The1998 San Francisco 49ers season was thefranchise's 49thseason in theNational Football League (NFL) and their 53rd overall. The 49ers were heavily favored to represent the NFC inSuper Bowl XXXIII.

The season saw the return ofJerry Rice, who missed most of1997 with a major knee injury.

After defeating theGreen Bay Packers in thewild-card round of the playoffs, thanks to youngTerrell Owens'sgame-winning catch, referred to by fans as "The Catch II", San Francisco's season ended with a loss to theAtlanta Falcons the following week in thedivisional round. The Falcons went on to defeat the 15–1Minnesota Vikings in theNFC title game but lost to theDenver Broncos in theSuper Bowl.

1998 would prove to be the final full season ofSteve Young's career. In Week 3 of thefollowing season, Young suffered a concussion on a violent sack byCardinals cornerbackAeneas Williams which ultimately ended his 15-year NFL career. Also in the divisional-round game, 49ers running backGarrison Hearst broke his foot, keeping him out of football for the next two seasons. Hearst was the first NFL player to be on the cover ofMadden NFL, and his injury marked the beginning of theMadden curse.

The game lead tied or changed eight times in regulation as theJets underBill Parcells came toCandlestick Park. Jets quarterbackGlenn Foley matchedSteve Young's three touchdowns and one pick with three scores and one pick of his own; Foley put up 415 yards to Young's 363 yards. The two teams traded punts in overtime; the Niners had to start at their four-yard line and coachSteve Mariucci called "90 O", a run play intended to get away from their endzone.Garrison Hearst burst through a hole and raced 96 yards straddling the sideline, getting key blocks fromDave Fiore despite an injured leg, and fromTerrell Owens for the touchdown and a 36–30 Niners win.

The Niners defeated theRedskins 45–10 with 504 yards of offense and three touchdowns bySteve Young. The Redskins coughed up the ball three times in the loss.

Bye week

Hosting the2–1 Falcons, the Niners picked offChris Chandler three times and won 31–20 behind 387 passing yards, 50 rushing yards, and three touchdowns fromSteve Young.|Weather= 62 °F or 16.7 °C (Light Rain)

The Niners traveled toRich Stadium to face theBills and crashed hard 26–21 despite 21 fourth-quarter points. The Niners committed 22 penalties eating up 178 yards (compared to Buffalo's 12 fouls for 106), while the two teams' puntersChris Mohr andReggie Roby combined for 323 punting yards.

Still smarting from their poor performance at Buffalo, the Niners traveled to theSuperdome and crushedMike Ditka'sSaints 31–0. The game was another penalty-laden affair with a combined 24 fouls eating up 240 yards. The Niners shut downDanny Wuerffel andBilly Joe Tolliver, limiting them to 15 completions for 174 yards and a pick. While quarterback Steve Young got a win on his 37th birthday.

The Niners hosted theColts and their new quarterbackPeyton Manning. The Colts immediately served notice for the future as they raced to a 21–0 lead behind two Manning scores toMarvin Harrison and a 65-yard score from futureRamMarshall Faulk; Manning would add another touchdown to Harrison in the third quarter and the Colts added a field goal following aGarrison Hearst fumble and subsequent personal foul penalty. The Niners clawed back asSteve Young threw three touchdowns and ran in a fourth; a botched PAT byTy Detmer and resultant smothered two-point attempt led on the Niners' next possession to aJerry Rice two-point conversion catch from Young to tie the game.Mike Vanderjagt missed from 53 yards out on the Colts' next possession with 1:10 to go, then after a crushingpass interference penalty onTyrone Poole againstJ.J. Stokes with 43 seconds to go (this following two Young interceptions erased on Indianapolis holding penalties in the first half)Wade Richey's 24-yard field goal won it 34–31 for the Niners.^[1] The game became notable in league history for the showdown between veteran Young (331 passing yards, 60 rushing yards nearly matchingGarrison Hearst at 65, and four total touchdowns) and rookie phenomenon Manning (231 passing yards and three scores); the game featured eightHall of Famers in Young, Manning,Jerry Rice,Marvin Harrison,Bryant Young,Marshall Faulk,Terrell Owens, andChris Doleman.|Weather=68 °F or 20 °C (Sunny)

Hitting theTWA Dome, the Niners cruised to a 28–10 win over the Rams asSteve Young overcame two picks with three touchdowns and budding superstarTerrell Owens ran in a 21-yard score. The Niners picked offTony Banks three times.

For the fifth straight time the Niners fell to theGreen Bay Packers, this time 36–22 atLambeau Field. The Niners overcame a botched punt snap for safety and erased a 16–0 Packer lead to take the lead 22–19 in the third quarter. From there, despite threeBrett Favre interceptions, it all fell apart for the Niners as the Packers unleashed 17 unanswered points.

Ty Detmer took over forSteve Young against the1–7 Panthers, throwing for 276 yards and three touchdowns (toJ.J. Stokes andTerrell Owens), but three interceptions kept the Panthers in the game and they took a 23–22 lead beforeWade Richey's 46-yard field goal capped a 25–23 Niners win.|Weather=57 °F or 13.9 °C (Cloudy)

The battle for theNFC West had now become a true battle as the 7–2Falcons hosted the 7–2 Niners and things got ugly for San Francisco.Steve Young managed 342 passing yards but only 21 completions; the Falcons grabbed a fumble at the Niners goalline for aJessie Tuggle touchdown and when Young connected on long-range scores toTerrell Owens andJerry Rice,Chris Chandler put the game away on his 78-yard strike toTerance Mathis. The 31–19 Falcons win marked the end of the Niners' hold on the division crown that season.

Steve Young outdueled ex-PantherKerry Collins despite a Collins rushing score that put the 5–6 Saints up 10–0 in the first quarter. The Niners outscored the Saints 31–10 in the second and third quarters on four Young touchdown throws. Collins was picked twice and failed on fourth and goal at the Niners' 1-yard line in the fourth quarter; anAaron Craver rushing score in the final two minutes put the Saints within eleven points at the end.

AGary Brown rushing score in the opening six minutes of the first quarter was the only time the Giants were in contention as Steve Young answered with a 79-yard touchdown toTerrell Owens. Young scored again at the end of the second quarter andTerry Kirby andGarrison Hearst ran in the ball for additional scores and 31–7 Niners win.

Following four straight wins the Niners traveled toFoxboro Stadium to face astruggling Patriots squad. Regular starterDrew Bledsoe was out for the year with a broken throwing hand so backupScott Zolak took over. Despite a blocked field goal attempt the Niners scored 21 second-quarter points (including a touchdown from backupTy Detmer on a fake field goal attempt), but the Patriots battled back and tied the game on aRobert Edwards four-yard score, then won it on a drive in the final 1:48 on four straight Edwards rushes and then onAdam Vinatieri's 35-yard field goal with eighteen seconds left.Terrell Owens was held to three catches for 61 yards; in the second quarter the two teams exchanged interceptions as a pass for Owens was intercepted byTy Law but three plays later a Zolak pass toBen Coates was intercepted byTim McDonald.

Former NinerSteve Bono put the Rams, winless against the Niners since1990, up 7–0 on a touchdown toRicky Proehl. Proehl would catch another touchdown but by then the game was out of reach on two Steve Young touchdowns and scores fromR. W. McQuarters and threeWade Richey field goals. Notably, this was the first game in which former Arena Football quarterback,Kurt Warner, saw playing time in the NFL, completing four of eleven passes for 39 yards. This would be the last time the 49ers would sweep the rams in the regular season until 2005.

For the first time in theBrett Favre era, the 49ers pulled off a victory over the Packers. After a late Packers touchdown, the Niners trailed 27–23 and a continuing issue during the game was dropped passes by the receiverTerrell Owens. In the final ten seconds,Steve Young dropped back in the Packers' RedZone, stumbled but stayed on his feet, then heaved the ball to the endzone where Owens caught it and landed in the endzone with four seconds left, holding on to the ball despite hits by two Packers defensive backs. The Niners had pulled out one of the most dramatic wins in their history. This play is often referred to by 49ers fans as "the Catch II", a reference to "The Catch" touchdown fromJoe Montana toDwight Clark inthe final minute against the Cowboys in the 1981 playoffs. The victory over the Packers turned out to be Young's final playoff win.

The game started poorly for the 13–4 49ers, who lost 1,500-yard rusherGarrison Hearst to a broken bone in his left leg on the first play of the game. BackupTerry Kirby was only able to rush for 46 yards. With their running game hobbled, the 49ers trailed 14–0 in the first half, and 20–10 going into the fourth quarter. With 2:57 remaining, Young scored on an 8-yard run and the team converted a two-point conversion after a botched snap, to bring the score to 20–18. The 49ers had one more chance to win with the ball deep in their territory but Young threw a desperation pass that was picked off by the Falcons'William White.^[2]

• Franchise Record, Most Rushing Yards in One Game, 328 Rushing Yards (vs. Detroit Lions on December 14, 1998)^[3]
• Led NFL, Total Yards, 6,800 Total Yards^[4]
• Garrison Hearst, Franchise Record, Most Rushing Yards in One Season, 1,570 Rushing Yards^[5]
• Steve Young, Franchise Record, Most Touchdown Passes in One Season, 36 Touchdown Passes^[5]
• Steve Young, Led NFL, Touchdown Passes, 36 Passes^[6]

• 1998 49ers on Pro Football Reference
• 49ers Schedule on jt-sw.com

• 1998 NFL season by team
• San Francisco 49ers seasons
• 1998 in San Francisco
• 1998 in sports in California

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from August 2023