Would a home Super Bowl benefit 49ers’ chances? History suggests yes

The Super Bowl s return to the Bay Area next February is expected to be a huge financial windfall for the region The Bay Area Host Committee estimated between million and million in financial impact from the competition set for Levi s Stadium in Santa Clara They may not be the favorites after a - season but would playing in their own backyard be a boon to the ers hopes of winning their sixth title in franchise history and first in three decades Three previous Super Bowls have involved a organization playing in their home region including the ers who played Super Bowl XIX down the road from Candlestick Park at Stanford Stadium So far no home crew has ever lost a Super Bowl If the ers surprise to capture an NFC title this season here s the relevant history Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino puts his hands to his head after a first half pass went incomplete in Super Bowl XIX against the San Francisco ers on Sunday Jan in Stanford Stadium Niners safety Jeff Fuller brought Marino down AP Photo Super Bowl XIX Jan Stanford Stadium The NFL s owners approved the Bay Area s first Super Bowl in December just months after the ers won their first title Stanford Stadium did not have lights or locker rooms at the time but the school committed to building dressing facilities and the NFL brought in temporary lights Candlestick Park and the Oakland Coliseum were deemed too small to host I stated the NFL owners last June that San Francisco would roll out the red carpet better than any city in the United States San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein mentioned after the announcement The Niners became the first in NFL history to win games in a season setting them on a module to be the first squad to play a Super Bowl in its home arena Joe Montana and the offense gained bulk of the acclaim finishing second in the league in scoring but the defense was stellar The defensive backfield quartet of Ronnie Lott Eric Wright Carlton Williamson and Dwight Hicks was all selected to the Pro Bowl The battle was a battle of two Hall of Fame quarterbacks Montana the established star and Miami s Dan Marino the ascendant hotshot after current NFL records for passing yards and touchdowns in the regular season Marino s Dolphins scored first and led - after one quarter but the Niners outscored them - the rest of the way including three consecutive touchdowns in the second quarter Each was the consequence of a short field after three-and-outs forced by the ers defense The Niners set a Super Bowl record with yards of offense Montana had through the air on the ground and four total touchdowns while the San Francisco defense forced Marino into two interceptions and four sacks holding the Dolphins to passing yards Montana was named the tournament s MVP while Marino never made it back to the sport s biggest stage Dan Marino s a great young quarterback but my feeling our feeling is that Joe Montana is the greatest quarterback nowadays maybe the greatest of all time ers coach Bill Walsh disclosed according to the New York Times TAMPA FLORIDA - FEBRUARY Rob Gronkowski and Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrate after defeating the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium on February in Tampa Florida The Buccaneers defeated the Chiefs - Photo by Mike Ehrmann Getty Images Super Bowl LV Feb Raymond James Stadium It took years for another Super Bowl club to play in its home domain and even then the home-field effect was diminished The Tampa Bay Buccaneers played the Kansas City Chiefs in front of a COVID-limited crowd of Tampa hosted its fourth Super Bowl one year after the Chiefs beat the ers in Miami to win Super Bowl LIV A slew of early-season injuries took the Niners out of the NFC race and the Bucs capitalized In Tom Brady s first season after defecting from New England he and the Buccaneers went - to claim a wild-card spot They then swept through three road playoff games to earn a home Super Bowl The focus was again on the quarterback matchup as a -year-old Brady was facing the reigning Super Bowl MVP in Patrick Mahomes at age It was the Bucs defense that made the difference though Without both starting offensive tackles Mahomes was under constant siege He took only three sacks but was pressured a Super Bowl-record times and threw two interceptions The Bucs kept Kansas City out of the end zone in a - romp Ndamukong Suh had sacks for Tampa Bay and Shaquil Barrett recorded four quarterback hits keeping Mahomes on the run Brady hit former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski for two touchdown passes in the first half and Leonard Fournette contributed total yards and a rushing touchdown Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford celebrates after the Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in the NFL Super Bowl football battle Sunday Feb in Inglewood Calif AP Photo Marcio Jose Sanchez Super Bowl LVI Feb SoFi Stadium Just over a year later history repeated as the Rams made a run to the Super Bowl in their first season playing at the space-age SoFi Stadium in Inglewood Los Angeles had been in playoff contention since coach Sean McVay arrived in at the age of but general manager Les Snead took a big swing in early when he traded former No draft pick Jared Goff and draft picks to Detroit for big-armed veteran Matthew Stafford The gamble paid off In Stafford s first season the Rams went - to win the NFC West as the No seed then beat Arizona in the wild-card round and used a late-game heave from Stafford to Cooper Kupp to overcome blowing a -point lead in Tampa Bay eliminating the Bucs on a last-second Matt Gay field goal It was more drama in the NFC title meeting against the ers Trailing by entering the fourth quarter the Rams engineered three scoring drives to win - in a meeting remembered by ers fans for Jaquiski Tartt s dropped interception In the AFC quarterback Joe Burrow and the upstart Bengals shocked the Chiefs in Kansas City in the conference title event to reach the Super Bowl The Rams scored first as Stafford hit Kupp from yards out in the first quarter but the Bengals stayed within a outcome through the first half Related Articles ers road trip playbook Fans guide for what to eat drink see and do if you follow the unit across the country this season ers statement Kittle could be headed for I R Purdy has toe shoulder issues Moody being evaluated Photos Former Gilroy home of er selling for million Kurtenbach An act of mercy it s time again for the ers to cut kicker Jake Moody ers bring back Kendrick Bourne with Jauan Jennings injured After an LA-centric halftime show featuring Kendrick Lamar and Dr Dre the Bengals came out firing Burrow and Tee Higgins connected for a -yard touchdown on the first play of the second half then Stafford threw a pick to open the next possession The teams exchanged field goals then the offense went silent as they traded seven consecutive punts with only three first downs all by Cincinnati Aided by an early fourth-down conversion by Kupp and two defensive penalties inside the -yard line Stafford and the Rams drove yards to take a -point lead on a -yard Kupp catch The Bengals drove to midfield and had second-and- but the Rams stopped them on three straight plays sealing a home Super Bowl win Kupp was the MVP for his receiving yards and two touchdowns Stafford had yards passing and overcame two interceptions with three touchdowns while Burrow finished with yards and a touchdown on -of- passing but was sacked seven times Aaron Donald and Von Miller each had two sacks for the Rams As far as building this stadium I think it turned out all right revealed Rams owner Stan Kroenke who moved them back to L A in from St Louis and funded the billion stadium where his organization and the Chargers now play