What playoff drought was worse?

I voted for 2014-2018, but that was an emotional vote. What bothered me was how quickly it all fell apart. We went from being the 2nd best team in the league, with the three key things you need to win in the NFL (a franchise QB, elite pass rusher, and top tier tackle) to the team in 2014, who despite everything, looked like they were headed to the playoffs, but it all fell apart after a 7-4 start, then there was the offseason from hell, beginning with Jim Harbaugh's final press conference (I still think about Harbaugh everytime I hear "Time of My Life"), etc. It was such a fast fall from grace. But 2003-2010 was worse. It was the end of the WCO era with the firing of Marriucci, the Yorks putting their stamp on the franchise as owners (in a bad way), the carousel of QBs, and becoming so bad that there is a whole generation of young adults/kids who know nothing of our legacy. It makes me sick when I hear about the Patriots being the model franchise, TRYING to do everything we did.

And even though this wasn't a choice, I think it HAS to be 1973 to 1980 (which I wasn't even alive for). Ironically, I'm in SF for the Falcons game and I went to the Candlestick site today to do a short video, talking about 49ers history and mentioned the first NFCCG there. Going from that, the team that was a Cinderella team in 1970 and those good teams under Dick Nolan/John Brodie to slowly falling off, the tease of '76, then the Joe Thomas years, etc. I can only imagine what it was like for fans in those days. They had no glory years to hang their hat on. In these last two droughts, we still were the team of the previous 10 years or the previous generation, but what could those 49ers teams of 1973 to 1980 hang their hat on? They sucked and lacked the history. Props to all the fans from the pre-Walsh era.

Originally posted by Aj_hwd954:

Originally posted by Joshuar56:
The Singletary years were dark times...

The Singletary teams had talent, especially on defense. But inept coaching kept them from being anything respectable.

I remember this meme from those days

Originally posted by MrGriz:

Originally posted by sanjo49er:

Originally posted by mod:

Trying to remember them all...
Garcia
Rattay
Dorsey
Smith
Pickett
Dilfer
Hill
O'Sullivan
Weinke

I know I'm missing more

Pat Barnes also. to be honest that Cody Pickett game vs the bears where he went like 2-17 for 9 yards gave me a mental breakdown.Nedney missed a 50 yarder or so and the bears returned it like 148 yards to the house at least that was ESPN Claimed... I was so upset i remember picking up my brother from Sjc and as we pull up home i crashed my car into the driveway/sidewalk

Wasn't that the game that the Brandon Lloyd "ducking the pass thrown right at him" gif came from?

The Pickett game and Nedney kick return by Nathan Vasher was in 05.. the Brandon Lloyd duck incident was in 04 at the Jets

That's tough. Rach stretch was tough for different reasons.
03-10 was the shattered pieces of what had been almost a 2 decade dynasty.
It would be like watching the Patriots become a write off team over the next 10 years.

There were always glimmers of hope. Trying to believe in Alex Smith as a super talented franchise QB, the hope of Vernkn Davis becoming the freakiest player in history, Patrick Willis's exploits and Frank Gore's awesomeness.
That 06 season became the ultimate tease as the team was laughably bad after Norv left in 07. Alex was looking much improved, Gore had 1600 yards, we drafted Willis and he was incredible from day 1. We signed Nate Clements to a monster deal. Then.....poop.

The team was mired in dysfunction, that was hard to watch.
It was frustrating especially at the end of the Singletary years because it was so obvious the team was more talented than what they were showing.

13-18 was sad in that the team got gutted of talent so quickly and then then coaching hires were so bad.

While the depths of the bottom were nearly identical IMO, at least 13-18 had 2 years of promising building. Young guys looking better or learning and the offense was growing together and you could sense something positive.
You couldn't say that in 03-10.

Originally posted by Fanaticofnfl:
The one that was longer?

And not to be THAT guy, but our current drought still isn't over...

Now it is!

But, to agree with the majority, 2003-2010 was particularly bad. Especially considering I entered high school in 2002 and the Niners sucked from then until I basically graduated college. My young adult life was no bueno. Being from Michigan, my friends always picked on me and give me a ton of sh*t for it. Well, Packers, Bears, and Colts fans. Lions fans lived my misery as well.

73-80 was the worst I wasn't alive but Bill Walsh didn't exactly walk into a great situation and we had no draft picks.

2003-10 the team had no direction and they got away from their roots in the WCO those were dark years but it also came out of cap hell so even though it sucked we had to fix the cap.

2014-18 sucked a lotta ass because it felt like the team fell apart when it didn't need to, so much politicking and immaturity ruined that team, the Harbaugh situation and keeping Baalke destroyed that team. I think this drought sucked most Oit of the options because it felt like it was the one we could've avoided but instead we fell from super bowl contender to number 1 pick contender in the snap of a finger

So many posters have already pointed it out, but 03-10 marked the departure from the Walsh system and everything our dynasty was made from. That f**ktard Terry Donahue and company with their vision of a "new identity" including canning the Quentin font and in general bringing in coaches who were as far from the WCO as possible. That to me is the biggest tragedy of it all. So many coaches from Walsh's tree were prospering, and we had dunderheads like Nolan and Singletary

I just want to add the 14-16 years were bad but mostly that was due to injuries. We lost all pass rush with the 2 smith's leaving then Willis left and bowman was never the same player after injury.

Offensively we were never a powerhouse they just had elite talent that for 3 years all magically stayed healthy on defense.

I actually think our starters on defense now we're better and we had better depth it's just all been wiped out because the team seems to have been so injury prone since like 2013.