2001 San Francisco 49ers season

2001 San Francisco 49ers season
Head coach	Steve Mariucci
Home field	3Com Park
Results
Record	12–4
Division place	2nd NFC West
Playoff finish	Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Packers) 15–25
Pro Bowlers	6
AP All-Pros	Terrell Owens (1st team) Ray Brown (2nd team) Bryant Young (2nd team)
← 2000 49ers seasons 2002 →

The 2001 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 56th season and 52nd in the National Football League. The 49ers rebounded from two losing seasons in 1999 and 2000, achieving their first winning season under quarterback Jeff Garcia and returning to the playoffs behind a strong 12-4 record. However, the 49ers failed to progress further and fell 25–15 to the Green Bay Packers in the Wildcard round. This was the fourth time out of five that they had lost to the Packers in the playoffs since the 1995 season. The Packers lost 45–17 to the eventual NFC Champion St. Louis Rams the following week, with Brett Favre’s six interceptions giving the 49ers’ conquerors no chance.

The 49ers twelve regular season wins were the most ever for a #5 seed under the 1990 playoff expansion format. Their three overtime wins tied the NFL record at the time, which has since been surpassed by the 2011 Arizona Cardinals.^[1]

Offseason[]

NFL draft[]

2001 San Francisco 49ers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	7	Andre Carter *	Defensive end	California
2	47	Jamie Winborn	Linebacker	Vanderbilt
3	80	Kevan Barlow	Running back	Pittsburgh
6	169	Cedrick Wilson	Wide receiver	Tennessee
6	179	Rashad Holman	Defensive back	Louisville
6	191	Menson Holloway	Defensive end	UTEP
7	209	Alex Lincoln	Linebacker	Auburn
7	224	Eric Johnson	Tight end	Yale
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[2]

Staff[]

2001 San Francisco 49ers staff

	Front office Owner – Denise DeBartolo York Owner – The DeBartolo Corporation Director/Owner's Representative – John York President/Chief Executive Officer – Peter L. Harris General Manager – Terry Donahue Vice President/Director of Football Operations – John McVay Consultant – Bill Walsh Director of Pro Personnel – Bill McPherson Head coaches Head Coach – Steve Mariucci Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Greg Knapp Quarterbacks – Greg Olson Running Backs – Tom Rathman Wide Receivers – George Stewart Tight Ends – Offensive Line – Pat Morris Offensive Assistant – Offensive Quality Control – Jason Tarver			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Jim Mora Jr Defensive Line – Dwaine Board Linebackers – Richard Smith Assistant Secondary – Brett Maxie Defensive Assistant – Chris Beake Defensive Quality Control – Dan Quinn Special teams coaches Special Teams – Bruce DeHaven Strength and conditioning Physical Development Coordinator – Strength Development Coordinator – Intern Athletic Trainer –

Roster[]

2001 San Francisco 49ers final roster

	Quarterbacks 19 Giovanni Carmazzi 5 Jeff Garcia 3 Rick Mirer 13 Tim Rattay Running backs 32 Kevan Barlow 40 Fred Beasley FB 20 Garrison Hearst 22 Terry Jackson 27 Paul Smith FB Wide receivers 81 Terrell Owens 83 J.J. Stokes 89 Tai Streets 84 Cedrick Wilson 25/14 Vinny Sutherland KR/PR Tight ends 82 Eric Johnson 86 Brian Jennings LS 88 Justin Swift		Offensive linemen 65 Ray Brown G 76 Dave Costa T 63 Derrick Deese G 74 Dave Fiore T 78 Scott Gragg T 60 Ben Lynch C 62 Jeremy Newberry C 77 Matt Willig T Defensive linemen 96 Andre Carter DE 95 John Engelberger DE 71 Cedric Killings DT 92 Reggie McGrew DT 91 Chike Okeafor DE 93 John Schlecht DT 90 Bobby Setzer DE 94 Dana Stubblefield DT 97 Bryant Young DT		Linebackers 56 Terry Killens 98 Julian Peterson OLB 50 Derek Smith MLB 54 Quincy Stewart 53 Jeff Ulbrich MLB 55 Jamie Winborn Defensive backs 31 Zack Bronson FS 38 Ronnie Heard SS 26 Rashad Holman CB 28 John Keith FS 29 Ahmed Plummer CB 30 Lance Schulters SS 36 Jason Webster CB Special teams  7 Jason Baker P  6 Jose Cortez K		Reserve lists 28 John Keith FS (IR) Practice squad 15 Jimmy Farris WR 45 Al Blades S 71 DE 72 Dan Goodspeed G Rookies in italics

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	TV Time	Attendance
1	September 9, 2001	Atlanta Falcons	W 16–13 (OT)	FOX 4:15et	65,989
2	September 23, 2001	St. Louis Rams	L 26–30	FOX 4:15et	67,536
3	October 1, 2001 (Mon)	at New York Jets	W 19–17	ABC 9:00et	78,722
4	October 7, 2001	Carolina Panthers	W 24–14	ESPN 8:30et	66,944
5	October 14, 2001	at Atlanta Falcons	W 37–31 (OT)	FOX 1:00et	46,727
6	Bye
7	October 28, 2001	at Chicago Bears	L 31–37 (OT)	FOX 1:00et	66,944
8	November 4, 2001	Detroit Lions	W 21–13	FOX 4:05et	67,605
9	November 11, 2001	New Orleans Saints	W 28–27	FOX 4:15et	68,063
10	November 18, 2001	at Carolina Panthers	W 25–22 (OT)	FOX 1:00et	72,665
11	November 25, 2001	at Indianapolis Colts	W 40–21	FOX 1:00et	56,393
12	December 2, 2001	Buffalo Bills	W 35–0	ESPN 8:30et	67,252
13	December 9, 2001	at St. Louis Rams	L 14–27	FOX 1:00et	66,218
14	December 16, 2001	Miami Dolphins	W 21–0	CBS 4:05et	68,223
15	December 22, 2001 (Sat)	Philadelphia Eagles	W 13–3	FOX 4:15et	68,124
16	December 30, 2001	at Dallas Cowboys	L 21–27	FOX 1:00et	64,366
17	January 6, 2002	at New Orleans Saints	W 38–0	FOX 1:00et	70,020

Game Summaries[]

• Week One vs. Atlanta Falcons – Despite limiting the Falcons to 241 total yards the Niners had to rally from down 13–3 in the second half. J.J. Stokes caught a touchdown from Jeff Garcia early in the fourth and Jose Cortez' 20-yard field goal forced overtime, where he won it from 24 yards out. Rookie Michael Vick of the Falcons attempted four passes, none completed.
• |Weather= 70 °F (Sunny)

• Week Two vs. St. Louis Rams – The Rams raced to a 12–0 lead (marred by a botched two-point conversion attempt) before giving up 16 unanswered points to the Niners (marred by a missed PAT) to end the first half. The Rams behind Kurt Warner then outscored Jeff Garcia's Niners 18–10 in the second half, winning by a 30–26 final as they held the Niners to 232 yards of offense.
• |Weather= 63 °F (Partly Cloudy)

• Week Three at NY Jets – Three years after Garrison Hearst's 96-yard overtime touchdown, the 49ers faced the New York Jets again, this time grinding out a 19–17 win. Hearst had 83 yards as the Niners rushed for 233 yards vs. 82 for the Jets, 76 of them (and a touchdown) from Curtis Martin.

• Week Four vs. Carolina Panthers – The Panthers had won four straight against the 49ers and eight of the two clubs' first thirteen meetings, but with rookie washout Chris Weinke the Panthers fell 24–14; the Niners picked off Weinke three times while Jeff Garcia had 212 passing yards and two touchdowns to Terrell Owens; five Niners backs also rushed for 150 yards.
• |Weather= 64 °F (Cloudy)

• Week Five at Atlanta Falcons – Terrell Owens erupted to nine catches for 183 yards and three touchdowns, the last a 52-yard bomb in overtime, as the Niners battled from behind the entire game. Chris Chandler of the Falcons had two touchdowns, the last a 47-yarder to Brian Finneran with 2:22 to go in the fourth.

• Week Six – BYE WEEK

• Week Seven at Chicago Bears – The Niners had beaten the Bears five straight meetings entering this encounter, but this game proved difficult for San Francisco after the Niners raced to a 28–9 lead in the third quarter. The Bears exploded to three touchdowns, two of them David Terrell catches from Shane Matthews that forced overtime tied 31-31. Six seconds into overtime Jeff Garcia's pass to Terrell Owens bounced out of his hands and was intercepted by Mike Brown, who ran back a 33-yard touchdown; it was the first of a series of consecutive overtime scores by Brown as the Bears won 37–31.

• Week Eight vs. Detroit Lions – With Ed Hochuli as head referee, the Niners welcomed their former linebacker Matt Millen, now the ill-fated front office executive of the Lions, by beating his present team 21–13. Robert Bailey picked off Jeff Garcia and ran back a 74-yard touchdown, but after taking a 10–0 lead the Lions were crushed by three Garcia touchdowns, including two more to Terrell Owens, as three Detroit passers failed to surpass 90 total yards.
• |Weather= 66 °F (Sunny)

• Week Nine vs. New Orleans Saints – The Niners hosted the Saints for what proved to be the final time as NFC West division foes and edged the defending division champs 28–27. Two touchdowns to Terrell Owens put the Niners up but late in the third Joe Horn's catch from Aaron Brooks put the Saints ahead 24–21. Jeff Garcia found Eric Johnson early in the fourth and the Saints could get no closer than 28–27 in the fourth.
• |Weather= 66 °F (Mostly Cloudy)

• Week Ten @ Carolina Panthers – The Niners had to put up 417 yards of offense to erase a 22-14 Panthers lead and win 25–22. The Niners needed the final play of regulation to tie the game on a seven-yard Terrell Owens catch and Eric Johnson catch for the two-point conversion. In overtime the Niners needed eight plays before Jose Cortez finished the game off from 26 yards out.

• Week Eleven at Indianapolis Colts – Despite trailing 21-20 and being outgained 340 yards of offense to 491 for the Colts, the 49ers crushed Indianapolis 40-21 by picking off Peyton Manning four times; Zack Bronson ran back one pick for a 48-yard touchdown. The Colts thus had lost for the third straight time and the frustration spilled into an infamous post-game press conference meltdown by Colts coach Jim E. Mora.

• Week Twelve vs. Buffalo Bills – For the second time in the season Ed Hochuli was the head referee in a 49ers game at The Stick and the Niners made it an easy game for Hochuli by crushing the Bills 35–0. Hochuli flagged the Bills for seven penalties versus just one for the 49ers, who put up 409 yards of offense vs. 191 for Buffalo. Garrison Hearst rushed for 124 yards.
• |Weather= 53 °F (Rain)

• Week Thirteen at St. Louis Rams – In defeating the 49ers 27-14 Kurt Warner ended the Niners' quest for the division title with 294 yards and two touchdowns, outclassing Jeff Garcia's 146 yards with 26 incompletions; Ricky Proehl's 109 receiving yards nearly outgained the pass-catching yardage of the entire Niners receiving corps.

• Week Fourteen vs. Miami Dolphins – The Dolphins put up 174 yards of offense while the Niners had 152 yards rushing en route to a 21–0 shutout win. Jay Fiedler was intercepted three times while Jeff Garcia had a touchdown to Eric Johnson.
• |Weather= 52 °F (Cloudy)

• Week Fifteen vs. Philadelphia Eagles – The Niners played their last home game of the year by edging the Eagles 13–3. The two teams combined for just 536 yards of offense (with 109 yards of penalties to the Eagles) as Terrell Owens had the game's only touchdown, a 32-yard catch.
• |Weather= 55 °F (Partly Cloudy)

• Week Sixteen @ Dallas Cowboys – A year after the infamous confrontation between Terrell Owens and the Cowboys at Texas Stadium's 50-yard line, the Cowboys won 27-21 behind three total touchdowns, 241 passing yards, and 30 rushing yards from Quincy Carter. Emmitt Smith exploded to 126 rushing yards.

• Week Seventeen @ New Orleans Saints – The 49ers crushed the Saints 38-0 as they intercepted Aaron Brooks four times, forced two fumbles, and Jeff Garcia threw four touchdowns, two of them 50-plus yarders to Terrell Owens. The Saints were held to 126 total yards of offense in their final game as an NFC West team.

Standings[]

NFC West
view talk	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
(1) St. Louis Rams	14	2	0	.875	503	273	W6
(5) San Francisco 49ers	12	4	0	.750	409	282	W1
New Orleans Saints	7	9	0	.438	333	409	L4
Atlanta Falcons	7	9	0	.438	291	377	L2
Carolina Panthers	1	15	0	.063	253	410	L15

Playoffs[]

NFC Wild Card at Green Bay Packers[]

Awards and records[]

Milestones[]

• Jeff Garcia named to second consecutive Pro Bowl
• Garrison Hearst won NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award and Pro Bowl
• Terrell Owens named to second consecutive Pro Bowl
• Ray Brown named to Pro Bowl
• Jeremy Newberry named to Pro Bowl
• Bryant Young named to Pro Bowl
• Six 49ers named to Pro Bowl after 2001 season.

References[]

Notes

Bibliography

• 49ers on Pro Football Reference
• 49ers Schedule on jt-sw.com