1983 San Francisco 49ers season

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.

1983 San Francisco 49ers season
Owner	Edward J. DeBartolo Jr.
General manager	John McVay
President	Bill Walsh
Head coach	Bill Walsh
Defensive coordinator	George Seifert
Home field	Candlestick Park
Results
Record	10–6
Division place	1st NFC West
Playoff finish	Won Divisional Playoffs (vs. Lions) 24–23 Lost NFC Championship (at Redskins) 21–24
Pro Bowlers	QB Joe Montana DE Fred Dean CB Ronnie Lott FS Dwight Hicks
← 1982 49ers seasons 1984 →

Offseason

NFL Draft

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

Staff . Coaches

1983 San Francisco 49ers staff

Front office 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 coaches Head coach – Bill Walsh Offensive coaches Quarterbacks/Receivers – Paul Hackett Running Backs – Sherman Lewis Offensive Line – Bobb McKittrick Assistant Offensive Line/Tight Ends – Fred von Appen

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – George Seifert Defensive Line – Bill McPherson Linebackers – Norb Hecker Defensive Backs – Ray Rhodes Defensive Assistant – Tommy Hart Special teams coaches Special Teams – Fred von Appen Strength and conditioning Physical Development Coordinator – Jerry Attaway

Roster

1983 San Francisco 49ers roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 6 Matt Cavanaugh 7 Guy Benjamin 16 Joe Montana Running backs (RB) 33 Roger Craig 32 Carl Monroe 25 Jeff Moore 30 Bill Ring FB 26 Wendell Tyler Wide receivers (WR) 87 Dwight Clark 88 Freddie Solomon 85 Mike Wilson 83 Renaldo Nehemiah Tight ends (TE) 80 Eason Ramson 81 Russ Francis 89 Earl Cooper

Offensive linemen (OL) 68 John Ayers T 60 John Choma T 51 Randy Cross G 62 Walt Downing G 71 Keith Fahnhorst T 66 Allan Kennedy 77 Bubba Paris T 56 Fred Quillan C 61 Jesse Sapolu C Defensive linemen (DL) 76 Dwaine Board DE 74 Fred Dean DE 75 John Harty NT 67 Pete Kugler NT 65 Lawrence Pillers DE 72 Jeff Stover DE 79 Jim Stuckey DE

Linebackers (LB) 57 Dan Bunz OLB 69/50 Riki Ellison ILB 59 Willie Harper OLB 45 Bobby Leopold ILB 53 Milt McColl OLB 38 Blanchard Montgomery 53 Gary Moten OLB 64 Jack Reynolds ILB 58 Keena Turner OLB 54 Ron Ferrari LB Defensive backs (DB) 44 Richard Blackmore 47 Tim Collier 24 Rick Gervais 22 Dwight Hicks CB 28 Tom Holmoe 42 Ronnie Lott FS 43 Dana McLemore CB 27 Carlton Williamson SS 21 Eric Wright CB Special teams 3 Tom Orosz P 14 Ray Wersching K

Rookies in italics

Preseason

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

Schedule

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

Week 2: at Minnesota Vikings

1 2 3 4 Total • 49ers 13 28 0 7 48 Vikings 7 3 7 0 17 Date: September 8 Location: Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Game start: 8:30 p.m. EST Game attendance: 58,167 Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Jim Tunney TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, and O. J. Simpson

Scoring summary 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

^[2]

Standings

NFC West
view talk edit	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

See also: 1983–84 NFL playoffs

Schedule

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

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	3	6	0	14	23
49ers	7	7	3	7	24

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

NFC Divisional Playoffs: (3) Detroit Lions at (2) San Francisco 49ers – Game summary

at Candlestick Park, San Francisco

• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST/1:00 p.m. PST
• Game weather: 59 °F or 15 °C, sunny
• Game attendance: 59,979
• Referee: Pat Haggerty
• TV announcers (CBS): Frank Glieber and Dick Vermeil

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

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
49ers	0	0	0	21	21
Redskins	0	7	14	3	24

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

NFC Championship: (2) San Francisco 49ers at (1) Washington Redskins – Game summary

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

• Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST
• Game weather: 39 °F or 3.9 °C, mostly cloudy
• Game attendance: 55,363
• Referee: Jerry Markbreit
• TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden

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)^[3]

References

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

External links

• 1983 49ers on Pro Football Reference
• 49ers Schedule on jt-sw.com