Remember When?: Super Bowl XXIII

(With the Super Bowl coming up on Sunday, I will look at the five Super Bowls that the 49ers played in. Why the 49ers you ask and not other Super Bowls, because this is my blog and I'm a 49ers fan. So deal with it.)

Super Bowl XXIII
San Francisco 20 Cincinnati 16
Location: Joe Robbie Stadium, Miami, Florida
Date: January, 22 1989
MVP: Jerry Rice
Favorite: 49ers by 7
National Anthem: Billy Joel
Coin Toss: Nick Buoniconti, Bob Griese, and Larry Little
Network: NBC
Announcers: Dick Enberg and Merlin Olson
Nielsen Rating: 43.5

Background:
To give you the background of how the 49ers played their way into Super Bowl XXII, let me take you back when they won their last Super Bowl before this game.

The 49ers would have to transition to younger players over the next three years after beating the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX. Out were players like Dwight Clark, Wendall Tyler, John Ayers, Dwight Hicks, Jack Reynolds, and Fred Dean. In were players like Jerry Rice, Roger Craig, Harris Barton, Don Griffin, Charles Haley, Bill Romanoski, and Kevin Fagan. This would be a painful transition for the 49ers as they would be eliminated three years in a row, including a painful loss to the Minnesota Vikings in 1987 when the 49ers had the best record in the league.

This painful transition would carry over into the 1988 season. Steve Young and Joe Montana would battle in a quarterback competition. In fact, Young started a couple of the games in the season with coach Bill Walsh claiming Montana was hurt when many of his players questioned if Montana was hurt at all. After a 6-5 start, Montana lead the Niners to 4 wins in five games to finish out the season.

Roger Craig would once again have over 2,000 total yards on offense in the season and would be named the NFL offensive player of the year. The defense was lead by the secondary of Lott, Tim McKyer, and Eric Wright. The secondary intercepted 18 passes on the season, while Haley lead the team with 11.5 sacks.

The Cincinnati Bengals were also coming off a disappointing season in 1987. Head coach Sam Wyche and quarterback Boomer Esiason openly feuded during that entire season. The 1988 season would see Esiason and Wyche put away their differences. The Bengals would run the West Coast Offense in a no huddle formation. Because of this tweak in the offense, Esiason would lead the league in passing and win the MVP award. The offense was also lead by Ickey Woods who rushed for 1,066 yards and 15 touchdowns. Ickey would gain a lot of media attention with his "Ickey Shuffle" dance after a touchdown.



In the playoffs, both the Bengals and Niners would dominate their opponents. Cincinnati defeated Seattle and Buffalo to reach the Super Bowl. The 49ers on the other hand would avenge their 87 loss to Minnesota and then would crush the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship becoming the first team since 1979 to win the NFC Championship on the road.

Pregame Notes:
- Despite having the better record and the MVP, the Bengals were 7 point dogs to the Niners because of Joe Montana.

- If you thought networks pimping their own product is bad now, it has really been going on for a while. Former Dolphins would take part in the coin toss. Bob Griese was one of those former Dolphins. Griese at the time was a college football announcer for NBC. This Super Bowl was being broadcasted on, you guessed it NBC.

- Cincinnati running back Stanley Wilson cuased some problems for the team as he was arrested in his hotel room while using drugs. He was suspended for the Super Bowl. This would become a trend for players playing in the Super Bowl in Miami. (See, Eugene Robinson)

Game Summary:
Despite a great finish, this was one of more boring Super Bowls in history. The first half ended with both teams tied at 3. The reason both teams struggled on offense in this game is because both coaches knew each other well. Sam Wyche was Bill Walsh's assistant for Walsh's first couple of years in San Francisco. Wyche was with the team when they won their first Super Bowl against Cincinnati. So yeah, both sides knew each other's offenses quite well.

The 1st half though would see some injuries that would significantly affect the game. 49ers offensive lineman Steve Wallace would break his ankle on the second play of the game and would not return. Bengals defensive lineman Tim Krumrie twisted his ankle 180 degrees and would break two bones in his leg. And of course NBC had to show about a thousand replay's of this grizzly injury. There was also two records broke on one play. Cincinnati punter Lee Johnson punted a record 63 yards while John Taylor returned the punt for a record 45 yards.

Neither team would score a touchdown until the end of the third quarter. Cincinnati kickoff returner Stanford Jennings returned a kickoff 93-yards for a touchdown and to give the Bengals the 13-6 lead.



The Niners though would score quickly to tie the game. Montana lead the Niners on a 4-play 85 yard drive that would end with a Jerry Rice touchdown. The game was tied 13-13 early in the fourth quarter. The Niners missed a field goal in the middle of the fourth quarter giving the Bengals the ball at the 32-yard line. The Niners would hold the Bengals to a field goal, which would give the Bengals the 16-13 lead with 3:20 left in the game. On the last drive of the game, Joe Montana would become a legendary quarterback who is still talked about today.

Because of an illegal block on the kickoff the Niners would start the drive on their own 8-yard line with 3:10 left in the game. Montana would lead the Niners on a 11-play, 92-yard drive that would cement his legacy. To calm his teammate Harris Barton before the drive started, Montana pointed out that John Candy was in the other end zone watching the game. He would say, "Hey, isn't that John Candy?" Needless to say, Joe Cool was born on this day.

Figuring the Niners would work the sidelines to save time, the Bengals were tricked when Montana threw to Roger Craig and tight end John Frank in the middle of the field on the first two plays of the drive. Montana's next pass was to Jerry Rice, then Roger Craig ran the ball to the Niners 35-yard line. Montana would once again throw to Rice for a 17-yard gain to the Bengals 48-yard line. And then followed this pass up with one to Roger Craig for a 13-yard gain to put the ball on the Bengals 35-yard line.

On the next play, Montana threw his first incomplete pass of the drive. After that, Cross committed an illegal man downfield penalty, which at the time was a 10-yard foul, moving the ball back to the 45-yard line and bringing up second down and 20 to go with just 1:15 left in the game. Montana though would complete a 27-yard pass to Jerry Rice to put the ball on the Bengals 18-yard line. A 8-yard pass to Roger Craig set the ball up at the Bengals 10-yard line.

The next play would be the final play that Bill Walsh would ever call. With 39 seconds in the game, Jerry Rice went into motion to draw the defense to him, while Montana would hit John Taylor in the end zone for the touchdown.



The 49ers would win the game 20-16 to capture their third Super Bowl of the 80's.

Postgame notes:
- Jerry Rice tied a Super Bowl record with 11 catches for over 200 yards and a touchdown. He was named MVP of the Super Bowl.

- Before the game, there was speculation that head coach Bill Walsh might retire after this game. Brent Musberger, who was the sideline reporter for CBS for this game, asked Walsh after the game if it was his last game which would make Walsh cry. Yes, Brent Musberger made Bill Walsh cry after the game. Walsh though would retire as the Niners coach and defensive coordinator George Seifert would take over the team.

- Although the NFL had played Super Bowls in Miami before, this was the first one in Joe Robbie Stadium. It's now called Sun Life Stadium or Land Shark Stadium or whatever the Dolphins owner can squeeze an extra nickle out of to buy the naming rights to that stadium.

- The Niners became the first team to win Super Bowl's on three different networks. (Super Bowl XVI-CBS, Super Bowl XIX-ABC and Super Bowl XXIII-NBC)

- This was the last Super Bowl to be played on the second to last Sunday of January. From that point on, all Super Bowl's have been played on the last Sunday of January and the beginning of February.

- This was the last outdoor Super Bowl to start earlier than 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, as it started just after 5 p.m.

(Sources: Wikipedia, ESPN.com, USA Today, SI Vault)