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199649ers 14, Philadelphia Eagles 0NFC Wild CardDecember 29 at 3Com Park(San Francisco, CA)On a wet and windy Sunday at 3Com Park, SanFrancisco opened its 1996 postseason by defeating thePhiladelphia Eagles 14-0 in the NFC Wild Card Game.Led by their marquee players QB Steve Young and WRJerry Rice on offense, and a defense that recorded theteam’s first postseason shutout since the 1984 NFCChampionship Game, the 49ers advanced to the NFCDivisional Playoff round. Following a scoreless firstquarter, Young led the offense on a 10-play, 74-yarddrive that concluded with the Pro Bowl quarterbackscoring on a gutty nine-yard run off a quarterback draw.On that play Young broke four tackles while fighting hisway to paydirt. Twice in the second quarter the Eaglesmounted long drives only to be denied just short of theendzone by Niners interceptions. Philadelphia’s firsttrip ended with CB Marquez Pope intercepting a QBTy Detmer pass on San Francisco’s seven-yard line.Late in the quarter the Eagles marched 59 yards on 10plays moving to the 49ers five-yard line. Facing thirdand four, Detmer’s attempt to WR Chris T. Jones waspicked off by DE Roy Barker, who had dropped off intozone-blitz coverage. The only scoring in the secondhalf occurred on the Niners second possession of thethird quarter. On that drive, Rice made a spectacularone-handed catch that resulted in a 36-yard gain. Hescored on a three-yard pass from Young on the nextplay from scrimmage. Young finished as the game’sleading rusher with 65 yards, while also completing14-of-21 tosses for 161 yards. Rice had four catchesfor 50 yards and his 19th career postseason touchdown(17th receiving). RB Terry Kirby added 43 yards rushing.The Niners defense, which held Eagles RB RickyWatters to 57 rushing yards, was led by LB Ken NortonJr.’s team postseason-record 12 solo tackles. DTBryant Young registered two sacks and LB Lee Woodalladded a sack among his six total stops.49ers 0 7 7 0 - 14Eagles 0 0 0 0 - 049ers — Young 9 run (Wilkins kick)49ers — Rice 3 pass from Young (Wilkins kick)POSTSEASONGreen Bay Packers 35, 49ers 14NFC Divisional PlayoffJanuary 4 at Lambeau Field(Green Bay, WI)Missed opportunities, including a total of five turnovers,spelled defeat for the San Francisco 49ers in their NFCDivisional Playoff Game with the Green Bay Packers.Played before a record Lambeau Field crowd of60,787, the 49ers fell 35-14 in a game that featured34-degree weather (with a wind chill of nine-degrees)and driving rain. It didn’t take long for the Packers totake a lead. After forcing San Francisco to punt onits first series, WR Desmond Howard took P TommyThompson’s punt, split the coverage down the middleof the field and raced for a 71-yard touchdown. Then,with seven minutes remaining in the opening stanza,Howard struck again. He returned a punt 46 yards tothe San Francisco seven, and two plays later, QB BrettFavre threw a four-yard scoring pass to WR AndreRison to make it 14-0. San Francisco then mounteda comeback in the second quarter. Trailing 21-0, thetide began to turn when 49ers special teams standoutCurtis Buckley recovered a muffed punt at the GreenBay 26. Moments later, QB Elvis Grbac, replacing theinjured QB Steve Young (ribs), hit RB Terry Kirby withan eight-yard pass, cutting the deficit to 21-7 at thehalf. On the opening kickoff of the third quarter, SanFrancisco CB Steve Israel recovered a loose ball on thePackers four, setting the stage for Grbac’s scamper intothe end zone. The 49ers fate was sealed, however, onthe ensuing Packers drive. Marching 72 yards in 12plays (10 of which were runs), Green Bay scored whenFB Edgar Bennett fumbled before crossing the goal line;but before the 49ers defenders could react, WR AntonioFreeman fell on the loose ball, giving the hosts a 28-14 advantage. Bennett scored on an 11-yard run, andtwo more fumbles in the fourth quarter snuffed out anyhope the 49ers had in getting back into the game. Youngplayed the first nine plays at quarterback before givingway to Grbac late in the first quarter. Grbac completed19-of-36 passes for 125 yards with one touchdownand three interceptions and led the team in rushingwith 32 yards. Backfield mates Kirby and RB WilliamFloyd had six receptions each, while WR Jerry Rice hada team-high 36 yards receiving. Defensively, LB KenNorton Jr. posted eight tackles and LB Gary Plummeradded seven. All-Pro DT Bryant Young left the gamelate in the first quarter because of a neck injury. He wastaken to the hospital for tests, which were negative.49ers 0 7 7 0 - 14Packers 14 7 7 7 - 35Packers — Howard 71 punt return (Jacke kick)Packers — Rison 4 pass from Favre (Jacke kick)Packers — Bennet 2 run (Jacke kick)49ers — Kirby 8 pass from Grbac (Wilkins kick)49ers — Grbac 4 run (Wilkins kick)Packers — Freeman fumble recovery (Jacke kick)Packers — Bennett 11 run (Jacke kick)GAME SUMMARIES199749ers 38, Minnesota Vikings 22NFC Divisional PlayoffJanuary 3 at 3Com Park(San Francisco, CA)RB Terry Kirby rushed for a career-high 120 yards andscored two touchdowns, leading the San Francisco49ers to a 38-22 victory over the Minnesota Vikingsin the NFC Divisional Playoffs at 3Com Park. In additionto Kirby’s heroics, QB Steve Young completed 21-of-30 passes for 224 yards and a touchdown, WR J.J.Stokes had 101 yards receiving and LB Ken NortonJr. returned an interception 23 yards for a touchdown.San Francisco’s first score came compliments of aMinnesota special teams miscue. P Mitch Berger’s puntsailed off the side of his foot and into the crowd aftergoing only 12 yards. The 49ers took over on the Vikings26, and four plays later, FB William Floyd scored fromthe one and the 49ers led 7-0. Less than a minute later,the visitors tied the game on a 66-yard scoring passfrom QB Randall Cunningham to WR Cris Carter. In thesecond quarter, the 49ers again took advantage of apoor kick by Berger — this time a punt of 29 yards— to take a 14-7 lead. Moving 61 yards in only fourplays, and aided by three Minnesota penalties, Kirbyscored the first of his two touchdowns on a one-yardplunge. The game-breaker occurred two plays laterwhen the San Francisco defense flushed Cunninghamout of the pocket and forced him to throw a pass overan onrushing DE Roy Barker and into the hands ofNorton, who ran untouched into the end zone. In thethird quarter, K Gary Anderson connected on a 34-yardfield goal to build the lead to 24-7, but Cunninghamand Carter hooked up again for a score, closing the gapto 24-14. On the ensuing series, the 49ers marched75 yards in seven plays, highlighted by two Kirby runsof 22 and 14 yards. Young then hit WR Terrell Owenswith one of the prettiest touchdowns of the year, asthe second-year receiver shook off a defender thendove into the end zone for the score. Kirby finished thescoring in the fourth quarter with another one-yardrun. CB Tyronne Drakeford had six tackles and a pairof passes defensed to pace the defense. Barker alsorecorded San Francisco’s only sack of the game.Vikings 7 0 7 8 - 2249ers 7 14 10 7 - 3849ers — Floyd 1 run (Anderson kick)Vikings — Carter 66 pass from Cunningham (Murray kick)49ers — Kirby 1 run (Anderson kick)49ers — Norton 23 interception (Anderson kick)49ers — Anderson 34 FGVikings — Carter 3 pass from Cunningham (Murray kick)49ers — Owens 15 pass from Young (Anderson kick)49ers — Kirby 1 run (Anderson kick)Vikings — Hatchette 13 pass from Cunningham(Cunningham to Walsh pass)SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS \\255// MEDIA GUIDE