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1983 San Francisco 49ers season

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1983 San Francisco 49ers season
OwnerEdward J. DeBartolo Jr.
General managerJohn McVay
PresidentBill Walsh
Head coachBill Walsh
Defensive coordinatorGeorge Seifert
Home fieldCandlestick Park
Results
Record10–6
Division place1st NFC West
Playoff finishWon Divisional Playoffs
(vs. Lions) 24–23
Lost NFC Championship
(at Redskins) 21–24
Pro BowlersQB Joe Montana
DE Fred Dean
CB Ronnie Lott
FS Dwight Hicks

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

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NFL Draft

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Main article: 1983 NFL draft
1983 San Francisco 49ers Draft
Round Selection Player Position College Notes
1 5 Traded to the Chargers
22 Traded to the Chargers
2 49 Roger Craig RB Nebraska
3 59 Blanchard Montgomery LB UCLA
4 90 Tom Holmoe DB BYU
5 117 Riki Ellison LB USC
7 175 Gary Moten LB SMU
9 229 Mike Mularkey TE Florida
10 259 Jeff Merrell DT Nebraska
11 289 Jesse Sapolu C Hawaii

Personnel

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Staff . Coaches

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1983 San Francisco 49ers staff

Front office

Head coaches

  • Head coach – Bill Walsh

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – Fred von Appen

Strength and conditioning

  • Physical Development Coordinator – Jerry Attaway


Roster

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1983 San Francisco 49ers roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams


Rookies in italics

Preseason

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 August 6 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 at San Diego Chargers L 7–24 1–2 Jack Murphy Stadium 43,939
4 August 27 Seattle Seahawks L 6–20 1–3 Candlestick Park 47,074

[1]

Regular season

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Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 3 Philadelphia Eagles L 17–22 0–1 Candlestick Park 55,775
2 September 8 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 Dallas Cowboys W 42–17 10–6 Candlestick Park 59,957
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

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Week 2: at Minnesota Vikings

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1 234Total
• 49ers 13 2807 48
Vikings 7 370 17
Scoring summary
Q1SFWersching 38 yard field goalSF 3–0
Q1SFClark 21 yard pass from Montana (Wersching kick)SF 10–0
Q1MINBrown 1 yard run (Ricardo kick)SF 10–7
Q1SFWersching 32 yard field goalSF 13–7
Q2SFCooper 2 yard pass from Montana (Wersching kick)SF 20–7
Q2SFWright 60 yard interception return (Wersching kick)SF 27–7
Q2SFSolomon 14 yard pass from Montana (Wersching kick)SF 34–7
Q2SFTyler 6 yard pass from Montana (Wersching kick)SF 41–7
Q2MINRicardo 32 yard field goalSF 41–10
Q3MINLeCount 30 yard pass from Kramer (Ricardo kick)SF 41–17
Q4SFCraig 1 yard run (Wersching kick)SF 48–17

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Standings

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NFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
San Francisco 49ers(2) 10 6 0 .625 4–2 8–4 432 293 W3
Los Angeles Rams(5) 9 7 0 .563 5–1 8–4 361 344 W1
New Orleans Saints 8 8 0 .500 2–4 7–5 319 337 L1
Atlanta Falcons 7 9 0 .438 1–5 4–8 370 389 W1

Postseason

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See also: 1983–84 NFL playoffs

Schedule

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Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Venue
Divisional December 31 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

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NFC Divisional Playoffs: (3) Detroit Lions at (2) San Francisco 49ers – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Lions 3 6 01423
49ers 7 7 3724

at Candlestick Park, San Francisco

Game information
  • 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

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NFC Championship: (2) San Francisco 49ers at (1) Washington Redskins – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
49ers 0 0 02121
Redskins 0 7 14324

at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, Washington, D.C.

Game information
  • 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

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  • Ray Wersching, Franchise Record, Most Field Goals in One Game, 6 Field Goals (October 16, 1983)[3]

References

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  1. ^ "1983 San Francisco 49ers (NFL)". Pro Football Archives. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
  2. ^ "San Francisco 49ers at Minnesota Vikings - September 8th, 1983". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  3. ^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 142
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