SUPER BOWL XVI RETROSPECTIVE
1982 - MOTOR CITY MADHOUSE
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| San Francisco used "The Catch" by Dwight Clark to beat the Cowboys in the NFC Title game. |
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| Bengals beat the Chargers in what became known as "The Freezer Bowl" for the AFC Title.  |
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| A return to graphics honoring Detroit's automotive heritage and an earlier kick-off at 4:00 pm Eastern. This was the first cold climate Super Bowl. A blizzard hit Michigan on the weekend of the game causing some traffic issues (see below). I watched the game at Doris Calhoun's house in Suttons Bay and I remember the brutal cold of that day. |
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| An ode to hood ornaments. We put the world on wheels baby! |
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| Special Detroit Free Press insert commemorating the first cold-climate Super Bowl. |
Text from a 2014 NY Daily News Article by Joe Belock
The San Francisco 49ers had waited 32 years to get to an NFL title game. What difference would a couple more hours make? The Catch put the Niners in Super Bowl XVI. That turned out to be easier than actually getting to the big game on Super Sunday. One of the Niners’ buses — the one with Bill Walsh, Joe Montana on it — got stuck in traffic a half-mile from the Silverdome due to bad weather and Vice President Bush’s motorcade. v
The Niners finally arrived 90 minutes before kickoff. When they left, it was as the new franchise to be reckoned with in the NFL after a 26-21 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
“Coach Walsh was pretty loose on the bus,” Montana told Sports Illustrated after the game. “He said, ‘I’ve got the radio on and we’re leading 7-0. The trainer’s calling the plays.’ ”
The bus fiasco appeared to be a bad omen for San Fran when Amos Lawrence fumbled the opening kickoff, setting up the Bengals on the Niners’ 26. But Ken Anderson, on third-and goal from the 11, threw his first interception of the playoffs to Dwight Hicks. Montana drove the Niners 68 yards in 10 plays, taking it in himself from a yard out for a 7-0 lead.
On the ensuing possession, Cris Collinsworth lost a fumble on the Niners’ 5. Montana then directed a 92-yard TD drive capped by his 11-yard TD pass to fullback Earl Cooper. Two field goals gave the Niners the biggest halftime lead in a Super Bowl to that point, 20-0.
Anderson, who had learned what became the West Coast offense when Walsh was a Cincy assistant from 1971-75, drove the Bengals for a touchdown to open the second half. The Niners defense temporarily stole the spotlight from Montana with a goal-line stand late in the third quarter. On fourth down from the 1, rookie DB Ronnie Lott and veteran linebacker Hacksaw Reynolds, a major contributor to Niner misery in the 1970s while with the Rams, stopped fullback Pete Johnson for no gain. The Bengals weren’t done. Anderson threw a TD pass to tight end Dan Ross to make it 20-14 early in the fourth. Montana answered by driving the Niners to a field goal. Anderson’s second INT led to another field goal. By the time Anderson hit Ross for another TD that made it 26-21, there were only 16 seconds to play. Dwight Clark, whose hands had put the Niners in the big game,
recovered the onside kick to end Super Bowl XVI.
Montana threw for 157 yards and a TD plus his rushing TD to win MVP. Anderson, coming off his best season at age 32 with 29 TD passes, was heroic in defeat, throwing for 300 yards and two TDs.
The game marked the first time since Super Bowl III that both teams were making their Super debuts; neither team had been expected to do much after both went 6-10 in 1980.
The Niners had gone through five coaches in the four seasons before hiring Walsh in 1979. In the third round of his first draft, Walsh took Montana, and the Niners were on the fast track to greatness, notwithstanding a certain Super Sunday bus ride.
The Niners finally arrived 90 minutes before kickoff. When they left, it was as the new franchise to be reckoned with in the NFL after a 26-21 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
“Coach Walsh was pretty loose on the bus,” Montana told Sports Illustrated after the game. “He said, ‘I’ve got the radio on and we’re leading 7-0. The trainer’s calling the plays.’ ”
On the ensuing possession, Cris Collinsworth lost a fumble on the Niners’ 5. Montana then directed a 92-yard TD drive capped by his 11-yard TD pass to fullback Earl Cooper. Two field goals gave the Niners the biggest halftime lead in a Super Bowl to that point, 20-0.
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| Half-time show was a Motown Tribute. Diana Ross sang the National Anthem. |
Anderson, who had learned what became the West Coast offense when Walsh was a Cincy assistant from 1971-75, drove the Bengals for a touchdown to open the second half. The Niners defense temporarily stole the spotlight from Montana with a goal-line stand late in the third quarter. On fourth down from the 1, rookie DB Ronnie Lott and veteran linebacker Hacksaw Reynolds, a major contributor to Niner misery in the 1970s while with the Rams, stopped fullback Pete Johnson for no gain. The Bengals weren’t done. Anderson threw a TD pass to tight end Dan Ross to make it 20-14 early in the fourth. Montana answered by driving the Niners to a field goal. Anderson’s second INT led to another field goal. By the time Anderson hit Ross for another TD that made it 26-21, there were only 16 seconds to play. Dwight Clark, whose hands had put the Niners in the big game,
recovered the onside kick to end Super Bowl XVI.
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| Bill Walsh wins the first of his 3 Super Bowl titles. |
Montana threw for 157 yards and a TD plus his rushing TD to win MVP. Anderson, coming off his best season at age 32 with 29 TD passes, was heroic in defeat, throwing for 300 yards and two TDs.
The game marked the first time since Super Bowl III that both teams were making their Super debuts; neither team had been expected to do much after both went 6-10 in 1980.
The Niners had gone through five coaches in the four seasons before hiring Walsh in 1979. In the third round of his first draft, Walsh took Montana, and the Niners were on the fast track to greatness, notwithstanding a certain Super Sunday bus ride.
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