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cowboys and the 49ers are winning between the cowboys and the 49ers.
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cowboys and the 49ers
with the offense playing well consistently, walsh and the 49ers focused on overhauling the defense in 1981. walsh took the highly unusual step of overhauling his entire secondary with rookies and untested players, bringing on board ronnie lott, eric wright and carlton williamson and giving dwight hicks a prominent role. he also acquired veteran linebacker jack "hacksaw" reynolds and veteran defensive lineman and sack specialist fred dean. these new additions, when added to existing defensive mainstays like keena turner, turned the 49ers into an offensively and defensively balanced, dominant team. after a 1–2 start, the 49ers won all but one of their remaining games to finish with a 13–3 record, up to this point in time it was the team's best regular season win-loss record in its history. dean made the pro bowl, as did lott, and hicks. led by montana, the unusual offense was centered on the short passing game, which walsh used as ball control. both dwight clark and freddie solomon had excellent years receiving; clark as the possession receiver, and solomon as more of a deep threat. the 49ers running game, however, was among the weakest in the league. ricky patton led the 49ers with only 543 yards rushing. the 49ers' most valuable running back, however, might have been earl cooper, whose strength was as a pass-catching back. the 49ers faced the new york giants in the divisional playoffs and won, 38–24. this set up an nfc championship game match-up with the dallas cowboys, whom the 49ers historically could not beat during their playoff runs in the early 1970s. the 49ers played the cowboys tough, but the cowboys forced six turnovers and held the lead late. the 49ers were down 27–21 and on their own 11-yard line with 4:54 remaining. as montana had done for notre dame and the 49ers so many times before, he led the 49ers on a sustained final 89-yard drive to the cowboys' 6-yard line. on a 3rd-and-3 play, with his primary receiver covered, montana rolled right and threw the ball off balance to dwight clark in the end zone, who leaped up and caught the ball to tie the game at 27 (now known as "the catch"), with the extra point giving the 49ers the lead. despite this, the cowboys had one last chance to win. on the first play of the next possession, cowboys receiver drew pearson caught a pass from danny white and got to midfield before he was pulled down by the jersey at the 49ers 44-yard line by cornerback eric wright saving a potential late-touchdown. on the next play, white was sacked by lawrence pillers and fumbled the ball, which was recovered by jim stuckey, giving the 49ers the win and a trip to their first ever super bowl against the cincinnati bengals, who were also in their first super bowl. in super bowl xvi the 49ers took a 20–0 halftime lead and held on to win 26–21 behind kicker ray wersching's four field goals and a key defensive stand. throughout the '81 season, the defense had been a significant reason for the team's success, despite residing in the shadow of the then-innovative offense. montana won mvp honors mostly on the strength of leading the 49ers on a 92-yard, 12 play drive culminating in a touchdown pass to earl cooper. thus did the 49ers complete one of the most dramatic and complete turnarounds in nfl history, going from a 2–14 season followed by a 6–10 season to a super bowl championship.
san francisco 49ers
vic washington took the opening kickoff 97 yards for a score, and the 49ers took a 21–6 lead in the second quarter. after the 49ers took a 28–13 lead in the 4th quarter, tom landry sent quarterback roger staubach, who was backing up craig morton, into the game. staubach quickly led the cowboys on a drive to a field goal, bringing the score to 28–16, and as the game wound down it appeared that that would be all the cowboys would get. however, the cowboys would complete the comeback all in the last two minutes. just after the two-minute warning staubach found billy parks for a touchdown to bring the score to 28–23. needing an onside kick to have a realistic chance at a game-winning touchdown, cowboys kicker toni fritsch executed a successful onside kick, with the ball going back to the cowboys. with the 49ers on the ropes, staubach completed the comeback with a touchdown pass to ron sellers giving the cowboys a dramatic 30–28 victory and sending the 49ers to yet another crushing playoff defeat.
history of the san francisco 49ers