Super Bowl XIX

The game

Despite playing against Miami's powerful passing attack, the 49ers defense only allowed 25 rushing yards and 16 Dolphins points. San Francisco also intercepted Marino 2 times and sacked him 4 times. The Dolphins set a Super Bowl record for least rush attempts in a game (9).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

But in the opening minutes of the game, it seemed that it would go the Dolphins' way. On the opening kickoff, rookie kick returner Derrick Harmon caught the ball too close to the sidelines and stepped out of bounds at the San Francisco 6-yard line. Although the 49ers managed to advance to the 41-yard line, they were forced to punt. Then on their first play, Marino completed a 25-yard pass to Nathan, and 5 plays later they moved close to 49ers' 20-yard line. But after receiver Mark Clayton caught a third down pass and was tackled at 2-yards short of the first down, Miami had to settle for 37-yard field goal from Uwe Von Schamann.

Related Topics:
Mark Clayton - Uwe Von Schamann

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Dolphins' 3-0 lead didn't last long as the 49ers stormed down the field on their next possession. Driving the ball 78 yards in 8 plays, San Francisco scored on a 33-yard pass from Montana to running back Carl Monroe to give them a 7-3 lead. But Miami retook the lead on their ensuing drive, with Marino completing 5 consecutive passes. After a 5-yard rush by Nathan, Marino threw twice to Clayton for gains of 18 and 11 yards. The next pass went to Duper for 13 yards. Marino then finished the drive with a pair of completions to tight end Dan Johnson: the first was for 21 yards, and the second was a 2-yard touchdown pass to give the Dolphins a 10-7 lead with 45 second left in the first quarter.

Related Topics:
Carl Monroe - Dan Johnson

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The 49ers began to take control of the game in the second period. Starting a drive from Miami's 47 yard line, Montana ripped off a 19-yard run and then hit Clark for a 16-yard gain to the Dolphins 12-yard line. Then after Tyler's 4-yard run, Montana threw an 8-yard pass to Craig for a touchdown, giving the 49ers a 14-10 lead. Miami then had to punt on their ensuing possesion, and San Francisco receiver Dana McLemore returned the ball 28 yards to the 49ers' 45-yard line. Then after advancing 15 yards with 2 running plays, Montana completed a pair of passes to tight end Russ Francis to move the ball 19 yards to the Miami 11-yard line. Craig ran for 5 yards on the next play, and then Montana ran the final 6 yards to the end zone for a touchdown, making the score 21-10. After the ensuing kickoff, Miami again was forced to punt after 3 plays, and McLemore returned the punt to the 49ers' 48-yard line. San Francisco then took a 28-10 lead after a 52-yard, 9-play drive that ended with Craig's second touchdown of the game on a 2-yard run.

Related Topics:
Dana McLemore - Russ Francis

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

With about two minutes left in the half, the Dolphins finally managed to get a good drive going on their next possesion. Marino completed 7 out of 9 passes, the last one being a 30-yard pass to tight end Joe Rose, to reach the 49ers 12-yard line. But San Francisco's defense tightened up on the next 3 plays, forcing 2 incompletions and a completed pass for no gain, and Miami was forced to settle for Van Schamann's second field goal of the game to make cut their deficit to 28-13 with 12 seconds left in the half. Then Miami caught a break as the 49ers fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and Van Schmann then kicked his third field goal to cut the lead 28-16 by halftime.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

But any thoughts of a Miami comeback ended early in the third quarter, as the 49ers scored on a 43-yard drive that ended with kicker Ray Wersching's 27 yard field goal. On the Dolphins' ensuing drive, they were forced to punt again after Marino was sacked twice. Starting their own 30-yard line, Montana completed a 40-yard pass to Tyler, followed up with a 14-yard completion to Francis. Three plays later, Craig scored his third touchdown on a 16-yard reception to make the score 38-16. The score proved to be the last one from either team, as the defenses of both teams took over for the rest of the game - especially the 49ers' defense, who intercepted Marino twice.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Craig had 58 rushing yards and 77 recieving yards. He also was the first player ever to score 3 touchdowns in a Super Bowl. Marino finished the game with 29 out of 50 pass completions for 318 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions. Clayton was the top receiver of the game, with 6 receptions for 92 yards. Nathan was the Dolphins leading rusher with 17 yards, while also catching 10 passes for 83 yards. Tyler lead San Fransisco in rushing with 65 yards, and also caught 4 passes for 70 yards.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Scoring summary

• MIA- FG Von Schamann 37
• SF- Monroe 33 pass from Montana (Wersching kick)
• MIA- D. Johnson 2 pass from Marino (Von Schamann kick)
• SF- Craig 8 pass from Montana (Wersching kick)
• SF- Montana 6 run (Wersching kick)
• SF- Craig 2 run (Wersching kick)
• MIA- FG Von Schamann 31
• MIA- FG Von Schamann 30
• SF- FG Wersching 27
• SF- Craig 16 pass from Montana (Wersching kick)