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Super Bowl XVI
The Silverdome
(Pontiac, MI)
Sunday January 24th, 1982

26 - 21

QB Joe Montana accounted for two first half touchdowns and K Ray Wersching added two field goals as San Francisco built a 20-0 lead at the half and held on for a 26-21 victory over the Bengals for their first Super Bowl Championship.

Montana scored on a one-yard run in the first quarter and in the second he led the team on a 12-play, 92-yard drive that resulted in an 11-yard scoring toss to FB Earl Cooper. For the game, Montana completed 14-of-22 passes for 157 yards.

Wersching also had an impressive outing. The veteran kicker connected on all four field goal attempts in the game, hitting from 22, 26, 40 and 23 yards. The 49er defense kept the potent Bengal attack in check for much of the game. Cincinnati QB Ken Anderson warmed up in the second half with three touchdowns, two of them pass plays to TE Dan Ross, but two fourth quarter field goals by Wersching put the game out of reach. LB Jack Reynolds keyed the 49er defense with seven tackles and one sack. LB Bob Leopold also recorded seven tackles and NT Archie Reese added six stops.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th
49ers 7 13 0 6 26 Final
Bengals 0 0 7 14 21 Final

49ers - Montana 1 run (Wersching kick)
49ers - Cooper 11 pass from Montana (Wersching kick)
49ers - Wersching 22 field goal
49ers - Wersching 26 field goal
Bengals - Anderson 5 run (Breech kick)
Bengals - Ross 4 pass from Anderson (Breech)
49ers - Wersching 40 field goal
49ers - Wersching 23 field goal
Bengals - Ross 3 pass from Anderson (Breech kick)
• After losing two of its first three games, San Francisco won seven straight and 12 of its final 13 regular season games en route to its first Super Bowl title.

• The 49ers made it to Super Bowl XVI by beating Dallas in the fourth quarter on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Joe Montana to Dwight Clark. The play would be forever known as "The Catch."

• In Super Bowl XVI, Ray Wersching tied a record with four field goals-including two in the fourth quarter

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Super Bowl XIX
at Stanford Stadium
(Palo Alto, CA)
Sunday January 20th, 1985

38 - 16

QB Joe Montana passed for 331 yards and accounted for four touchdowns to lead San Francisco to a 38-16 win over the Miami Dolphins. For his efforts Montana was named as the Super Bowl MVP for the second time in his career. The game was played at nearby Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto in front of 84,059 fans.

Montana's first touchdown of the day came on a 33-yard strike to RB Carl Monroe late in the first quarter. He followed that with an eight-yard scoring toss to RB Roger Craig in the second, and on the next 49er possession Montana added his third score of the day, this time taking it in himself on a six-yard run.

His fourth and final score of the day came on a 16-yard pass to Craig midway through the third quarter. Craig also had an impressive day totaling 135 yards of total offense and adding two scores. San Francisco rolled up an impressive 537 yards of total offense in the game, including 211 rushing yards.

S Carlton Williamson and CB Eric Wright each intercepted a QB Dan Marino pass. LB Keena Turner led the team with six tackles.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th
49ers 7 21 10 0 38 Final
Dolphins 10 6 0 0 16 Final

Dolphins - von Schamann 37 field goal
49ers - Monroe 33 pass from Montana (Wersching kick)
Dolphins - Johnson 2 pass from Marino (von Schamann kick)
49ers - Craig 8 pass from Montana (Wersching kick)
49ers - Montana 6 run (Wersching kick)
49ers - Craig 2 run (Wersching kick)
Dolphins - von Schamann 31 field goal
Dolphins - von Schamann 30 field goal
49ers - Wersching 27 field goal
49ers - Craig 16 pass from Montana (Wersching kick)

• San Francisco set NFL records for most wins in the regular season (15) and by winning all eight games away from home.
• The 49ers also became the first NFC team to sweep all of its conference games. San Francisco's 18 wins (including playoffs) established a record for most wins in a single season.

• The 49ers sent 10 players to the Pro Bowl-setting a franchise record that has been equaled twice (1994 and 1995)

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Super Bowl XXIII
at Joe Robbie Stadium
(Miami, FL)
Sunday January 22nd, 1989

20 - 16

In what proved to be the most exciting Super Bowl game of the decade, it was the play of a collected veteran that delivered San Francisco their third NFL Championship. QB Joe Montana connected on 23-of-36 passes for 357 yards, but no completion would be more important than his last.

The game opened as a tight-knit affair with neither team having any ability to move the ball offensively. San Francisco opened the scoring on a 41-yard field goal by K Mike Cofer late in the first quarter. The Bengals responded with K Jim Breech's 34-yard field goal and the teams headed to the half locked in a 3-3 tie.

The third quarter began with the teams trading field goals before the Bengals broke the touchdown draught. Following a 49er field goal, Cincinnati KR Stanford Jennings took the Cofer kickoff and returned it 93 yards for a touchdown.

It didn't take long for San Francisco to respond. Montana hit WR Jerry Rice for a 31-yard completion and followed that with a swing pass that RB Roger Craig turned into a 40-yard gain. Two plays and 16 seconds later, Montana found Rice in the corner of the end zone for a10-yard touchdown. An 11-play, 46-yard drive by the Bengals resulted in a 46-yard field goal by Breech, giving Cincinnati a 16-13 lead and leaving the 49ers just 3:20 left on the clock. San Francisco received the kickoff and returned it to the 20, but a penalty moved the ball back to the eight-yard line. What happened next is the stuff of legend.

Montana connected on five consecutive passes to move the ball to the Bengals 35. A holding penalty moved the ball back 10 yards, but Montana responded with a 27-yard completion to Rice and another first down. A quick hit to Craig followed by a timeout left the Niners with second and two from the Bengals 10-yard line. Following the timeout, Montana hit WR John Taylor in the middle of the end zone for a touchdown and San Francisco had their third Super Bowl title of the decade.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th
49ers 3 0 3 14 20 Final
Bengals 0 3 10 3 16 Final

49ers - Cofer 41 field goal
Bengals - Breech 34 field goal
Bengals - Breech 43 field goal
49ers - Cofer 32 field goal
Bengals - Jennings 93 kickoff return
49ers - Rice 14 pass from Montana (Cofer kick)
Bengals - Breech 40 field goal
49ers - Taylor 10 pass from Montana (Cofer kick)

• The 49ers won four of their first five games, lost four of the next six, but won four of their last five.

• Running back Roger Craig established a team record (since broken by Garrison Hearst) by rushing for 1,502 yards.

• Jerry Rice, who was named Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XXIII, had his finest postseason ever by catching 21 passes for 409 yards and six touchdowns, including a 61-yard touchdown pass from Joe Montana in the NFC Championship Game.

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Super Bowl XXIV
at Louisiana Superdome
(New Orleans, LA)
Sunday January 28th, 1990

55 - 10

WR Jerry Rice scored three touchdowns, FB Tom Rathman scored twice and QB Joe Montana earned his third Super Bowl MVP award as the San Francisco 49ers cruised to their fourth NFL Championship of the decade with a resounding 55-10 win over the Denver Broncos. The game was played before a crowd of 72,919 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, LA. Rice scored on touchdown catches of 20, 38 and 28 yards en route to a seven-reception, 148-yard outing. Rathman scored his two touchdowns on runs of one and three yards.

The real story of the game was the play of Montana. He completed a sensational 22-of-29 passes for 297 yards and five touchdowns. He was masterful in his direction of the 49er offense, leading the team on scoring drives of 66, 69 and 71 yards.

The 49er defense proved to be as devastating as the offense. San Francisco harassed Denver QB John Elway all game, intercepting him twice and sacking him on six occasions. DE Daniel Stubbs led the way with two sacks and was joined by four others who had one sack each. DE Kevin Fagan had six tackles and LB Matt Millen added five.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th
49ers 13 14 14 14 55 Final
Broncos 0 3 0 7 10 Final

49ers - Rice 20 pass from Montana (Cofer kick)
Broncos - Treadwell 42 field goal
49ers - Jones 7 pass from Montana (Kick failed)
49ers - Rathman 1 run (Cofer kick)
49ers - Rice 38 pass from Montana (Cofer kick)
49ers - Rice 28 pass from Montana (Cofer kick)
49ers - Taylor 35 pass from Montana (Cofer kick)
Broncos - Elway 3 run (Treadwell kick)
49ers - Rathman 3 run (Cofer kick)
49ers - Craig 1 run (Cofer kick)

• San Francisco won its second straight Super Bowl and fourth world championship after finishing the regular season with 14 wins. Eight of those wins came on the road.

• Quarterback Joe Montana had a career year as he established an NFL record with 112.4 quarterback rating, was named NFL Most Valuable Player and Super Bowl MVP for a third time.

• The 49ers set or tied nearly 40 Super Bowl records in their victory over Denver.

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Super Bowl XXIX
at Joe Robbie Stadium
(Miami, FL)
Sunday January 29th, 1995

49 - 26

QB Steve Young set a Super Bowl record with six touchdown passes and WR Jerry Rice hauled in three scoring passes for the second time in his career in the world championship game. The 49ers stars led an offensive explosion that carried the team to a 49-26 win over San Diego.

San Francisco wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard as it took it just three plays following the game's opening kickoff to crack the Chargers' end zone. Following a FB William Floyd four-yard run and an 11-yard pass from Young to WR John Taylor, Young connected with Rice streaking down the middle of the field for a 44-yard scoring strike.

Following a San Diego punt, San Francisco was back in the end zone again after only three plays as Young, once again, challenged the middle of the Chargers defense, this time with a pass to RB Ricky Watters, which netted a 51-yard score. The Chargers made things close for awhile, however, putting together a 13-play, 78-yard drive that concluded with a RB Natrone Means one-yard touchdown plunge to make it 14-7 after one quarter of play.

The 49ers began to break the game open in the second quarter. They followed the San Diego touchdown with a 70-yard drive that culminated with a five-yard scoring pass from Young to Floyd. Two possessions later, following a partially blocked punt by RB Adam Walker, the Niners drove 49 yards for another score on an eight-yard toss from Young to Watters. K John Carney's 31-yard field goal with less than two minutes remaining in the half closed the margin at intermission to 28-10.

The Niners put the game away in the third quarter, running the lead to 42-10 on a pair of long drives that ended with Watters' third score of the evening, a nine-yard blast up the middle, and a 15-yard pass from Young to Rice. Rice caught his third touchdown of the night on a seven-yard toss from Young in the fourth quarter, enabling Young to break QB Joe Montana's record of five Super Bowl touchdown passes. Young was named the game's Most Valuable Player, while Rice turned in the second best receiving performance in Super Bowl history with 10 catches for 149 yards, while tying his own record with three scoring receptions.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th
49ers 14 14 14 7 49 Final
Chargers 7 3 8 8 26 Final

49ers - Rice 44 pass form Young (Brien kick)
49ers - Watters 51 pass from Young (Brien kick)
Chargers - Means 1 run (Carney kick)
49ers - Floyd 5 pass from Young (Brien kick)
49ers - Watters 8 pass from Young (Brien kick)
Chargers - Carney 31 field goal
49ers - Watters 9 run (Brien kick)
49ers - Rice 15 pass from Young (Brien kick)
Chargers - Coleman 98 kickoff return (Humphries to Seau pass)
49ers - Rice 7 pass from Young (Brien kick)
Chargers - Martin 30 pass from Humphries (Humphries to Pupunu pass)

• San Francisco became the first NFL team to win five Super Bowls. The 49ers assembled a 10-game winning streak after winning three of their first five games.

• Offense was the story in 1994. The 49ers set team records with 505 points (fourth highest in NFL history), an average of 31.6 points per game and 66 touchdowns. Quarterback Steve Young broke Joe Montana's NFL record with 112.8 quarterback rating, led the NFL in passing for the fourth straight year and was named MVP of Super Bowl XXIX.

• In the first week of the season, wide receiver Jerry Rice became the NFL's all-time touchdown scorer with 127, surpassing Jim Brown.

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