The 1990 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 41st season in the National Football League (NFL) and their 45th overall. the team entered the 1990 season heavily favored to win their third consecutive Super Bowl. The season was highlighted by their victory over the New York Giants on Monday Night Football in Week 13. Throughout the season, the 49ers and the Giants were the two best teams in the NFL and they met again in the NFC Championship Game.
Between 1988 and 1990, the 49ers set a league record with 18 consecutive road victories. Jerry Rice had a career year by becoming the fourth receiver in the history of American football to have at least 100 receptions in one season. The 49ers won their fifth consecutive NFC West Division Title. Dating back to 1989, the 49ers completed a fifteen-game unbeaten streak in the regular season (5 victories in the last 5 games of 1989 and 10 victories in the first ten games of 1990).
The 49ers lost in the final seconds of the on a field goal by the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants, denying them a chance at a "three-peat" in the Super Bowl.
Following this season, the 49ers left team stalwarts Roger Craig (RB) and Ronnie Lott (FS) unprotected and let them go to the Los Angeles Raiders via Plan B free agency. Quarterback Joe Montana remained on the roster for the next two seasons, but never started another game for the 49ers. This would ultimately be the de facto final season for Montana as the 49ers starting quarterback, Montana would sit out all of 1991 and most of the 1992 season due to an elbow injury.
Montana had the NFL's highest salary in 1990 at $4 million, and the 49ers had the league's highest team payroll ($26.8 million).
It was the second highest rated Monday Night game ever at the time. The game had a 42% share and a 26.9 rating.
The Redskins opened up the scoring with an 8-play, 78-yard drive that culminated in Rypien's 31-yard touchdown completion to receiver Art Monk. San Francisco struck back by driving 74 yards in eight plays to tie the game on a 1-yard touchdown run by fullback Tom Rathman. A key play of the drive was an unnecessary roughness call against Redskins cornerback Darrell Green for throwing Jerry Rice to the ground during a tackle, turning Rice's reception into a 25-yard gain. Green was stunned by the penalty, stating he didn't realize the call was against him until he made his way to the sidelines. Near the end of the quarter, Redskins kicker Chip Lohmiller made a 44-yard field goal that put Washington back in front at 10âÂÂ7.
Montana quickly rallied the 49ers back in the second quarter, leading them on an 80-yard scoring drive that saw San Francisco fool Washington with a halfback option play in which running back Harry Sydney completed a 28-yard pass to tight end Brent Jones. On the last play of the drive, Montana fired a 10-yard pass to Rice in the end zone, who caught the ball between two defenders to retake the lead for San Francisco at 14âÂÂ10. The team was aided by another controversial call on the drive; Jones caught his 47-yard reception in the air and landed with a foot out of bounds, but officials ruled he had been forced out in the air by safety Alvin Walton. At the time, a reception made by a player forced out of bounds still counted as a catch. This rule was changed in 2008. Then after a punt, Montana again went to work, completing a 32-yard pass to halfback Roger Craig and a 47-yarder to Jones before finishing off the 89-yard possession with an 8-yard scoring toss to Mike Sherrard.
Sherrard's touchdown made the score 21âÂÂ10 going into halftime, and it turned out to be the final score of the day for the offenses of both teams. Washington advanced inside the 49ers' 15-yard line three times in the second half, but failed to score on all of them. On their second possession of the half, they advanced 66 yards to the 49ers' 7-yard line before Johnnie Jackson picked off a third down pass intended for Monk in the end zone. Early in the fourth quarter, Monk caught three passes for 63 yards on a drive to the San Francisco 15, only to see Rypien get hit as he threw a pass, which floated right into the hands of cornerback Darryl Pollard. Linebacker Monte Coleman<nowiki/>quickly gave the Redskins another chance to get back in the game, intercepting a pass from Montana and returning it 18 yards to the 49ers 19-yard line with 10:28 left in regulation. Faced with fourth down and 5 from the 14, Rypien threw the ball to receiver Gary Clark in the end zone. àEric Davis seemed to make contact with Clark before the ball arrived, but no flag was thrown and the pass fell incomplete, causing a turnover on downs. In the closing minutes of the game, 49ers linebacker Charles Haley<nowiki/>deflected a pass from Rypien into the arms of 295-pound defensive tackle Michael Carter, who rumbled 61 yards to the end zone to make the final score 28âÂÂ10.
This was the third postseason meeting between the Redskins and 49ers. The teams split the previous two meetings.
Just like the regular season game between the two teams won by the 49ers 7âÂÂ3, the championship game was mostly a defensive battle. San Francisco running back Roger Craig's fumble with 2:36 left in the game led to Giants kicker Matt Bahr's 42-yard game-winning field goal as time expired. Bahr was New York's only scorer with 5 (of 6) field goals. Despite not scoring a TD in eight quarters against the 49ers, the Giants moved on to Super Bowl XXV with their victory. The 49ers ended their season but in 1991 they missed playoffs finishing 10-6