SUPER BOWL RETROSPECTIVE XIX

1985 - MONTANA OUTGUNS MARINO 

First and only game at Stanford Stadium,
virtually a home game for the Niners.



Game is on January 20 and kick -off is moved back to 6:00 pm EST.  I remember it snowed like hell in northern Michigan and I watched the game at the now defunct Sugar Loaf Ski Resort as a sophomore in high school.

Back to photo-realism for SB XIX, a shot of the
 Lombardi Trophy in front of the Golden Gate Bridge and the SF skyline.

 

FUN FACTS

The San Francisco 49ers received a winner's share of $36,000. The Miami Dolphins received a loser's share of $18,000.

The average cost of a 30-second commercial was $500,000

The face value of Super Bowl XIX tickets was $60.

The San Francisco 49ers were 3.5 point favorites.

 This is the first time in Super Bowl history each team has lost two or less times in the regular season.

Super Bowl XIX: Joe Montana outduels Dan Marino as 49ers rout Dolphins in 1985, 38-16

Super Joe threw for 331 yards and three touchdowns and also ran for 59 yards and a TD to win his second Super Bowl MVP award.

By Joe Belock / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

  

The quarterback battle of the century lived up to the hype. For one quarter.

Dan Marino vs. Joe Montana gave the Super Bowl its greatest quarterback matchup, and in the early going they delivered.

But while the 1984 season belonged to Miami’s record-setting second-year quarterback, Super Bowl XIX belonged to Montana.


Super Joe threw for 331 yards and three touchdowns and also ran for 59 yards and a TD to win his second Super Bowl MVP award, leading the Niners to a 38-16 rout of the Dolphins at Stanford Stadium, virtually a home game for San Francisco.

The QB duel brought the promised thrills in the first quarter. Marino completed nine of his 10 passes in the quarter, leading the Dolphins to a field goal and a touchdown, a two-yard pass to tight end Dan Johnson, on their two possessions in the quarter. Montana answered the Miami field goal by completing 4-of-4 passes on a 78-yard touchdown drive, culminating in a 33 yard scoring pass to running back Carl Monroe.

The 49ers took the lead for good midway through the second quarter with the help of the one dimension Montana had a clear edge over Marino: mobility. Montana ran for 19 yards to start a TD drive that ended with an eight-yard pass to Roger Craig to make it 14-10, starting a string of Niner scores on five straight possessions. Montana ran for a six-yard touchdown and Craig ran for a two-yard score as the Niners opened up a 28-10 lead. 

What happened to Marino? The Niner defense switched from their 3-4 alignment to six defensive backs and just one linebacker, Keena Turner, for the rest of the game.

Marino drove Miami for a field goal in the two-minute drill, then the Niners fumbled the kickoff to set up another field goal to make the halftime score respectable at 28-16. The Niner defense, 
overshadowed by Montana during the season despite allowing the fewest points in the NFL, had allowed just 10 points in playoff wins over the Giants and Bears. And that defense threw a second-half shutout against the team that led the NFL in points (513) and total yards (7,064), and had scored 76 points in its two playoff victories. 

With the big lead, the Niners could tee off on Marino. They sacked him four times, all in the second half, two of them by Dwaine Board. One sack came on Miami’s first series of the half, and two came on back-to-back plays the next time Miami had the ball. The Niners intercepted Marino twice, both in the second half.

The Niners gained a Super Bowl record 537 yards and their 38 points tied a Super Bowl record. Craig scored a Super Bowl record three TDs. Montana joined Bart Starr and Terry Bradshaw as two-time Super Bowl MVPs.

The previous season ended with a bitter defeat to the Redskins in the NFC title game on a Mark Moseley field goal set up by two penalties. That loss drove the Niners all season, from the start of training camp. They went 15-1, the first team to win 15 regular-season games, then dominated throughout the playoffs, leaving no doubt this time.