These coaches in turn have their own disciples who have utilized Walsh's West Coast system such as Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak first a quarterback coach with the 49ers, then offensive coordinator for Shanahan at the Denver Broncos.

The two conference title games led to a hot bidding war between the clubs for players ; the Niners signed cornerback Deion Sanders from the Atlanta Falcons and also signed linebacker Ken Norton, Jr. from the Cowboys ; they defeated the Cowboys 21-14 in the 1994 regular season and then hosted the Cowboys in that year's Conference title game, with the Cowboys now coached by Barry Switzer ; the 49ers raced to a 21-0 lead in the first seven minutes of the first quarter and won 38-28 en route to Super Bowl XXIX.

The Cowboys then signed Sanders from the 49ers for 1995 and despite losing to San Francisco 38-20 in the regular season won Super Bowl XXX.

But following this Super Bowl the rivalry cooled as first the Cowboys and then the 49ers went through lengthy performance slumps.

They defeated the San Francisco 49ers, who were attempting to win the Super Bowl for an unprecedented third straight year, 15 – 13 at San Francisco and then defeated the Buffalo Bills 20 – 19 in Super Bowl XXV.

The team took the field for the first time on August 1, 1976 in a pre-season game against the San Francisco 49ers in the then newly constructed Kingdome.

Meanwhile, the 49ers went on to defeat the New York Giants, 38-24, and then narrowly beat the Dallas Cowboys, 28-27, on a last minute touchdown pass known as The Catch.

But then Montana threw 2 straight incompletions, forcing the 49ers to settle for kicker Ray Wersching's 22-yard field goal to increase their lead to 17-0.

The 49ers then ran the ball on 5 consecutive plays, taking 3 minutes off the clock, to advance to the Cincinnati 6-yard line.

Wersching then kicked his fourth field goal to increase the 49ers lead to 26 – 14 with less than 2 minutes left in the game.

Meanwhile, the Redskins crushed the Los Angeles Rams 51 – 7, and then narrowly defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 24 – 21, with Mark Moseley kicking the game winning field goal with just 40 seconds left.

From there, Wendell Tyler rushed for 4 yards, and then Montana threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Roger Craig, giving the 49ers a 14-10 lead.

Miami then had to punt again on their ensuing possession, and San Francisco defensive back Dana McLemore returned the ball 28 yards to the 49ers ' 45-yard line.

The 49ers then drove 43 yards and scored on kicker Ray Wersching's 27 yard field goal.

From then on, the 49ers completely took over the game.

49ers running back Roger Craig then closed out the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run on the next play to make the final score of the game 55 – 10.

Dallas then defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 30 – 20, in the NFC Championship Game.

After forcing the Chargers to punt, the 49ers advanced 79 yards in four plays, with Young rushing for 21 yards and then throwing 51-yard touchdown pass to running back Ricky Watters to give San Francisco a 14-0 lead less than 5 minutes into the first quarter, and setting a Super Bowl record for the fastest " second " touchdown scored by a team.

The Chargers then drove to their own 46-yard line, but 49ers defensive back Eric Davis intercepted Humphries ' third down pass in the end zone with 10 seconds left in the half, and the score remained 28-10 at halftime.

Dallas then advanced to their fourth consecutive NFC Championship Game where they faced the Green Bay Packers, who had eliminated the San Francisco 49ers in the other NFC Divisional Playoff game.

Many credit Young's turnaround to the arrival of then 49ers Offensive Coordinator Mike Shanahan, who mentored Young just as he would mentor John Elway in the years to come.

Brady regularly attended 49ers games in the 1980s, where he became a fan of quarterback Joe Montana ; since then, Brady has mentioned Montana as one of his inspirations and an idol.

The nickname of the athletic team is the 49ers, indicative of the fact that UNC Charlotte ( then Charlotte College ) was saved from permanent closure in 1949.

He reached out and asked to borrow two pompoms from a 49ers cheerleader, which he then playfully shook, doing his own brief spontaneous routine before dropping them to the ground.

The 49ers entered the game seeking to win their second straight Super Bowl.

Therefore, the 49ers entered the game favored to win by more than 18 points, exceeded only by the 19 point spread in which the Baltimore Colts were favored over the New York Jets in Super Bowl III.

Both teams entered the game trying to tie the San Francisco 49ers for the most Super Bowl wins by a team ( 5 ).

Teams thought to be good during the off-season could be out of playoff contention by mid-season ( a prime example occurring in 1999, when the 49ers and Falcons both entered the season's final MNF game with 4 – 11 records.

Tim Rattay entered the league as the seventh-round pick ( 212th overall ) of the San Francisco 49ers in the 2000 NFL Draft.

Dallas entered week 13 with a 5 – 7 record and led the San Francisco 49ers 27 – 24 with about 2 minutes to play.

Walsh went 102 – 63 – 1 with the 49ers, winning ten of his 14 postseason games along with six division titles, three NFC Championship titles, and three Super Bowls.

The 49ers faced the Cowboys again that same season in the NFC title game.

The Cowboys finished 12 – 4 in 1994, but missed the Super Bowl by losing to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, 38 – 28.

Nine years later the two teams met at The Stick again in the NFC Championship Game ; in their third season together 49ers coach Bill Walsh and quarterback Joe Montana authored a history-making moment on Montana's last-minute touchdown to Dwight Clark and a 28-27 San Francisco win.

In 1992 under fourth-year coach Jimmy Johnson the Cowboys met the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game again, this time against Steve Young ; the Cowboys pulled out a 30-20 win en route to Super Bowl XXVII.

The San Francisco 49ers were division rivals with the Saints up until realignment in 2002 when the Saints moved to the NFC South.

The 49ers dominated the rivalry when the Saints played in the NFC West, but the Saints have held the upper hand since realignment winning the first six game since moving to the NFC South.

The Giants defeated the 49ers 49 – 3 in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs and the Redskins 17 – 0 in the NFC championship game, advancing to their first Super Bowl, Super Bowl XXI, against the Denver Broncos at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

This earned the Giants a spot in the NFC Championship Game on January 22, 2012, against the San Francisco 49ers.

Dean would win UPI NFC Defensive Player of the Year ( while playing in only 11 games ) that same year en route to a Super Bowl victory and help the 49ers to another Super Bowl title two years later.

Then the Cowboys overcame the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game, 17-10, aided by Thomas ' 143 rushing yards, along with interceptions by Renfro and Jordan late in the third quarter that were both converted into touchdowns.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys marched to the Super Bowl with playoff wins over the Minnesota Vikings, 20 – 12 in the NFC Divisional Playoffs, and the San Francisco 49ers, 14 – 3 in the NFC Championship Game, only giving up one touchdown in the two games.

Super Bowl XVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference ( NFC ) champion San Francisco 49ers and the American Football Conference ( AFC ) champion Cincinnati Bengals to decide the National Football League ( NFL ) champion for the 1981 season.

Super Bowl XIX was an American football game between the American Football Conference ( AFC ) champion Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference ( NFC ) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League ( NFL ) champion for the 1984 season.

The Vikings barely made the playoffs with an 8-7 record during the strike-shortened regular season, but advanced to the NFC championship by winning on the road against the teams with the best records in the NFL, defeating the 12-3 New Orleans Saints, 44-10, and the 13-2 San Francisco 49ers, 36-24.

Super Bowl XXIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference ( NFC ) champion San Francisco 49ers and the American Football Conference ( AFC ) champion Denver Broncos to decide the National Football League ( NFL ) champion for the 1989 season.

The following Sunday, the Giants upset the San Francisco 49ers, 15 – 13, in the NFC Championship Game.

This was the first time that the two teams met in the NFC Championship since the 49ers narrowly beat the Cowboys during the 1981 season on a late touchdown pass known as " The Catch ".

One week later, Dallas faced the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC title game for the second year in a row in what was at the time the last NFL game to air on CBS.

Super Bowl XXIX was an American football game between the American Football Conference ( AFC ) champion San Diego Chargers and the National Football Conference ( NFC ) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League ( NFL ) champion for the 1994 season.