Joe Montana’s former team will win the Super Bowl this year, the only question is… which one?
The team song suggests the red and gold will never fold. The 49ers are always fighting and always exciting, so after falling short in Super Bowl XLVII eight years ago, you can bet Niner Nation will be up and about in Miami.
San Francisco aims to win its sixth Lombardi Trophy against the Chiefs, but not before we take a look back at every game and every moment that led to the final Sunday of the season.
Week 1 – @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Result: 49ers 31 – Buccaneers 17
- Spread: (+1.0)
- Total: 51.0
ICYMI: Two pick-sixes on Jameis Winston – the first by Richard Sherman, his first since 2013 – and another by Ahkello Witherspoon in the fourth quarter. Linebacker Kwon Alexander was also ejected following a brouhaha.
Week 2 – @ Cincinnati Bengals
- Result: 49ers 41 – Bengals 17
- Spread: (+1.0)
- Total: 46.0
ICYMI: The Niners scoring 40+ points in a road game for the first time since 2013. Three touchdowns from Jimmy Garoppolo did the trick alongside Deebo Samuel’s first career touchdown.
Week 3 – vs Pittsburgh Steelers
- Result: 49ers 24 – Steelers 20
- Spread: (-6.0)
- Total: 44.5
ICYMI: San Francisco becoming the first team to win a game since 1998 after turning the ball over five times. This was a bad beat for spread bettors, but as they say, great teams find ways to win games.
Week 5 – vs Cleveland Browns
- Result: 49ers 31 – Browns 3
- Spread: (-6.0)
- Total: 44.5
ICYMI: Matt Breida’s 83-yard touchdown on the eighth play of the game. At the time, it was the fastest touchdown scored all season, helping San Francisco cover in three of their opening four games.
Week 6 – @ Los Angeles Rams
- Result: 49ers 20 – Rams 7
- Spread: (+3.0)
- Total: 49.5
ICYMI: San Francisco piling on 13 unanswered points to improve to 5-0 on Jerry Rice’s birthday. This game also saw Garoppolo’s 11-game passing touchdown streak come to an end.
Week 7 – @ Washington Redskins
- Result: 49ers 9 – Redskins 0
- Spread: (-10.0)
- Total: 49.5
ICYMI: Rain, and lots of it. The most exciting part of this game was Robbie Gould’s 29-yard field goal, and the most disappointing was the Niners falling a point shy of covering the spread.
Week 8 – vs Carolina Panthers
- Result: 49ers 51 – Panthers 13
- Spread: (-4.5)
- Total: 41.0
ICYMI: Where to start? Nick Bosa recording his seventh sack? The Niners scoring 51 points for the first time since 1993? This game had everything.
Week 9 – @ Arizona Cardinals
- Result: 49ers 28 – Cardinals 25
- Spread: (-10.5)
- Total: 43.5
ICYMI: Garoppolo throwing four touchdowns for the first time in his career. Emmanuel Sanders, George Kittle, Dante Pettis and Kendrick Bourne all joined in on the action as the Niners beat the Cardinals for the first time since 2014.
Week 10 – vs Seattle Seahawks
- Result: 49ers 24 – Seahawks 27 (OT)
- Spread: (-6.5)
- Total: 47.0
ICYMI: Probably the second-best game of the season. The Niners lose their first game of the season despite coming 21-10 deficit at half time to tie the game in the fourth quarter. Garoppolo was sacked five times for the first time all season while Russell Wilson improved to 12-3 lifetime against San Francisco.
Week 11 – vs Arizona Cardinals
- Result: 49ers 36 – Cardinals 26
- Spread: (-10.0)
- Total: 44.0
ICYMI: Garoppolo setting a new career-high in passing yards. The Niners had their hands full with a frisky Cardinals outfit, but Jimmy G stepped up with a huge 424-yard, four-touchdown day, much to the delight of nervous spread bettors.
Week 12 – vs Green Bay Packers
- Result: 49ers 37 – Packers 8
- Spread: (-3.0)
- Total: 48.0
ICYMI: San Francisco’s defence doing what it does best. Five sacks on Aaron Rodgers, one turnover, and just one third-down conversion allowed. A sign of things to come? Absolutely.
Week 13 – @ Baltimore Ravens
- Result: 49ers 17 – Ravens 20
- Spread: (+5.5)
- Total: 45.0
ICYMI: The Niners finding another way to lose on the final play. To be fair, San Francisco probably deserved to after allowing Lamar Jackson to run for over 100-yards. With over 300-yards of total offence though, Justin Tucker’s 49-yard game-winner stung extra hard.
Week 14 – @ New Orleans Saints
- Result: 49ers 48 – Saints 46
- Spread: (+1.0)
- Total: 45.0
ICYMI: This is really where everything came together. With just under a minute to go, Garoppolo led a beautiful 63-yard drive to set up Gould for the game-winner with only two seconds left on the clock. Emmanuel Sanders also became the first 49ers player since 1950 to throw and catch for a touchdown in the same game.
Week 15 – vs Atlanta Falcons
- Result: 49ers 22 – Falcons 29
- Spread: (-10.5)
- Total: 50.0
ICYMI: The Niners defence allowing 200+ passing yards for only the third time all season. Matt Ryan led a 70-yard drive with under two minutes remaining to find Julio Jones for the game-winner, handing Kyle Shanahan’s his final loss to date. Over bettors had plenty to cheer about, but this was still a big win for the book.
Week 16 – vs Los Angeles Rams
- Result: 49ers 34 – Rams 31
- Spread: (-7.0)
- Total: 45.5
ICYMI: Raheem Mostert rushing for a touchdown in his fifth consecutive game. That score also marked San Francisco’s 20th rushing touchdown of the season – their most since they won the Super Bowl in 1994.
Week 17 – @ Seattle Seahawks
- Result: 49ers 26 – Seahawks 21
- Spread: (-3.5)
- Total: 47.0
ICYMI: The Niners becoming the fifth team in NFL history to win four games in one season and then win 13+ in the following season. There was also this thrilling play on the final snap of the game that is, uh… still up for debate.
NFC Divisional Round – vs Minnesota Vikings
- Result: 49ers 27 – Vikings 10
- Spread: (-7.0)
- Total: 44.5
ICYMI: Dalvin Cook rushing for only 18 yards in another dominant defensive performance. Meanwhile, the Niners rushed the ball themselves a playoff-high 47 times for 186 yards and a pair of scores.
NFC Championship Game – vs Green Bay Packers
- Result: 49ers 37 – Packers 20
- Spread: (-8.0)
- Total: 46.5
ICYMI: Mostert rushing for a career-high 220-yards and four touchdowns and Garoppolo throwing for only 77-yards – his lowest total in a start. Richard Sherman sealing the game with an interception on Aaron Rodgers was also quite the moment.
Where They Came From
A losing 4-12 season in 2018 left the Niners at $34.00 to win the Super Bowl back in June.
With the Super Bowl runner-up Los Angeles Rams and the always dangerous Seattle Seahawks in the same division, the bookies drifted San Francisco out even further in September to a whopping $41.00.
Looking back, those prices might seem kind of outrageous, but it’s worth mentioning Garoppolo had only 10 starts to his name entering the season.
As the Niners began to gain momentum behind their perfect 8-0 start, the book acted accordingly firming San Francisco into $5.50 through November. The 49ers stayed steady at the price before coming into $4.50 right before the playoffs.