Every San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl appearance in franchise history

It’s a franchise that has won more postseason games (38) than any other in NFL history. With a victory over the Kansas City Chiefs at Las Vegas on February 11, the San Francisco 49ers would tie the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots for the most Super Bowl victories (6).

Here’s a look at the 49ers’ previous seven Super Sunday performances, in chronological order.

San Francisco 49ers 26, Cincinnati Bengals 21 (XVI)

It’s certainly not unusual especially these days to have a team come out of nowhere and wind up playing in the Super Bowl. In 1981, both the San Francisco 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals were coming off 6-10 seasons. The former was led by Bill Walsh and quarterback Joe Montana. Cincinnati’s head coach was Forrest Gregg, while underappreciated signal-caller Ken Anderson wound up winning NFL MVP honors.

The teams would finish 13-3 and 12-4, respectively, with one of the Niners’ victories coming at Cincinnati. The clubs would meet again, this time at the Pontiac Superdome.

San Francisco would jump out to a 20-0 halftime lead and hold on for a five-point win as the franchise began it’s run in the 1980s.