The 49ers made the playoffs in 1995 and again in 1996, being eliminated by the Green Bay Packers both times in the Divisional Round. On January 17, 1997, George Seifert retired as 49ers head coach. On the same day as Seifert's retirement, the 49ers hired Cal head coach Steve Mariucci as his replacement. At the time, Mariucci only had one year of head-coaching experience at any level. The first game of the 1997 season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was a disaster, as both quarterback Steve Young and receiver Jerry Rice went down with injuries. Rice appeared to be out for the season with a serious knee injury, while Young left the game with one of the many concussions he suffered throughout his career. However, the team overcame adversity: Young returned two weeks later, and with the league's number one defense, the 49ers finished the season with a 13–3 record which included an 11-game winning streak which was the longest by a rookie head coach at the time, and the 49ers became the quickest team in NFL history to clinch their division at the time. Rice returned for one and a half quarters in week 16 against the Denver Broncos, before getting another injury to his knee (unrelated to the first one). In the playoffs the 49ers defeated the Minnesota Vikings 38–22, advancing to the for the first time since 1994, where they again met the Green Bay Packers at Candlestick Park, but lost 23–10.