2024 Super Bowl: Here's where 2023 49ers currently rank among franchise's best teams (2024)

Very fewNFL teams can match the history of the San Francisco 49ersas they're the first franchise to win five Super Bowls. They are just one win away from joining the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots as six-time champions.

By reaching this year's Super Bowl, the 49ers have matched the Steelers and Cowboys for the second-most Super Bowl appearances by a franchise. By advancing to the Super Bowl this season, the 49ers have now appeared in one Super Bowl in four of the previous five decades.

You could argue that this year's 49ers team has been the NFL's best since Week 1, when they dismantled the Steelers in Pittsburgh. Since then, Kyle Shanahan's team has lost just three games and will enter the Super Bowl having come from behind to beat the Packers and Lions in consecutive playoff games.

Where do the 2023 49ers rank among the franchise's best teams? It's hard to fully know the answer to that until theSuper Bowlis played. But given what we already know about this team, we can already say that it is better than two of the franchise's otherSuper Bowlparticipants.

Without further ado, let's see where the 2023 Niners stack up with the franchise's otherSuper Bowlteams ahead ofSuper BowlLVIII.

8. 2012 49ers

I hated putting this team last, mostly because of its great defense and the fact that the offense was led by future Hall of Fame running back Frank Gore. Add in the fact that they beat two very two teams in Green Bay and Atlanta in the postseason has made this decision tougher to stomach.

Looking back at the 49ers' Super Bowl loss to Baltimore, though, made the decision to put this team at No. 8 a little easier to digest. Defensively, the 49ers struggled in the red zone all year and continued to do so in the Super Bowl. And when they needed one play at the end of the game, the 49ers' offense came up short.

Despite the finish, though, this was a very good team that was worthy of its NFC title.

7. 2019 49ers

When comparing this team to the 2012 squad, the 2019 49ers were slightly less impressive defensively but were considerably better on offense.

Gore was gone by this point, but the 49ers' backfield was in good hands with the three-headed monster of Tevin Coleman, Raheem Mostert and Matt Breida. The 49ers' offense also featured perennial Pro Bowlers George Kittle and full back Kyle Juszczyk and then-rookie Deebo Samuel. Veteran wideout Emmanuel Sanders and fellow wideout Kendrick Bourne served as reliable targets for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

Defensively, the 49ers received the final Pro Bowl season for former Seahawks standout Richard Sherman. Nick Bosa arrived in San Francisco that seaon and was tabbed as the Defensive Rookie of the Year.

San Francisco manhandled the Vikings and Packers in the playoffs en route to Super Bowl LIV. They had a 10-point late in the fourth quarter before Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs to 21 unanswered points. One of the key plays during that sequence was a slightly overthrown pass from Garoppolo to Sanders that had it been completed would have given the 49ers the lead. The Chiefs scored the game-clinching touchdown moments after the incomplete pass.

6. 2023 49ers

This team is only in this spot because they haven't won the Super Bowl yet. If they beat the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, rest assured that they will jump past at least the first two teams currently in front of them. But No. 6 is where they currently stand.

Why is this team ahead of the '12 and '19 squads? The offense on this team is better, and the '23 defense could be considered equal with the '12 defense. San Francisco's current defense showed its mettle in the second half of the NFC title game by holding the Lions to seven points and forcing a key turnover that led to the game-tying touchdown.

Brock Purdy is another reason why this team is sitting just behind the franchise's five Super Bowl winners. As good as Colin Kaepernick and Garoppolo were in their primes, I'd rather have Purdy as my quarterback in a must-win game. Christian McCaffrey's inclusion on this team helped its case, too.

5. 1981 49ers

It was a tough decision putting the '81 team behind the '88 squad. But ultimately, the '88 49ers got the nod for two reasons: they had Jerry Rice and a far superior running game, led by Roger Craig.

The '81 team was no slouch, though. Statistically, they were a better defensive team than the '88 49ers, led by wily veteran Jack "Hacksaw" Reynolds, Hall of Fame pass rusher Fred Dean and a secondary that was comprised of veteran Dwight Hicks and rookies Ronnie Lott, Eric Wright and Carlton Williamson.

San Francisco's defense forced five of the Bengals' six turnovers in Super Bowl XVI. Offensively, Montana did his part by utilizing his top targets (Dwight Clark, Freddie Solomon and Earl Cooper) while mastering the art of Walsh's new West Coast offense.

Clark submitted the greatest play in franchise history when he made "The Catch" that propelled the 49ers past the Cowboys and into their first Super Bowl.

4. 1988 49ers

A late-season, players-only meeting changed the course of the '88 49ers season. After a 6-5 start, the 49ers won seven of their final eight games after that meeting, including a 20-16 win over the Bengals in one of the most exciting Super Bowls ever.

After rotating between Joe Montana and Steve Young at quarterback, Bill Walsh stuck with Montana after the 6-5 start. Montana responded by playing some of the best ball of his career, including his then-Super Bowl record 356-yard performance in Super Bowl XXIII.

The signature moment for the '88 49ers took place on their 92-yard, game-winning drive against the Bengals that was punctuated by Montana's game-winning touchdown pass to John Taylor. Montana went 8 of 9 on the drive, including three completions to Rice that gained 51 yards.

Super Bowl XXIII was the final game for Walsh as the 49ers' head coach. He was succeeded by his longtime defensive coordinator, George Seifert, whose defense during the '88 playoffs was nothing short of dominant.

3. 1994 49ers

Picking between the '81, '88 and '94 49ers was harder than trying to decide which Dairy Queen blizzard to order (the Oreo hot cocoa blizzard is my go-to, FWIW). Each team had a Hall of Fame quarterback, a dominant defense and an offense that was special in its own unique way.

Two things gave the '94 Niners the edge: an historic season from Steve Young and the 49ers' offense and the incredible play of Deion Sanders during his lone season with San Francisco.

Sanders won Defensive Player of the Year after returning three of his six regular-season picks for scores. Young joined Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana that season as the only players to that point to win league and Super Bowl MVP in the same year.

The '94 49ers also get some extra credit for dethroning the two-time defending champion Dallas Cowboys, who had bested them in the previous two NFC title games.

2. 1989 49ers

If choosing between the San Francisco teams 5-3 was like choosing between DQ blizzards, then picking between the 49ers' top-two teams was similar to choosing between pizza toppings. While there probably is a right answer, you really can't go wrong either way.

How good were the '89 49ers? They lost two games by a combined five points. They defeated the Rams, who beat them by a point during the regular season, by 27 points in the divisional round of the playoffs. That was the start of a three-game playoff run that saw San Francisco outscore its opponents by a combined score of 126-26. The 49ers capped off their incredible year by beating the Broncos in the most lopsided score (55-10) in Super Bowl history.

It was an incredible season for Montana and Rice. Montana won league and Super Bowl MVPs, throwing five touchdowns in what his final Super Bowl. Rice caught 17 touchdowns in 16 regular-season games and caught five more during the playoffs.

1. 1984 49ers

OK, this team didn't have Jerry Rice on it, so that may automatically lead people to not give them the title as the 49ers' best team. While they may not have had arguably the greatest receiver of all time, the '84 49ers had everything else.

Only a last-second touchdown catch by John Stallworth (after a very controversial penalty was called against the 49ers' defense) prevented the 1984 49ers from going undefeated. This was a team that was extremely hungry to win it all after several bad calls cost them a trip to the Super Bowl a year earlier. The1984 team took that frustration out on everyone who crossed their paths.

Only Miami scored more points during the regular season than the 49ers, and no defense allowed fewer points. That created a whopping average margin of victory of 15.5 points.

In the NFC playoffs, Bill Walsh's team defeated the Giants and Bears -- the next two Super Bowl champions -- by a combined score of 44-10. In the Super Bowl, the 49ers faced Dan Marino and the Dolphins' historically special offense. The Dolphins started off fast, but didn't score a single point in the second half as the 49ers' pass rush took control.

On offense, Montana ran for 59 yards (the Super Bowl record for QB's at the time) and threw three touchdown passes. Roger Craig became the first player to score three touchdowns in a Super Bowl, while fellow running back Wendell Tyler had 135 all-purpose yards.

The 49ers' 38-16 win that night solidified that they were a special team that wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.