. | The uniform of the San Francisco 49ers, 1976-1983. 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. Offseason NFL draft 1983 NFL draft 1983 San Francisco 49ers 2 49 Roger Craig RB Nebraska yes yes yes 3 59 Blanchard Montgomery LB UCLA yes 4 90 Tom Holmoe DB BYU yes 5 117 Riki Ellison LB USC yes 7 175 Gary Moten LB SMU yes 9 229 Mike Mularkey TE Florida no 10 259 Jeff Merrell DT Nebraska no 11 289 Jesse Sapolu C Hawaii yes yes Personnel Staff / Coaches 1983 San Francisco 49ers Owner – Edward J. DeBartolo, Jr. President – Bill Walsh Vice President/General Counsel – Carmen Policy General manager – John McVay Director of College Scouting – Tony Razzano Director of pro personnel – Allan Webb Head coach – Bill Walsh Quarterbacks/Receivers – Paul Hackett Running Backs – Sherman Lewis Offensive Line – Bobb McKittrick Assistant Offensive Line/Tight Ends – Fred von Appen Defensive coordinator – George Seifert Defensive Line – Bill McPherson Linebackers – Norb Hecker Defensive Backs – Ray Rhodes Defensive Assistant – Tommy Hart Special Teams – Fred von Appen Physical Development Coordinator – Jerry Attaway Roster 1983 San Francisco 49ers  7 Guy Benjamin  6 Matt Cavanaugh 16 Joe Montana 33 Roger Craig American football y 25 Jeff Moore American football 30 Bill Ring 26 Wendell Tyler 87 Dwight Clark 84 Darius Durham y 83 Renaldo Nehemiah 88 Freddie Solomon 85 Mike Wilson wide receiver 89 Earl Cooper American football 81 Russ Francis 80 Eason Ramson 68 John Ayers T 51 Randy Cross G 62 Walt Downing C 71 Keith Fahnhorst T 66 Allan Kennedy T 77 Bubba Paris T 56 Fred Quillan C 61 Jesse Sapolu y G 76 Dwaine Board DE 74 Fred Dean DE 67 Pete Kugler NT 65 Lawrence Pillers DE 72 Jeff Stover DE 79 Jim Stuckey DE 57 Dan Bunz ILB 50 Riki Ellison ILB 59 Willie Harper OLB 52 Bobby Leopold OLB 53 Milt McColl OLB 53 Gary Moten y ILB 64 Jack Reynolds ILB 58 Keena Turner OLB 54 Ron Ferrari ILB 44 Richard Blackmore American football CB 47 Tim Collier CB 22 Dwight Hicks FS 28 Tom Holmoe y FS 42 Ronnie Lott CB 48 Ken McAlister SS 43 Dana McLemore CB 27 Carlton Williamson SS 21 Eric Wright cornerback, born 1959 CB  3 Tom Orosz P 14 Ray Wersching K 15 Bryan Clark American football QB IR 24 Rick Gervais S IR 75 John Harty American football DE IR -- Robert Hubble no DE IR -- Lonnie Lawson no y S IR -- John Macaulay American football C IR 32 Carl Monroe y RB IR 60 Blanchard Montgomery LB IR -- Tim Morrison no G IR -- Mike Wood American football y K IR Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 August 6, 1983 at Los Angeles Raiders L 23–26 (OT) 0–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 41,337 2 August 14 New England Patriots W 17–15 1–1 Candlestick Park 50,043 3 August 20, 1983 at San Diego Chargers L 7–24 1–2 Jack Murphy Stadium 43,939 4 August 27, 1983 Seattle Seahawks L 6–20 1–3 Candlestick Park 47,074https://www.profootballarchives.com/1983nflsf.html 1983 San Francisco 49ers (NFL) Pro Football Archives November 2, 2023 Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 3, 1983 Philadelphia Eagles L 17–22 0–1 Candlestick Park 55,775 2 September 8, 1983 at Minnesota Vikings W 48–17 1–1 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 58,167 3 September 18 at St. Louis Cardinals W 42–27 2–1 Busch Memorial Stadium 38,132 4 September 25 Atlanta Falcons W 24–20 3–1 Candlestick Park 57,814 5 October 2 at New England Patriots W 33–13 4–1 Sullivan Stadium 54,293 6 October 9 Los Angeles Rams L 7–10 4–2 Candlestick Park 59,118 7 October 16 at New Orleans Saints W 32–13 5–2 Louisiana Superdome 68,154 8 October 23 at Los Angeles Rams W 45–35 6–2 Anaheim Stadium 66,070 9 October 30 New York Jets L 13–27 6–3 Candlestick Park 54,796 10 November 6 Miami Dolphins L 17–20 6–4 Candlestick Park 57,832 11 November 13 New Orleans Saints W 27–0 7–4 Candlestick Park 40,022 12 November 20 at Atlanta Falcons L 24–28 7–5 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 39,782 13 November 27 at Chicago Bears L 3–13 7–6 Soldier Field 40,483 14 December 4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 35–21 8–6 Candlestick Park 49,773 15 December 11 at Buffalo Bills W 23–10 9–6 Rich Stadium 38,039 16 December 19, 1983 Dallas Cowboys W 42–17 10–6 Candlestick Park 59,957 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Game summaries Week 2: at Minnesota Vikings 49ers 13 28 0 7 Vikings 7 3 7 0 September 8 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 8:30 p.m. EST 58,167 Indoors (dome) Jim Tunney Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, and O. J. Simpson ABC yes Q1 SF Wersching 38 yard field goal SF 3–0 Q1 SF Clark 21 yard pass from Montana (Wersching kick) SF 10–0 Q1 MIN Brown 1 yard run (Ricardo kick) SF 10–7 Q1 SF Wersching 32 yard field goal SF 13–7 Q2 SF Cooper 2 yard pass from Montana (Wersching kick) SF 20–7 Q2 SF Wright 60 yard interception return (Wersching kick) SF 27–7 Q2 SF Solomon 14 yard pass from Montana (Wersching kick) SF 34–7 Q2 SF Tyler 6 yard pass from Montana (Wersching kick) SF 41–7 Q2 MIN Ricardo 32 yard field goal SF 41–10 Q3 MIN LeCount 30 yard pass from Kramer (Ricardo kick) SF 41–17 Q4 SF Craig 1 yard run (Wersching kick) SF 48–17 yes https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198309080min.htm San Francisco 49ers at Minnesota Vikings - September 8th, 1983 Pro-Football-Reference.com Standings Postseason 1983–84 NFL playoffs Schedule Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Venue Divisional December 31, 1983 Detroit Lions (3) W 24–23 Candlestick Park NFC Championship January 8, 1984 at Washington Redskins (1) L 21–24 RFK Stadium NFC Divisional Playoffs: vs. (3) Detroit Lions San Francisco 49ers 1983 2;text-align:center; autocollapse NFC Divisional Playoffs: (3) Detroit Lions at (2) San Francisco 49ers – Game summary Lions 3 6 0 14 49ers 7 7 3 7 Candlestick Park, San Francisco 4:00 p.m. EST/1:00 p.m. PST 59 °F °C or, sunny CBS Frank Glieber and Dick Vermeil 59,979 Pat Haggerty 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: at (1) Washington Redskins San Francisco 49ers 1983 2;text-align:center; autocollapse NFC Championship: (2) San Francisco 49ers at (1) Washington Redskins – Game summary 49ers 0 0 0 21 Redskins 0 7 14 3 Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, Washington, D.C. 12:30 p.m. EST 39 °F °C 1 or, mostly cloudy CBS Pat Summerall and John Madden 55,363 Jerry Markbreit 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)NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, 0-7611-2480-2, p. 142 References External links 1983 49ers on Pro Football Reference 49ers Schedule on jt-sw.com San Francisco Category:NFC West championship seasons Category:San Francisco 49ers seasons Category:1983 in San Francisco San