Super Bowl XIX, 1985: San Francisco 38 Miami 16

Super Bowl XIX was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1984 season. The 49ers defeated the Dolphins by the score of 38–16, to win their second Super Bowl. The game was played on January 20, 1985, at Stanford Stadium, on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California, the first Super Bowl played in the San Francisco Bay Area. This also became the second Super Bowl after Super Bowl XIV where the game was coincidentally played in the home market of one of the participants.

The game was hyped as the battle between two great quarterbacks: Miami's Dan Marino and San Francisco's Joe Montana. The Dolphins entered their fifth Super Bowl in team history after posting a 14–2 regular season record. The 49ers were making their second Super Bowl appearance after becoming the first team to win 15 regular season games since the league expanded to a 16-game schedule in 1978.

With Marino and Montana, the game became the first Super Bowl in which the starting quarterbacks of each team both threw for over 300 yards. In addition, the two teams combined for 851 total offensive yards, which at that time was a Super Bowl record. But after trailing 10–7 in the first quarter, the 49ers would end up taking the game in dominating fashion, scoring three touchdowns in the second quarter, and 10 unanswered points in the second half. Montana, who was named the Super Bowl MVP, completed 24 of 35 passes for a Super Bowl-record 331 yards (breaking the mark of 318 yards set by Terry Bradshaw) and three touchdowns. He also broke the Super Bowl record for most rushing yards gained by a quarterback with his 5 rushes for 59 yards and 1 rushing touchdown. San Francisco set a Super Bowl record with 537 total yards breaking the previous record of 429 yards set by the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XI.

This was the first Super Bowl to be televised in the United States by ABC, joining the annual broadcasting rotation of the game with CBS and NBC. It was also the first time that the sitting U.S. president participated in the coin toss ceremony; Ronald Reagan appeared live via satellite from the White House and tossed the coin. This Super Bowl was unique in that it fell on the same day that he was inaugurated for a second term; because Inauguration Day (January 20) fell on a Sunday, Reagan was sworn in privately and the public ceremony took place the following day.

Game summary
Instead of the predicted shootout between Dan Marino and Joe Montana, the game was mostly one-sided. The 49ers' defense only allowed 25 rushing yards and 16 Dolphins points. San Francisco also intercepted Marino twice and sacked him 4 times. The Dolphins set a Super Bowl record for fewest rush attempts in a game (9).

First quarter
In the opening minutes of the game, it seemed that the game would live up to the hype. On the opening kickoff, 49ers 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. The 49ers managed to advance to the 41-yard line but were forced to punt, and Dolphins defensive back Fulton Walker returned the punt 9 yards to the Miami 36-yard line. Then on their first play of the drive, Marino completed a 25-yard pass to Tony Nathan. Five plays later, Miami reached the San Francisco 23-yard line. But on third down, 49ers cornerback Eric Wright tackled wide receiver Mark Clayton 2 yards shy of the first down. Miami had to settle for a 37-yard field goal from Uwe von Schamann.

The Dolphins' 3–0 lead did not last long, as the 49ers stormed down the field on their next possession. San Francisco drove 78 yards in 8 plays, culminating in a 33-yard touchdown pass from Montana to reserve running back Carl Monroe to give them a 7–3 lead. But Miami retook the lead on their ensuing drive. After a 5-yard rush by Nathan, the Dolphins went into a no-huddle offense, preventing the 49ers from making substitutions and keeping their run defense on the field. Marino completed five consecutive passes, hitting Clayton for 18 yards, Mark Duper for 11, Clayton again for 13, and tight end Dan Johnson for 21. On the next play, Marino finished the drive by hitting Johnson for a 2-yard touchdown pass, giving the Dolphins a 10–7 lead with 45 seconds left in the first quarter.

Second quarter
In the second quarter, the 49ers began to take control of the game. Bill Walsh switched to a 4–1–6 (or dime defense) to slow down Miami's passing attack, with Keena Turner as the sole linebacker. Miami tried to run against the 4–1–6 alignment, to no avail. Safety Dwight Hicks broke up two consecutive Marino passes, and the Dolphins were forced to punt from their own 10-yard line. Then after taking the ball at the Miami 47-yard line, Montana scrambled for a 19-yard run, and then completed a 16-yard pass to wide receiver Dwight Clark to reach the 12-yard line. From there, Wendell Tyler rushed for 4 yards, and then Montana threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Roger Craig, giving the 49ers a 14–10 lead.

Miami then had to punt again on their ensuing possession, and San Francisco defensive back Dana McLemore returned the ball 28 yards to the 49ers 45-yard line. After advancing 15 yards with two running plays, Montana completed a pair of passes to tight end Russ Francis to move the ball 29 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 three plays, and McLemore returned Reggie Roby's 39-yard punt 10 yards to the 49ers 48-yard line. Montana was sacked for a 5-yard loss by Doug Betters on the first play of the ensuing drive, but he struck back with a 20-yard completion to Craig and a 7-yard run over the next two plays. On the next play, wide receiver Freddie Solomon caught a pass from Montana, took one step, and then lost the ball due to a hit from safety Lyle Blackwood. Blackwood quickly recovered the ball and took off for the 49ers' end zone, but field judge Bob Lewis blew the play dead, ruling that Solomon's fumble was an incomplete pass. Bill Quinby, the side judge, who was nearest to the play, did not make any call. Five plays later, Craig finished the nine-play, 52-yard drive with his second touchdown on a 2-yard run, increasing the 49ers' lead to 28–10.

With about two minutes left in the half, the Dolphins finally managed to get a good drive going on their next possession. Marino completed seven out of nine passes, the last one being a 30-yard pass to tight end Joe Rose, to reach the 49ers' 12-yard line. However, San Francisco's defense tightened up on the next three plays, forcing two incompletions and a completed pass for no gain, and Miami was forced to settle for von Schamann's second field goal of the game to cut their deficit to 28–13 with 12 seconds left in the half. Then Miami caught a break as the 49ers botched the ensuing kickoff. San Francisco lineman Guy McIntyre received von Schamann's short kick and was about to down the ball, but then changed his mind at the last second and decided to return it. This turned out to be a big mistake; McIntyre fumbled while being leveled by rookie Joe Carter, and Jim Jensen recovered the ball for Miami at the 49ers' 12-yard line. After that, von Schamann kicked his third field goal on the last play of the half, cutting the score to 28–16. "I can laugh about the play now, but it wasn't funny at the time," McIntyre said after the game. "My first instinct when I got the ball was to fall down. Then I heard everyone yelling, 'Get up! Get up!' So I got up, and here comes someone sneaking underneath me, and he hit the ball."

Second half
However, any thoughts of a Miami comeback ended early in the third quarter. On the first play of the second half, 49ers defensive end Dwaine Board tackled Nathan for a 1-yard loss. After an incompletion, he sacked Marino for a 9-yard loss on third down, and McLemore returned Roby's 45-yard punt 8 yards to the 49ers 47-yard line. Montana went on to complete a 15-yard pass to Tyler and gain 12 yards on a scramble as he led San Francisco 43 yards in 9 plays to score on Ray Wersching's 27-yard field goal. On the Dolphins' ensuing drive, they were forced to punt again after Marino was sacked twice (once by defensive lineman Manu Tuiasosopo and once by Board). Starting on their own 30-yard line after a 5-yard return by McLemore, 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.

Highlights
Overall, San Francisco gained a Super Bowl-record 537 yards, breaking the Oakland Raiders' record of 429 yards in Super Bowl XI, while limiting Miami to 314, with just 25 rushing yards. San Francisco's 38 points also tied a Super Bowl record set by the Raiders in Super Bowl XVIII.

The 49ers' 288 offensive yards in the first half also tied the Raiders in Super Bowl XI for the most offensive yards in a half during 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. Walker returned 4 kickoffs for 93 yards and gained 15 yards on 2 punt returns. Nathan was the Dolphins leading rusher with 18 yards, while also catching 10 passes for 83 yards. Craig had 58 rushing yards, 77 receiving yards, and 3 touchdowns. He was the first player to score 3 touchdowns in a Super Bowl, and his 2 touchdown catches also tied a Super Bowl record. Tyler led San Francisco in rushing with 65 yards, and also caught 4 passes for 70 yards. Clark caught 6 passes for 77 yards. Board recorded 2 sacks. McLemore recorded 51 punt return yards, the second most in Super Bowl history. Sports Illustrated called 49ers defensive tackle Gary Johnson the Super Bowl's "unofficial defensive MVP" after he recorded one sack, flushed Marino out of the pocket numerous times, and had four unassisted tackles.

49ers rookie defensive tackle Michael Carter became the first athlete to win an Olympic medal and Super Bowl ring in the same year. Before this game he had won a silver medal in the shot put competition at the 1984 Summer Olympics.

This would be the final game for San Francisco linebacker Jack Reynolds.

Wikipedia