Super Bowl XXIII

AFL:  Cincinnati Bengals

NFL:  San Francisco 49ers

Date:  January 22, 1989

Location: 

 

Scoring:

Team                1          2          3          4          Final

CIN                 0          3          10        3            16

SF                    3          0          3          14          20

 

AFC playmakers:

LB David Fulcher, FB Stanford Jennings

 

NFC playmakers:

WR Jerry Rice, WR John Taylor

 

Network:  NBC (NFL Network rebroadcast)

Announcers:  Dick Enberg, Merlin Olsen

 

Pregame:  Yes

Halftime:  No

Postgame:  No

Commercials:  No

 

Grade:  95/100.  NFL Network added the crawl at the bottom, but otherwise it’s great quality audio and video.

 

Notes:  NFC champion San Francisco captured its third Super Bowl of the 1980s by defeating AFC champion Cincinnati 20-16.

 

The 49ers, who also won Super Bowls XVI and XIX, became the first NFC team to win three Super Bowls. Pittsburgh, with four Super Bowl titles (IX, X, XIII, and XIV), and the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, with three (XI, XV, and XVIII), lead AFC franchises.

 

Even though San Francisco held an advantage in total net yards (453 to 229), the 49ers found themselves trailing the Bengals late in the game. With the score 13-13, Cincinnati took a 16-13 lead on Jim Breech's 40-yard field goal with 3:20 remaining. It was Breech's third field goal of the day, following earlier successes from 34 and 43 yards.

 

The 49ers started their winning drive at their 8-yard line. Over the next 11 plays, San Francisco covered 92 yards with the decisive score coming on a 10-yard pass from quarterback Joe Montana to wide receiver John Taylor with 34 seconds remaining.

 

At halftime, the score was 3-3, the first time in Super Bowl history the game was tied at intermission.

 

After the teams traded third-period field goals, the Bengals jumped ahead 13-6 on Stanford Jennings's 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with 34 seconds remaining in the quarter.

 

The 49ers didn't waste any time coming back as they covered 85 yards in four plays, concluding with Montana's 14-yard scoring pass to Jerry Rice 57 seconds into the final stanza.

 

Rice was named the game's most valuable player after compiling 11 catches for a Super Bowl-record 215 yards. Montana completed 23 of 36 passes for a Super Bowl-record 357 yards and two touchdowns.

 

Running time:  2:02  (1 disc)