By the Numbers: San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers have been playing professional football since 1946, and with 616 regular season wins, 37 playoff wins and 5 Super Bowl victories they are one of the most successful franchises in the history of the NFL. They have rostered some of the game’s greatest players over several different decades. Here is a look at the 49ers by the numbers before Sunday night’s game against Dallas.
9.1 – Brock Purdy is near the top of the league in several statistics this season, but none more important than Yards Per Pass Thrown – the perfect gage for accuracy. Purdy’s 9.1 YPPT is second in the NFL through four games this season, only behind Tua Tagovialoa’s 9.6 for the Dolphins. It’s what makes him so good. He has only attempted 112 passes, which is 26th for quarterbacks, but has completed 72.3-percent of his throws for 1,019 yards. He’s deadly accurate, especially when you consider that he has yet to throw an interception as a pro.
12 – Not only is this the number of the great John Brodie, but he is also one of a dozen players who have had their numbers retired by the franchise in its 78-season history. In order of number retired, Brodie is bookended by maybe the only two quarterbacks better than him in 49ers lore. Brodie is sandwiched by Steve Young (8) and Joe Montana (12). The other players with their numbers retired are fullback Joe Perry (34), defensive back/halfback Jimmy Johnson (37), halfback Hugh McElhenny (39), defensive back Ronnie Lott (42), defensive tackle/defensive end Charlie Krueger (70), tackle/defensive tackle Leo Nomellini (73), tackle Bob St Clair (79), receiver Jerry Rice (80) and receiver Dwight Clark (87). That’s a healthy list of talented men.
23 – Christian McCaffrey can do it all, and most of it better than anyone else in the NFL. No. 23 for the 49ers leads the league this season in rushing attempts (80), rushing yards (459), rushing touchdowns (6), rushing first downs (23), yards from scrimmage (600), total touches (98) and total touchdowns (7). He is at or near the top of the league in several other categories – average yards per rush (5.7), longest rush from scrimmage (65) and yards rushing per game (114.8). If you add in that he is tied for the league in running back receptions with 18 and second in yards receiving by a running back with 141 yards. Now in his seventh season, he is still the dominant force at running back in the NFL.
208 – The great Jerry Rice leads the NFL’s all-time touchdown leaders with 208, and it’s not even close. Emmitt Smith is second on the list with 175 scores, while LaDainian Tomlinson (162), Randy Moss (157) and Terrell Owens (156) round out the top five. While Rice played for Oakland and Seattle late in his career, he will always be remembered for his time in San Francisco and the 176 receiving touchdowns he generated in his 16 seasons with the 49ers. It’s more than double the 81 touchdowns that Owens was responsible for, which is second on the franchise’s list. He added another 10 rushing touchdowns and a fumble return for a score while in San Fran. Rice caught 18 touchdowns during his 3-plus seasons in Oakland and another three during an 11-game stint to end his career in 2004.
2014 – This was the last season that a San Francisco running back rushed for more than 1,000 yards. Frank Gore rushed for 1,106 nine seasons ago and it has not been done since. The 49ers have 23 seasons where someone went over 1,000 yards rushing. Gore tops the list with his 1,695 yards in the 2006 season. He averaged 105.9 yards per game that season, tops in franchise history for a season. His 5.4 yards per carry average was the most in a season for the 49ers since Joe Perry finished the 1954 season with a 6.1 yards per carry average in a 12-game season. Gore rushed for over 1,000 yards eight times in his San Francisco career – 2006-09 and 2011-14. Other running backs to rush for over 1,000 yards for the 49ers are Garrison Hearst (1997, 1998, 2001), Roger Craig (1985, 1988, 1989), Wendell Tyler (1984), Charlie Garner (1999, 2000), Delvin Williams (1976), Joe Perry (1953, 1954), J.D. Smith (1959), Kevan Barlow (2003) and Ricky Watters (1992).
5,217 – That is the number of yards that separate the top three passers in San Francisco history. Joe Montana leads with 35,124 yards in 14 seasons. John Brodie is second on the list with 31,548 yards in 17 seasons, while Steve Young is third with his 29,907 yards in 13 seasons. Fourth on the list is so far back, just under 13,500 yards at 16,408 yards, that Jeff Garcia isn’t even worth talking about. Brock Purdy, the current starting quarterback, has amassed 2,393 yards passing in 13 games, good enough for 20th out of 57 quarterbacks that have taken a snap on the franchise list, just above Ken Dorsey (1,712 yards) and just below Steve Bono (2,558 yards).
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BONUS: 29 – Cowboys fans want a little something to feel good about, well here is your number. 29 years is how long it has been since one of the NFL’s top franchise’s won its last Super Bowl. The 49ers beat the San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX in 1994 but have only made the big game twice since – 2012 when they lost Super Bowl XLVII to Baltimore and 2019 when they lost Super Bowl LIV to Kansas City. That’s 29 years without hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. The Cowboys won Super Bowl XXX the following year in 1995, which makes the 49ers title drought one year longer than the Cowboys. Both the Cowboys (1971, 1977, 1992, 1993, 1995) and the 49ers (1981, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1994) have a handful of Super Bowl rings.