1952 San Francisco 49ers season
OwnerTony Morabito
General managerLouis Spadia
Head coachBuck Shaw
Home fieldKezar Stadium
Results
Record7–5
Division place3rd NFL National
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 1952 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 3rd season in the National Football League and their 7th overall. They were coming off a 7–4–1 record in 1951.

The 49ers won their first five games by at least two touchdowns and had visions of playing in their first-ever NFL Championship Game. However, they lost five of their final seven games to finish at 7–5, third place in the six-team National Conference (which became the Western Conference in 1953).

Y. A. Tittle emerged as the starting quarterback, as he had a completion rate of 51.0% along with eleven touchdowns and 1,407 yards. Frankie Albert also had some action, completing 55.0% of his passes, along with eight TDs and 964 yards.

Joe Perry rushed for a team-high 725 yards and eight TDs, while rookie Hugh McElhenny had 684 yards on 98 attempts (7.0 yards/carry), along with six rushing TDs, while he caught 26 passes for 367 yards and earned another three touchdowns. Gordie Soltau led the club with 55 receptions for 774 yards and seven TDs.

Offseason

NFL Draft

See also: 1952 NFL Draft

Preseason

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 August 10 San Francisco Broncos W 79–0 1–0 Kezar Stadium 8,700
2 August 17 Washington Redskins W 35–0 2–0 Kezar Stadium 35,234
3 August 24 Chicago Cardinals W 38–14 3–0 Kezar Stadium 34,901
4 September 3 at Los Angeles Rams W 17–7 4–0 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 67,799
5 September 7 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 29–14 5–0 Forbes Field 21,759
6 September 13 at Cleveland Browns W 35–31 6–0 Rubber Bowl 30,119
7 September 19 at San Jose Packers W 76–0 7–0 Spartan Stadium 6,839

[2]

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 28 Detroit Lions W 17–3 1–0 Kezar Stadium 52,750 Recap
2 October 4 at Dallas Texans W 37–14 2–0 Cotton Bowl 12,566 Recap
3 October 12 at Detroit Lions W 28–0 3–0 Briggs Stadium 42,842 Recap
4 October 19 at Chicago Bears W 40–16 4–0 Wrigley Field 46,338 Recap
5 October 26 Dallas Texans W 48–21 5–0 Kezar Stadium 26,887 Recap
6 November 2 Chicago Bears L 17–20 5–1 Kezar Stadium 58,255 Recap
7 November 9 at New York Giants L 14–23 5–2 Polo Grounds 54,230 Recap
8 November 16 at Washington Redskins W 23–17 6–2 Griffith Stadium 30,863 Recap
9 November 23 at Los Angeles Rams L 9–35 6–3 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 64,450 Recap
10 November 30 Los Angeles Rams L 21–34 6–4 Kezar Stadium 49,420 Recap
11 December 7 Pittsburgh Steelers L 7–24 6–5 Kezar Stadium 13,886 Recap
12 December 14 Green Bay Packers W 24–14 7–5 Kezar Stadium 17,579 Recap
Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFL National Conference
W L T PCT CONF PF PA STK
Detroit Lions 9 3 0 .750 7–3 344 192 W3
Los Angeles Rams 9 3 0 .750 8–2 349 234 W8
San Francisco 49ers 7 5 0 .583 6–3 285 221 W1
Green Bay Packers 6 6 0 .500 3–6 295 312 L3
Chicago Bears 5 7 0 .417 4–6 245 326 W1
Dallas Texans 1 11 0 .083 1–9 182 427 L2

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Pro Bowl

San Francisco's players selected for the Pro Bowl:

Player Position
Hardy Brown Linebacker
Ed Henke Defensive line
Bill Johnson Offensive line
Hugh McElhenny Running back
Leo Nomellini Defensive line
Joe Perry Running back
Gordie Soltau Wide receiver

References

  1. ^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 398
  2. ^ "1952 San Francisco 49ers (NFL)". Pro Football Archives. Retrieved December 19, 2023.

External links

San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers seasons
1952 NFL season
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