Dallas Cowboys
All about: Dallas Cowboys
The rivalry between the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers has been going on since the 1970s. San Francisco has played Dallas in seven postseason games. The Cowboys defeated the 49ers in the 1970 and 1971 NFC Championship games, and again in the 1972 Divisional Playoff Game. The 1981 NFC Championship Game in San Francisco, which saw the 49ers' Joe Montana complete a game-winning pass to Dwight Clark in the final minute (now known as "The Catch"), is one of the most famous games in NFL history.The rivalry became even more intense during the 1992-1994 seasons. San Francisco and Dallas faced each other in the NFC Championship Game three separate times. Dallas won the first two match-ups, and San Francisco won the third. In each of these pivotal match-ups, the game's victor went on to win the Super Bowl. Both the Cowboys and the 49ers are second all time in Super Bowl victories to the Pittsburgh Steelers with five each. The 49ers-Cowboys rivalry is also part of the larger cultural rivalry between California and Texas, or more specifically, the San Francisco Bay Area and the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.
In recent years, this once bitter rivalry has greatly softened, with the recent struggles of both the Cowboys and 49ers.However, in its prime especially in the 1990s this rivalry was a very bitter one as both teams were the class of the NFL during this time
Oakland Raiders
All about: Oakland Raiders
The 49ers have an intense Crosstown rivalry with the Oakland Raiders, games between the two are referred to as the "Battle of the Bay". The first exhibition game played in 1967, ended with the NFL 49ers defeating the AFL Raiders 13-10. After the 1970 merger, the 49ers won a meaningless Week Fourteen game in Oakland 38-7. The Raiders had already clinched the inaugural AFC West championship in Week Thirteen with a tough 20-6 win over their arch rival the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs 20-6 and were going to host the AFC wildcard Miami Dolphins regardless of the outcome of the Week Fourteen contests. Since the two teams play in different conferences, regular-season match-ups are infrequent. The two teams have played each other annually during the preseason. However, annual preseason games will be discontinued after acts of fan violence eruputed during their preseason game in 2011. When they do play each other in regular-season, fans and players of the winning team can claim "bragging rights" as the better team in the bay area.
New York Giants
All about: New York Giants
The 49ers have another major rivalry with the New York Giants. The Giants and 49ers have had seven playoff meetings over the last 25 years. In 1981 and 1984, San Francisco beat the Giants, both times at Candlestick Park (38-24 and 21-10 respectively). However, New York would beat the 49ers in the 1985 and 1986 playoffs at Giants Stadium,17-3 in 1985 and a 49-3 rout in 1986 as the Giants went on to win the Super Bowl that year. In January 1991, the two teams met once again in the playoffs. In the 1990 NFC Championship, Matt Bahr would kick five field goals for the Giants, the Giants won 15-13 ending any hopes for San Francisco for a super bowl three-peat, the game is best remembered for a vicious hit by Leonard Marshall that knocked Joe Montana out of the game (due to an unrelated elbow injury, Montana would play in only one game the next two years as a 49er) The 49ers got their revenge in the 1993 playoffs, crushing the Giants 44-3.
Both teams had another classic match in Candlestick Park in the '02 Wildcard round. The Giants stormed to a 38-14 lead deep into the third quarter. The Giants defense, which had been highly ranked all year, began to collapse, and with two quick touchdowns and two successful two-point conversions followed by a field goal by the 49ers, the Giants lead was suddenly down to 38-33. With one minute left to play, Jeff Garcia hit Tai Streets for a 13-yard touchdown pass to take a 39-38 lead. Giants QB Kerry Collins led a drive to put the Giants at the 49ers 23-yard line with six seconds left for a shot at a game-winning field goal. After a bad snap, holder Matt Allen attempted a desperate pass down the field, which fell incomplete. The Giants were flagged for illegal man downfield and the call ended the game. It was the second biggest comeback victory in NFL playoff history.
Green Bay Packers
All about: Green Bay Packers
The 49ers have had a bitter rivalry with the Green Bay Packers that began in the mid 1990's during Brett Favre's prime. From 1995-1997 the Packers eliminated the 49ers three straight times in the postseason. They would meet again during the Wild Card Round in 1998, with a dramatic last second 25-yard touchdown from Steve Young to Terrell Owens lifting the 49ers over the Packers 30-27. This was the last time San Francisco beat Green Bay to date.
Arizona Cardinals
All about: Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a recent growing rival of the 49ers. Unlike most rivalries of this team, the Arizona Cardinals are in the same division as the 49ers (since 2002, when the Cardinals transferred from the NFC East). Recently, there has been much bad blood between these two team's players, an example of this is a Twitter battle between Darnell Dockett of the Arizona Cardinals and Vernon Davis of the San Francisco 49ers. The clash of words between players of both teams added with the decline of the other major rivalries of the 49ers, either from the rarity of meeting the rival teams (49ers rarely meet the Cowboys) or the move to different cities (Los Angeles Rams moving to St. Louis) has led to the rivalry between the 49ers and the Cardinals becoming heated and intense. The 49ers currently hold the edge over the Cardinals all-time 23 wins to 16 losses.
Seattle Seahawks
All about: Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks have also become a new rival of the 49ers, following the NFL's realignment in 2002 that put both teams in the same division. Until then, the teams played each other almost every season during the pre-season, but only every 3 years during the regular season when the AFC West and NFC West teams faced each other. So far, their rivalry has not been as intense as other division foes because for the most part both teams have not been good at the same time. In the early to mid part of the decade, the Seahawks ruled the division and their favorable record against the 49ers reflected this. In recent years, as the Seahawks have faded the 49ers have enjoyed more success than in earlier years, however the 49ers still continue to struggle when playing at CenturyLink Field. The rivalry is expected to intensify after the 49ers hired Jim Harbaugh out of Stanford in 2011, as he and Seahawks and former USC head coach Pete Carroll had an intense rivalry in college. The 49ers trail the overall series between the 2 teams 13-11, a mark they hope to overcome in the future.
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