2011 San Francisco 49ers season The 2011 San Francisco 49ers season is the franchise ' s 66th season overall , and 62nd in the National Football League ( NFL ) . It is the first season under head coach Jim Harbaugh and general manager Trent Baalke . The 49ers rebounded from their disappointing 2010 season to end their streak of eight consecutive non - winning seasons . After defeating the St . Louis Rams in week 13 and attaining a 10 - 2 record , the team clinched the NFC West and will make their first playoff appearance since 2002 . Offseason . Coaching changes . Owner Jed York announced that he would hire a general manager and the new GM would make a decision on the new head coach to replace Mike Singletary after the 49ers loss to the St . Louis Rams on December 26 , 2010 that eliminated the team from the postseason . On January 5 , the 49ers promoted the vice president of player personnel , Trent Baalke , to the position of general manager . On January 7 , the 49ers hired Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh to be the 18th head coach of the San Francisco 49ers . With the hiring of a new head coach , many of the assistant coaches were replaced . Out of the coordinators and position coaches from last season , only running backs coach Tom Rathman , defensive line coach Jim Tomsula , and offensive line coach Mike Solari were retained . The coaching staff features Greg Roman as the new offensive coordinator and Vic Fangio as the new defensive coordinator , both previously assistant coaches under Harbaugh at Stanford . Former Cleveland Browns assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Brad Seely was hired for the same roles with the 49ers . Geep Chryst is the new quarterbacks coach , Reggie Davis is the new tight ends coach . John Morton is the new wide receivers coach , and Tim Drevno is a new offensive line coach to help out Mike Solari . Jim Leavitt is the new linebackers coach and Ed Donatell is the new secondary coach . The staff also features defensive assistants Peter Hansen and Ehiro Evero , offensive assistant Bobby Engram , and special assistant to the head coach Bill Nayes . Preseason . Schedule . The 49ers ' preseason schedule was announced on April 12 , 2011 . Candlestick Park incident . On the night of Saturday , August 20 , 2011 , according to a copyrighted online article appearing in the headlines of the Sunday , August 21 , 2011 online edition of the AOL Huffington Post Sports News page : " A man wearing a shirt slamming the San Francisco 49ers was seriously wounded as gunfire erupted in the parking lot after the team ' s NFL preseason game , while another man sustained lesser injuries in an earlier shooting , police said . The violence occurred after the 49ers ' 17 - 3 victory Saturday night over the Oakland Raiders at Candlestick Park , police Sgt . Michael Andraychak said . A 24 - year - old man was treated at San Francisco General Hospital for life - threatening injuries , and a 20 - year - old man was hospitalized with less serious wounds , Andraychack told the Associated Press . Their names were not released . The violence comes months after a San Francisco Giants ' fan was severely beaten by two men in Los Angeles Dodgers ' gear outside Dodger Stadium , after the teams ' season opener March 31 . Two suspects have been charged in the case . The NFL has officially canceled all future preseason games between the two teams . Regular season . Schedule . LEGEND : Game summaries . Week 11 : vs . Arizona Cardinals . With this win , the 49ers improve their record to 9 - 1 , securing them their first true winning season in eight years . Week 12 : at Baltimore Ravens . Thanksgiving Classic Coming off their divisional home win over the Cardinals , head coach Jim Harbaugh and the 49ers flew to M & T Bank Stadium for a Week 12 interconference duel with the Baltimore Ravens and their head coach ( Jim ' s brother ) John Harbaugh on Thanksgiving . San Francisco trailed early in the first quarter as Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff got a 39 - yard field goal , yet the 49ers answered with a 45 - yard field goal from kicker David Akers . Baltimore struck back in the second quarter with Cundiff making a 23 - yard field goal . San Francisco began the third quarter with a 52 - yard field goal from Akers , but the Ravens opened the fourth quarter with quarterback Joe Flacco completing an 8 - yard touchdown pass to tight end Dennis Pitta , followed by Cundiff nailing a 39 - yard field goal . The Niners tried to rally , but Baltimore ' s defense held on to preserve the win . With the loss , the 49ers fell to 9 - 2 . Week 15 : vs . Pittsburgh Steelers . The game was delayed twice by power outages caused by an electrical transformer explosion . Postseason . Schedule . By virtue of winning the NFC West division title , the 49ers will host a playoff game in either the Wild Card round or the Divisional round .