Can you guess top 10 moments of 49ers’ season, plus 10 more?
Guess the top 10 moments of the 49ers' regular season, and the next-best 10, as they enjoy a wild-card bye before their playoff opener.
Charting the 49ers’ 10 best regular-season moments (and the next-best 10) is a daunting task in their 13-3, top-seed joyride into the playoffs. Here goes:
10. TRICK OR TREAT: On Halloween night, the 49ers won at Arizona for the first time since 2013, and the tight ends stole the show. George Kittle overcame knee and ankle injuries from a first-snap hit to score their first touchdown. Once Kittle exited, Ross Dwelley came through with a third-and-9 conversion so they could kill the clock.
9. MUD BOWL CHAMPS: Nick Bosa’s game-ending sack touched off the 49ers’ belly-slide celebration after a rain-soaked, 9-0 win at Washington, which earlier was potentially saved by a Kwon Alexander forced fumble. “Mud Bowl 2019 Champions! I’ve never seen anything like that,” Richard Sherman said.
8. WILSON WINS IT: Jeff Wilson Jr’s first career touchdown catch covered 25 yards for the go-ahead points with 31 seconds left in a 36-26 home win over Arizona. He responded with an exhilarating, angry-arms celebration stomp into the end zone.
JEFF WILSON JR. TOUCHDOWN FOR THE LEAD! @WakeEmupJeff903 | #GoNiners pic.twitter.com/uHzw6BepL6
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) November 18, 2019
7. RALLY OVER RAMS: Jimmy Garoppolo saved their home finale by converting a pair of third-and-16 passes (to Kendrick Bourne, 18 yards; and Emmanuel Sanders, 46 yards), all of which teed up a 33-yard Robbie Gould field goal as time expired in a 34-31 escape at home against the Los Angeles Rams.
6. L.A. TAKEOVER: What made a 20-7 win over the host Rams so special? It legitimized the 49ers’ undefeated start (5-0), it served notice they were coming for the NFC West title, it starred the pass rush (78 yards, four sacks) and it exemplified the 49ers Faithful’s massive, season-long traveling party as half the Coliseum crowd appeared in 49ers red.
5. PICK-SIX DEBUT: Interception returns for touchdowns by cornerbacks Richard Sherman and Ahkello Witherspoon highlighted a 31-17 season-opening win at Tampa Bay. It defined a newfound road mentality that yielded a 7-1 record away from Levi’s Stadium.
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4. HOME SWEET HOME: Late-game heroics first surfaced in the home opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Arik Armstead’s forced fumble and DeForest Buckner’s recovery sets up Garoppolo’s winning touchdown pass to Dante Pettis with 1:15 to spare.
3. BOSA BREAKS OUT: Nick Bosa’s prime-time debut saw him torment college rival Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns, complete with a flag-planting celebration, two sacks, five quarterback hits, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
2. DRE’S STOP: Dre Greenlaw’s goal-line tackle in the final seconds preserved the 49ers’ first win in Seattle in nine trips, clinching the NFC West and the No. 1 seed. That defensive stop last Sunday night overshadowed the 49ers’ three fantastic touchdowns: Deebo Samuel’s 30-yard, spin-o-rama run and Raheem Mostert two second-half rushing TDs.
1. GEORGE TO THE RESCUE: George Kittle converted a fourth-and-2, last-minute reception with a mauling, 39-yard masterpiece up the left sideline (amid a Saints facemask penalty) to set up a winning field goal as time expired in an instant-classic, 48-46 shootout in New Orleans.
NO FEAR.@gkittle46 | #GoNiners pic.twitter.com/g3vprcCOpX
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) December 8, 2019
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THE NEXT 10
20. SUPER BOWL PREVIEW?: The 49ers took the AFC’s No. 1-seed Baltimore Ravens down to the wire on Dec. 1, and Marcell Harris’ third-quarter strip of Lamar Jackson saved a touchdown while igniting a second-half comeback attempt.
19. MOSTERT’S REVENGE: Another key moment from that loss? Yep. The finest display of Raheem Mostert’s breakout season was his 146-yard, one-touchdown show against the Ravens, who discarded him as a 2015 rookie.
18. BREIDA SANDERS: Matt Breida zig-zagged his way through the Bengals defense for a 34-yard run early in a 41-17 rout at Cincinnati. That win began with an Arik Armstead sack and soon after Marquise Goodwin’s only touchdown this season.
17. SACK THE PACK Not only did the 49ers defense post a first-half shutout (23-0) of the Packers, Aaron Rodgers got sacked five times and passed for just 104 yards in the 37-8 rout Nov. 24.
16. FOUR SCORE: Tevin Coleman scored four touchdowns in an Oct. 27 rout of the Panthers, the most ever by a 49ers player in a regular-season home game. He’s scored one TD since then.
15. BIG PLAY WARNER: Fred Warner had a team-high 118 tackles and three sacks but his highlight-reel play was his first interception return for a touchdown (and first interception) in the home win over the Rams.
HOT HANDZZ
@fred_warner with the pick 6! #GoNiners pic.twitter.com/OvfSkJM4m7
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) December 22, 2019
14. GREENLAW PICK: Greenlaw foreshadowed his Week 17 heroics against the Seahawks by intercepting Russell Wilson near the 49ers’ goal line in overtime of an eventual Nov. 11 defeat. (Chase McLaughlin’s shanked field goal in overtime might lead a Bottom 10 Moments list.)
13. JUSZCZYK’S STIFF ARM: Actually it wasn’t so much a stiff-arm but rather Kyle Juszczyk’s right-handed pancake-flip of All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick that came with the 49ers down 6-0 to the Steelers. He had three catches for 51 yards in that win.
12. BO-SA! BO-SA!: Levi’s Stadium’s crowd chanted “Bo-sa!” after Nick Bosa’s first (and only) interception overshadowed his three first-half sacks in that win over the Panthers.
11. SUPER SANDERS: Emmanuel Sanders may have scored a touchdown on his first drive with the 49ers after an October trade from Denver, but that didn’t top his double-whammy in New Orleans, when his 75-yard touchdown catch preceded his 35-yard touchdown pass on the next drive.