Remember When?: Super Bowl XIX

(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 XIX
San Francisco 38 Miami 16
Location: Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto, California
Date: January 20, 1985
MVP: Joe Montana
Favorite: 49ers by 3 1/2
National Anthem: San Francisco Boys and Girls Chorus
Coin Toss: President Ronald Reagan
Network: ABC
Announcers: Frank Gifford, Joe Theisman, and Don Meredith
Nielsen Rating: 46.4

Background:
Heading into the 1984 season, the Niners were coming off a very controversial loss to the Washington Redskins in the 1983 NFC Championship. So needless to say, the Niners were looking for revenge for that loss. The Niners in 1984 became the first team, since the league expanded to a 16 game schedule, to win 15 games with their only loss coming in the last second against Pittsburgh.

Joe Montana lead the offense with running backs Wendell Tyler and Roger Craig, with receivers Freddie Solomon and Dwight Clark and tight end Russ Francis. The defense didn't get a lot of media attention, but the unit lead the league in fewest points allowed. All four defensive backs Dwight Hicks, Ronnie Lott, Eric Wright, and Carlton Williamson were selected to the Pro Bowl. And the defensive line was anchored by Dwaine Board.



The Miami Dolphins on the other hand were lead by prolific second year quarterback Dan Marino, who broke every meaningful passing record that season. Mark Duper and Mark Clayton were Marino's main targets. While the Dolphins had a prolific offense, the defense was a little suspect.

The 49ers defense dominated the 1984 playoffs by only allowing 10 points in two games, including shutting out the Bears in the NFC Championship. While the offense was dominating in the playoffs, Montana did throw 5 interceptions in two games.

The Dolphins on the other hand were very dominating on offense scoring 76 points with Marino only throwing 1 interception. The Dolphins defense though allowed 38 points to Seattle and Pittsburgh.

Pregame Notes:
- This would be the second time in history that one of the Super Bowl participants would be the de facto home team. Since San Francisco is only thirty miles away from Palo Alto, the Niners would basically be a home team for this Super Bowl. The first time was when the Los Angles Rams played in the Rose Bowl.

- With Marino and Montana at quarterback, the hype surrounding these two would be at a all-time high complete with a SI cover with both quarterbacks.

- This would be the Super Bowl ever that would be broadcasted by ABC. In previous years, the broadcast would alternate between CBS and NBC.

- Clips of this game where used in the movie Ace Ventura: Pet Dective. Also actress Teri Hatcher of Desperate Housewives fame was a Niners cheerleader at the time and was seen several times on TV during the Super Bowl.

Game Summary
1st Quarter
The 49ers received the opening kickoff but did nothing with the ball and was forced the punt. Miami drove down the field on their first drive but ended up kicking a field goal to take the 3-0 lead. San Francisco drove 78 yards in 8 plays on their next drive, culminating in a 33-yard touchdown pass from Montana to reserve running back Carl Monroe to give them a 7-3 lead. Miami would then drive down the field and score with a Marino to Dan Johnson touchdown pass. Miami would end the 1st quarter with the 10-7 lead.

2nd Quarter
The Niners would take control of the game in the 2nd quarter. Defensive Coordinator George Seifert had the defense switch to a dime defense that would stop the run and also slow down the pass and hopefully create some turnovers. The new defense worked and forced Miami to punt from their own 10-yard line early in the quarter. Montana threw a 8-yard touchdown pass to Roger Craig as the Niners would take the 14-10 lead and never look back.

The Niners forced another Miami punt and Montana would score on a 6-yard run to make the score 21-10 Niners. The Niners defense once again forced another Miami punt, that lead to a Roger Craig 2-yard touchdown run, that would make the score 28-10 Niners. The Dolphins would kick two field goals to end the half to make the halftime score 28-15 Niners.

2nd Half
The 2nd half was highlighted by the Niners defense sacking Marino twice and intercepting him twice in the end zone no less. The Niners would score on a field goal and another Roger Craig touchdown, his third of the game. The Niners finished the game with a Super Bowl record 537 total offensive yards, while the Dolphins only had 314 total yards with only 25 rushing yards. The Niners would also sack Marino four times after being the least sacked quarterback in the league during the year. The Niners would also intercept Marino twice in the end zone.



Postgame Notes:
- Joe Montana would be the Super Bowl MVP and this was after he was made to look to be the lesser QB against Marino.

- The famous Apple Macintosh future commercial was aired during this Super Bowl. Update!: This commercial actually ran in the Super Bowl before this one, but I'm leaving this video up because after all these years it's still a cool commercial.



- Don Shula had this to say after the game, "We were dominated to the point where one play didn't make much of a difference. Our major objective was to contain Montana, and we did a terrible, terrible job of it."

- "Came to see an offense, and the wrong one showed up."- Randy Cross, 49ers Center.

- The final rating for the game was a 46.2

(Sourecs: Wikipedia, TV by the Numbers, USA Today, SI Vault)