1994 San Francisco 49ers season The San Francisco 49ers 1994 season was the team ' s 49th season in the National Football League , and was highlighted by a victory in Super Bowl XXIX . The championship made San Francisco the first team to win five Super Bowls . After losing to the Dallas Cowboys in the previous two conference championship games , the 49ers made significant acquisitions in the 1994 free agent market . This included the signing of two - sport star Deion Sanders and Cowboys linebacker Ken Norton , Jr . . Sanders had a major impact on the team ' s success , winning the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award and recording six interceptions . Quarterback Steve Young had his best NFL season and won his second MVP award . For the third consecutive season , the 49ers met the Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game . From the mid - 1980s to the mid - 1990s , the AFC was widely regarded as the NFL ' s inferior conference . Thus , this meeting between the NFC ' s perennial powerhouses was dubbed by many as " the real Super Bowl . " The contest was one of the highest rated non - Super Bowl games in NFL history . The 49ers would go on to defeat the San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX . Young was named the game ' s MVP with a record six touchdown passes . Regular season . In 1994 , the team spent large amounts of money on the addition of several star free agents , including Ken Norton , Jr . , Gary Plummer , Rickey Jackson , and Deion Sanders . Additionally , several rookie players made key contributions to the team , some becoming season - long starters . This included defensive tackle Bryant Young , fullback William Floyd , and linebacker Lee Woodall . The 49ers started slowly early in the season , with a 40 - 8 home loss to the Philadelphia Eagles , and a 24 - 17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs , led by former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana . Following the Eagles game , a poll conducted on local sports radio station KNBR showed that an overwhelming majority of 49er fans wanted head coach George Seifert fired . The game against the Eagles was a turning point for the 49ers despite being a lopsided loss . Quarterback Steve Young was benched abruptly during a series in the 3rd quarter . Soon after , Young was livid on the sidelines , shouting profanities at head coach George Seifert . Young would later say that this incident caused his teammates to respond better to his leadership , as they saw how much he cared about winning . The following week in Detroit , the 49ers trailed the Lions 14 - 0 . After throwing a pass , Young was hit , picked up , and driven into the ground by three Lions defenders . After the hit , Young was screaming with his face dark red in color . He crawled most of the way off of the field before refusing help from the trainers as he limped the remaining way off the field . He miraculously returned to the field one play later ( NFL rules state that after trainers attend to an injured player , that player must leave the field for at least one play ) to lead the 49ers to a 27 - 21 victory . The team rallied around Young to win 10 straight games , including a 21 - 14 victory over the two - time defending Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys . During that span , the 49ers ' average margin of victory was nearly 20 points per game . Throwback uniforms . During the 1994 season , many NFL teams wore " throwback uniform s " for occasional games ( after week 2 of the season ) to celebrate the NFL ' s 75th anniversary ( a corresponding diamond 75th Anniversary patch was also worn by all teams ) . The 49ers chose to wear a version of their 1955 uniforms as throwbacks . This design featured sans - serif block numerals that were outlined and shadowed in black . White pants with thinner red - black - red striping were also worn , along with the old striped red socks ( the team later reverted to their regular solid red socks after receiving permission from the NFL to wear the uniforms for the rest of the season ) . The team ' s regular 1989 - 95 gold helmet was worn with this uniform , as there was no logo on the 1955 helmet . The team first donned the 1955 throwback uniforms during a week 3 match against the Los Angeles Rams and the following week at home versus the Saints . Both games ended in victory ( coincidentally , these were also the first two games Deion Sanders played with the 49ers after signing as a free - agent after week 2 ) . The team then suffered an embarrassing 40 - 8 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles at home wearing their regular red uniforms with gold pants . ( Football statistics site " Football Outsiders " calculates this 49ers loss to be the second - most lopsided football game they ' d tracked from 1994 - 2008 . ) For the subsequent three games until their BYE week , the team again was scheduled to play games wearing the throwback uniforms with white pants and dropshadows , and all three games resulted in wins . During the following weeks the 49ers embarked on a 10 - game winning streak . The team , prompted both by the superstition of coach George Seifert , and the preference of players , petitioned the NFL to wear the throwback uniforms for the rest of the season . The league granted the request and the switch to solid red socks after the BYE week marked this occurrence . In all , the team went 15 - 1 ( including the playoffs ) wearing the 1955 / 1994 throwback uniforms . The only loss occurred during the regular season finale at Minnesota , with the team wearing white jerseys and resting most of their starters for the playoffs . Meanwhile , the 49ers went undefeated wearing the red jerseys of the throwback uniform . After winning Super Bowl XXIX however , the team was compelled to revert to wearing its regular 1964 - style uniforms ( 1991 revised design ) for the following 1995 season . One year later , the throwback design strongly influenced the 49ers to redesign their uniform set . In 1996 , the team revealed a new helmet and uniform design featuring a darker red , shadowed numbers , black accents , and white pants . In 1998 , the team changed the pants to a gold color and wore these uniforms through the 2008 season . Playoffs . NFC Divisional Playoff . Scoring Summary 1st Quarter CHI - Kevin Butler 39 yard field goal CHI 3 - 0 SF - William Floyd 2 yard rush ( Doug Brien kick ) SF 7 - 3 2nd Quarter SF - Brent Jones 8 yard pass from Steve Young ( kick failed ) SF 13 - 3 SF - William Floyd 4 yard rush ( Doug Brien kick ) SF 20 - 3 SF - Doug Brien 36 yard field goal SF 23 - 3 SF - Steve Young 6 yard rush ( Doug Brien kick ) SF 30 - 3 3rd Quarter SF - William Floyd 1 yard rush ( Doug Brien kick ) SF 37 - 3 4th Quarter CHI - Jim Flanigan 2 yard pass from Erik Kramer ( pass failed ) SF 37 - 9 SF - Adam Walker 1 yard rush ( Doug Brien kick ) SF 44 - 9 CHI - Lewis Tillman 1 yard rush ( pass failed ) SF 44 - 15 NFC Championship Game . Scoring Summary 1st Quarter SF - Eric Davis 44 yard interception return ( Doug Brien kick ) SF 7 - 0 SF - Ricky Watters 29 yard pass from Steve Young ( Doug Brien kick ) SF 14 - 0 SF - William Floyd 1 yard rush ( Doug Brien kick ) SF 21 - 0 DAL - Michael Irvin 44 yard pass from Troy Aikman ( Chris Boniol kick ) SF 21 - 7 2nd Quarter SF - Doug Brien 34 yard field goal SF 24 - 7 DAL - Emmitt Smith 4 yard rush ( Chris Boniol kick ) SF 24 - 14 SF - Jerry Rice 28 yard pass from Steve Young ( Doug Brien kick ) SF 31 - 14 3rd Quarter DAL - Emmitt Smith 1 yard rush ( Chris Boniol kick ) SF 31 - 21 SF - Steve Young 3 yard rush ( Doug Brien kick ) SF 38 - 21 4th Quarter DAL - Michael Irvin 10 yard pass from Troy Aikman ( Chris Boniol kick ) SF 38 - 28 Super Bowl XXIX . Scoring summary 1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter ( * ) The Chargers became the first team to have a successful two - point conversion in the Super Bowl . This was the first season in which the NFL allowed 2 point conversions , and the Chargers actually had two in the game .