How many times have the 49ers reached the NFC Championship?
The San Francisco 49ers are back in the NFC Championship Game and if that sounds familiar, it’s because it is. Quite frankly, no other team has had a strangle hold on the NFC like the Niners across the NFL’s history.
With the 49ers set to make yet another appearance in the NFC Championship Game, we’re taking a look at just how many times they’ve been there and what their record looks like across all of those appearances. Allow use to tell you, there’s been a whole lot.
The San Francisco 49ers are in the NFC Championship Game again
During the 1980s, if there was one team that dominated the NFC, it was most definitely the San Francisco 49ers. Yet, having been to the game just last year when they fell to the Los Angeles Rams, it would be fair to say they aren’t a team of the past either. Indeed, this is the second straight year that the Niners are going to be playing in NFC Championship and it goes without saying that Kyle Shanahan’s men will be itching to go one better than they did last year.
Of course, to do so they will have to put down the Philadelphia Eagles, who despite a few dips actually flew quite high all season long. In truth, this NFC Championship Game is a fitting contest between the two top seeds in the conference. On both sides of the line of scrimmage there will be quarterback concerns, but for different reasons. Where the Eagles are concerned, they have seen an MVP worthy campaign from Jalen Hurts derailed by a recent shoulder injury - he’s still struggling. As for the Niners, both starting QB Trey Lance and backup Jimmy Garoppolo have been sidelined by injury, leaving third string rookie QB Brock Purdy to hold the fort. As the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, many expected Purdy to sink rather than swim. Since he took over midgame in Week 13, the Niners haven’t lost so there is that. Just ask the Dallas Cowboys who he put down last week.
How many times have the 49ers played the NFC Championship Game?
Like we said above, when it comes to NFC Championship history, there’s really only one team that comes to mind that’s the San Francisco 49ers. In total, the Niners have now got a whopping 18 appearances in the conference’s biggest game, with six of those games having been played since 2011 on a record of 2-3. Incidentally, if the 49ers are able to beat the Eagles on Sunday, they will actually tie the record for most NFC Championship wins, which is currently eight. What team has the record? As fate would have it, the Niners’ eternal rivals, the Dallas Cowboys. Of course, the fact that San Francisco had to dismiss Dallas in the Divisional Round to get here, is sure to make Dallas’ slim lead a little easier to tolerate.
Interestingly, the 49ers are also the team in the conference with the most losses in the NFC Championship Game. After all, it stands to reason that the more you play in the big game, the more you have opportunities to lose it. In total, San Francisco lost on 10 occasions. We imagine they won’t be in the mood to add to that tally when Sunday rolls around.