how does this 2019 team stack up against the 1981 49ers so far?

Originally posted by 1251alex:
you're exactly the type of person I was asking!!!

pretty jealous though bro. I spent so much of my high school years(Nolan era) just analyzing those teams on YouTube.

Sorry about that.....I mostly remember Lott, Wright, Williamson and Hicks. I have so many games on VHS, over 500 dating back to the late 70's. Youtube has some good ones though, I think the SB is on there.

No way does this team compare to 1981 team...yet. In '81, besides the huge 45-14 win over Dallas, they soon after beat a decent Packers team on the road (think that was one of the Milwaukee games), Steelers @ Pittsburgh, Bengals @ Cincy...in fact every team they beat in the postseason that year (NYG, DAL, CIN), they ALSO beat in the regular season.

This 2019 version has beat whoever has been on the schedule so far, but it hasn't exactly been a murderer's row. After this game vs Skins the schedule gets considerably tougher, let's revisit this after 4-5 of those games.

Originally posted by NinerTy:

And in the NFCCG, Joe had 5 - 6 turnovers, the cowboys only scored 27 points so you know it was the defense that kept them in the game

Defense absolutely saved that game...if Eric Wright doesn't pull down Drew Pearson with basically his pinky, "The Catch" becomes just a nice TD catch in a losing effort...and then Pillers with the sack and Stuckey fumble recovery iced the game.

Originally posted by 9moon:

1981 team won a Super Bowl...

how can u compare it to a 2019 PROMISING (only) team??

reread the question in the thread title my guy.

Originally posted by DelCed2486:

Originally posted by NinerTy:
And in the NFCCG, Joe had 5 - 6 turnovers, the cowboys only scored 27 points so you know it was the defense that kept them in the game

Defense absolutely saved that game...if Eric Wright doesn't pull down Drew Pearson with basically his pinky, "The Catch" becomes just a nice TD catch in a losing effort...and then Pillers with the sack and Stuckey fumble recovery iced the game.

old school guys know the name preston riley

Originally posted by longterm9erfan:

Well...I'm old so I remember that season well. Here are a few points about that team and how it compares to the current one...

First, it was Joe Montana's first full year as a starter so he had absorbed the Walsh offense by then. In terms of games, this is Jimmy G's first full year as a starter..
Second, in addition to the 4 rookies in the secondary mentioned by others, it was the early season addition of DE Fred Dean that really made that defense great. He was such an unstoppable pass rusher that the team just took off after they acquired him. The current team has clearly been vastly improved by the additions of Bosa and Ford.
Third, the '81 team had an early season signature win which set the tone for the season (a home game rout of Dallas and later, a win on the road in Pittsburgh). The current team just had its signature win..in LA.
Fourth, the "81 team, unlike the current one, did not have a strong running game during the regular season. Ricky Patton was the leading rusher with just 543 yards. In contrast, both D Clark and F Solomon had over 900 yards each (Clark had over 1,100). So, that '81 team was a passing team and the current team is a running team.
Fifth, the '81 team finished 2nd in the league in total defense that year. The current team is also 2nd.
Sixth, the '81 team, like the current team, was very young and still improving. That team lost 2 of its first 3 games and then won 7 straight. This team has won its first 5. Both teams showed steady improvement during the season.
Seventh, the '81 team, even though it won the Super Bowl, was not a "complete team" at that point. In other words, there was still room for improvement and they had a lot of young players who were only going to get better It is yet to be seen what the current team will look like at the end of the season but one could make the case that this team has not reached its peak yet either.

Just a few thoughts off the top of my head....

Cheers!

Well done. Wish i could have come up with all those...but i sure recall them once you wrote them down. Only thing i can add is the "FEELING" . Same as this yr. The whistle blows, the game starts and once we hit the field, O or D, you know something good is going to happen. Or as happened last Sunday, the wheels came off the D and Rams marched, virtually untouched, right down the field for a TD. Less than 5 mins. So kyle yells into the coaches mikes, Saleh, fix it". Immediately, next and every other D trip out there....it was fixed. D just didn't have their heads in the game or as somebody said, , we weren't covering our gaps.

Whatever, it was exactly like in '81, if there was a problem, Coach Walsh didn't wait until half time, he fixed it as guys came off the field. Just like kyle and saleh did.

Meantime, our first drive on O, we just marched right back down the field and scored. Walsh frequently did that, trading TD for TD. So similarities in coaching stand out to me.

Other thing was on any team, Dean, BY, Cowboy....i can't remember one guy like Bosa who just goes thru , around or over guys quite like Bosa. True, he is very similar to our other HOFers, but he just seems so much stronger, quicker , faster,. I always loved the way BY had his way with OLs. Same for Cowboy. But Nick just seems....somehow....stronger? Could that even be possible? Because when i recall BY or Cowboy i always thot they were the strongest guys on the field. Nick? IDK, but Nick is just different. Maybe quicker (altho that seems impossible), maybe ...maybe... maybe...

But Nick is a rook, and usually they just arent that strong, that quick that massive upper body strength. I am talking about comparisons to two of my favorite 9er s here, so this seems sacrilegious. But could Nick actually be better than either of those two guys? IDK, but it is amazing the amount of pressure he brings to the QB , no less than 2 seconds after the ball is snapped. At the end of the yr will be a better time to compare our greatest , BY and Cowboy.

But for right now, i would have to put Nick right up there with both...and the "kid" has only played 5 games. And there is no doubt he is getting better by the week. Recall in both the first two games he broke thru the OL, and was right there , only to get faked out of his jock strap. Jamies Winston did it once, and Bosa looked dumbfounded. Notice you haven't seen that again. Now he is still right there, dragging 2 or 3 OLs with him , but now, he doesn't take the fakes, and just goes for the sack./strip/ hit/ fumble.

I have never seen a rook DE/DT this fast , this experienced , this strong...and getting stronger ....ever before. Will be interesting what he is like at sesaon's end. But for right now....we got two candidates for DPOY ...Nick and DeFo...and are both on the same DL. Sheesh.

I would say offensively the comparisons are pretty close. A highly creative coach throwing things at opposing teams that they haven't seen before, and what conventional assignments don't account for.

Defensively they are very different. Aside from Dwaine Board on the line, the team's strength was the young and outstanding secondary. Possibly the best secondary this franchise has ever had. The current team has significantly more talent on the defensive front 7, especially the line. What made the 1981 front 7 good was its toughness. You had a bunch of scrappy blue collar guys who while lacking significant talent gave 100% on every play, were tough as nails, and seemed to have a complete disregard for their bodies, consistently sacrificing themselves just to make a play. Stuckey, Reese, Bunz, 'Hacksaw' Reynolds, and of course Lott in the secondary...those have to be some of the toughest SOB's this team has seen.

Just watch the Super Bowl goal line stand. This sums up the D:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT_JKBv9PrY

the hair styles look different!

Our '81 team had far better kickoffs. Ray Wersching was an excellent kicker for that era, and he had a squib kick he often used which caused opponents fits. He'd place the kick in front of the deep return guys but just over the heads of the next line of returners, with a knuckling line drive quality to it. We scored a decent amount of points that year from muffed returns, as well as quite often leaving the opponents with miserable starting field position.

Cool video of Dan Bunz talking about 'The Stop':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkyg_1eeOT4

Oh, and our starting TE was Charle Young, not Charlie Young.

Here's a fun comparison of the two teams. We just watched a great goal line stand against the Rams. Here is the goal line stand that featured Danny Bunz and Hacksaw Reynolds in 1981(2) Super Bowl. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT_JKBv9PrY

Enjoy the comparison. The third down tackle by Danny Bunz is one of the all-time perfect tackles...

The current team has a better defense and running game. 1981 had a better passing game.

Originally posted by 1251alex:
Was thinking about this today. Both teams brought on unproven masterminds at the HC position that had two horrible first seasons before finally seeing some success. So can any of you older fans draw some comparisons? Or am I getting too excited?

Originally posted by Curlin:
First you have to find some one old enough (like me) who even saw the 1981 49er team play to discuss it.

There will never be another 1981. That year changed everything for this franchise. Its like losing your virginity, only once.

Right on. There will never be another game for me like the 1981 NFC Championship game. And we beat the team that had caused us so much heartache in 70, 71, and 72.The Super Bowl was almost an after thought

Originally posted by wailers15:
I second this!!! That team was epic. Epic draft , epic results. Solid.
Drafting Lott, then Wright. Grabbing Carlton Williamson too. Walsh solidifying the secondary in that draft.
I think the 86 draft was a tad better though
Man that 81 team though was fantastic. That Linebacker core too was fkn amazing. Had Bunz, Reynolds & Turner. Up front Board led the way. Seriously that draft landed us 3 starters in that secondary and was the final pieces there to go with Hicks who was balling.
Good times

Hmm. It was Fred Dean for me.