2023 San Francisco 49ers season

The 2023 season was the San Francisco 49ers' 74th in the National Football League (NFL), their 78th overall, their tenth playing their home games at Levi's Stadium and their seventh under the head coach/general manager tandem of Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch. This was the team's first season since 2013 and 2016, respectively, without safety Jimmie Ward and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo on the roster; Garoppolo signed with the Las Vegas Raiders on March 17, while Ward signed with the Houston Texans the following day.

The team had a 5–0 start that left them, along with the Philadelphia Eagles, as the last undefeated teams remaining. The 49ers lost to the Cleveland Browns in Week 6, their first of three consecutive losses heading into their bye week. Following the bye, the 49ers won 6 games in a row and, with a week 14 win over their NFC West rival, the Seattle Seahawks, coupled with the Green Bay Packers' loss to the New York Giants on Monday Night Football, became the first team to clinch a playoff berth in 2023, their fourth in five seasons. The following week the 49ers clinched the NFC West in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2011–2012 with a 45–29 win over the Arizona Cardinals. With a 27–10 Week 17 win over the Washington Commanders, and the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles losing, the 49ers clinched the number one seed of the NFC for the first time since 2019. Despite clinching the number one seed, the team failed to match their 13–4 record from the previous year, going 12–5. After a close 24–21 win in the divisional playoffs against the Green Bay Packers, the 49ers advanced to the NFC Championship Game for the fourth time in five seasons, the fourth time they had made it in three consecutive seasons, after 1988–1990, 1992–1994, and 2011–2013. In the NFC Championship game against the Detroit Lions, the 49ers came back from a 24–7 halftime deficit to win 34–31, setting an NFL record for overcoming the largest halftime deficit in a championship game. Coincidentally, the 49ers had been the most recent team to overcome a 17-point deficit in a championship game (but which was not a halftime deficit), which happened in 2012 against the Atlanta Falcons. The win allowed the 49ers to make their second Super Bowl appearance in 5 seasons, and their eighth appearance overall. The 49ers faced the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII, which was a rematch of Super Bowl LIV. The 49ers season ended in failure again to the Chiefs in the rematch, falling in overtime by a score of 25–22.

The 49ers finished the season in the top 10 in multiple offensive and defensive categories. On offense, the 49ers finished with 491 points scored, which was third most in the league and the second most points scored in franchise history (behind the 1994 team which scored 505 points). They finished second in the league in total offense with 398.4 yards per game, which included finishing fourth in pass yards per game (257.9) and third in rush yards per game (140.5). They also established an NFL record by becoming the first team in league history to have four players with over 1,000 scrimmage yards, with Deebo Samuel (1,085), George Kittle (1,022), Christian McCaffrey (2,023) and Brandon Aiyuk (1,317) all surpassing the mark. On defense, the 49ers finished third in the league in scoring defense, giving up just 17.5 points per game and finished first in the league with 22 interceptions (tied with the Chicago Bears).

Offseason

Roster changes

Free agency

The 49ers entered free agency with the following:

Signings

Departures

Draft

Notes

Staff

Final roster

Preseason

Regular season

Schedule

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: at Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 2: at Los Angeles Rams

Week 3: vs. New York Giants

Week 4: vs. Arizona Cardinals

Week 5: vs. Dallas Cowboys

Week 6: at Cleveland Browns

Week 7: at Minnesota Vikings

Week 8: vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Week 10: at Jacksonville Jaguars

Week 11: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 12: at Seattle Seahawks

Thanksgiving Day games

Week 13: at Philadelphia Eagles

Week 14: vs. Seattle Seahawks

Week 15: at Arizona Cardinals

Week 16: vs. Baltimore Ravens

Christmas Day games

Week 17: at Washington Commanders

Week 18: vs. Los Angeles Rams

Standings

Division

Conference

Postseason

Schedule

Game summaries

NFC Divisional Playoffs: vs. (7) Green Bay Packers

NFC Championship: vs. (3) Detroit Lions

Super Bowl LVIII: vs. (A3) Kansas City Chiefs

References