Super Bowl XXIII

• 1. Introduction

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  Super Bowl XXIII, played on the 22nd of January 1989 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, came down to a single play with 34 seconds left on the clock. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana had just driven his team 92 yards from their own 8-yard line, down three points, with just over three minutes remaining. Then he threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to John Taylor on a post pattern down the middle of the field, giving the 49ers a 20-16 lead they would not relinquish. That drive, and that moment, would become the defining chapter in Montana's legend as "Joe Cool." But the game that surrounded that drive was far closer, far stranger, and far more dramatic than the famous finish suggests. How did the 49ers end up backed against their own goal line in the first place? What happened in a Miami hotel room the night before the game? And what did a dropped pass in the end zone cost the Cincinnati Bengals?

• 2. Two Teams on the Rebound

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  Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Boomer Esiason and head coach Sam Wyche had openly feuded during the strike-shortened 1987 season, when the team finished with a 4-11 record, going 0-3 in games played by replacement players. They patched things up in the offseason, and the turnaround was dramatic. Esiason threw for 3,572 yards and 28 touchdowns with only 14 interceptions during the 1988 regular season, posting a 97.4 passer rating that led the league and earned him the NFL Most Valuable Player Award. Rookie fullback Ickey Woods rushed for 1,066 yards and 15 touchdowns, becoming a media sensation with his end-zone celebration called the "Ickey Shuffle." Offensive lineman Anthony Munoz was named NFL Offensive Lineman of the Year for the third time and selected to play in the Pro Bowl for the eighth consecutive season. With all those weapons in place, Cincinnati's offense led the entire NFL in scoring, rushing yards, and total yards that season.

  San Francisco's road to Miami was rockier. Three straight first-round playoff exits since their last Super Bowl had worn on the team. The previous season's 36-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings had been so bad that head coach Bill Walsh benched Montana early in the third quarter. A quarterback controversy simmered through 1988, with Steve Young starting three games. Young delivered a memorable 49-yard touchdown run to win a crucial week 9 game against the Vikings. But Montana steadied the ship after a 6-5 start, winning four of the team's final five regular season games. Their 10-6 finish was exactly matched by two other teams in the same division, the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints, meaning the 49ers earned their first-round bye by the narrowest margin possible.

  Jerry Rice closed out the regular season with 64 receptions for 1,306 yards and 9 touchdowns, a 20.4 yards-per-catch average. Roger Craig led the team in receptions with 76 while accumulating 2,036 combined rushing and receiving yards and 10 touchdowns, earning him the NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award. Second-year receiver John Taylor led the entire NFL in punt return yards with 556 and touchdowns with 2, while averaging 12.6 yards per return. These were the weapons Walsh would deploy in January.

• 3. Before the Kickoff

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  Six days before the game, on the 16th of January, a Hispanic Miami police officer shot and killed a speeding black motorcyclist in the Overtown section of Miami. A large crowd gathered and turned violent, with rioting and looting lasting into January 18. A television van and several automobiles and buildings were set on fire; police used tear gas. A teenager was shot and killed, and more than one million dollars in damage was done. Rumors spread that the Super Bowl might be relocated to Tampa. The incident later prompted the NFL to examine its own hiring practices for minority coaches. The following season, Art Shell became the first African-American NFL head coach of the modern era with the Los Angeles Raiders.

  The night before the game brought a different crisis to the Cincinnati locker room. Stanley Wilson, the Bengals' best fullback and their third-leading rusher with 398 yards during the season, was caught using cocaine in his hotel room. It was his third violation of the league's drug policy, and he was banned from the league for life. The Bengals had no choice but to remove him from the roster.

  Despite Esiason's MVP award and Cincinnati's superior regular season record of 12-4, the 49ers came in as heavy favorites, largely on the strength of Montana's reputation. Montana had led San Francisco to two previous Super Bowls and left each with a championship ring and Super Bowl MVP honors. Pregame, Esiason was also quietly managing a sore left throwing shoulder, though the Bengals kept it under wraps. While Montana had thrown for 466 yards and 5 touchdowns in his two playoff games with just 1 interception, the sore-shouldered Esiason had thrown for only 202 yards and 1 touchdown with 2 interceptions in Cincinnati's wins over Seattle and Buffalo.

• 4. A Game of Field Goals

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  Super Bowl XXIII drew first blood from the injury report rather than the scoreboard. On the third play of the game, 49ers tackle Steve Wallace was carried off with a broken ankle. On the fourteenth play, Bengals defensive lineman Tim Krumrie twisted his ankle nearly 180 degrees, shattering two bones in his left leg. Both teams spent the first half exchanging punts, penalties, and near-misses. San Francisco drove 73 yards on their first possession but settled for a 41-yard field goal by Mike Cofer after a dropped pass near the 2-yard line. That catch, from receiver Mike Wilson, was also notable for a different reason: it was the first time in Super Bowl history that instant replay was used to reverse a call.

  A 19-yard field goal attempt by Cofer on the next scoring drive never had a chance. A poor snap from center Randy Cross, playing in his final game, threw off the kicker's timing and the kick sailed wide left. Cofer had just surpassed Rich Karlis, who missed a 21-yard field goal in Super Bowl XXI, as the holder of the shortest missed field goal in Super Bowl history. That record stands to this day.

  John Taylor had his own moment of misfortune. He misplayed a punt from Cincinnati's Lee Johnson, letting it sail over his head all the way to the San Francisco 9, setting what was then a Super Bowl record of 63 yards. Taylor redeemed himself by chasing the ball down and returning it 45 yards to the Bengals 46, setting another Super Bowl record for punt return yardage. One routine punt had produced two records in the same play. But the 49ers could not convert that field position. A fumble by Harry Sydney on a pitch from Montana, followed by a sack and another fumble, handed the ball back to Cincinnati, and both teams retreated to their locker rooms tied 3-3. It was the first halftime tie in Super Bowl history, and the lowest halftime score since the Pittsburgh Steelers led the Minnesota Vikings 2-0 at the half in Super Bowl IX.

• 5. Stanford Jennings and the Turning Point

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  Cincinnati's offense woke up in the third quarter. On their opening second-half possession, the Bengals ran a 12-play, 61-yard drive that consumed 9:15 of clock time. Esiason, who had completed only 4 of 12 passes in the first half, connected on 3 of 4 in this drive, including completions of 23 and 11 yards to Cris Collinsworth, who was playing in his final professional game. The drive ended with a 43-yard Jim Breech field goal, giving Cincinnati its first lead at 6-3.

  San Francisco tied it again on a 32-yard Cofer field goal, setting up the moment that nearly decided the entire game. With less than a minute left in the third quarter, Stanford Jennings received the ensuing kickoff at the 7-yard line, ran straight up the middle behind his blocking wedge, and burst into the open field. 49ers receiver Terry Greer chased him down and tripped him at the 1-yard line, but Jennings still fell into the end zone for a 93-yard touchdown return, giving Cincinnati a 13-6 lead.

  One play before that deficit was answered, Cincinnati cornerback Lewis Billups dropped what would have been a drive-ending interception in the end zone. On the very next snap, Montana threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Rice, tying the game at 13. The moment Billups's hands gave way may have been the moment the Bengals lost Super Bowl XXIII.

• 6. 92 Yards in Three Minutes

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  Cincinnati reclaimed the lead with a 40-yard Jim Breech field goal with 3:20 remaining, making it 16-13. When an illegal block penalty on the ensuing kickoff return pushed the 49ers back to their own 8-yard line, San Francisco faced 92 yards of open field and 3:10 on the clock.

  Before the huddle broke, Montana pointed into the stadium crowd and told his teammates, "Hey, isn't that John Candy?" The tactic worked. The 49ers were calm. Montana opened the drive with two completions in the middle of the field rather than the sidelines, catching the Bengals off guard. He hit Craig on a short pass, then tight end John Frank, then Rice for 7 yards to the right sideline, then Craig twice more running to reach the San Francisco 35. A 17-yard pass to Rice moved the ball to the Cincinnati 48. A 13-yard completion to Craig got to the 35.

  An incomplete pass to Rice and an illegal man downfield penalty on Randy Cross pushed the ball back to the 45 with second down and 20 remaining and 1:15 on the clock. Montana then hit Rice with a 27-yard completion to put the ball at the Cincinnati 18. Craig ran for 8 yards to the 10. With 39 seconds left, Montana found Taylor on a post route down the middle for 10 yards and a touchdown, giving the 49ers a 20-16 lead.

  The Bengals got the ball back with 34 seconds left and drove to their own 27-yard line. On third down and eight, Esiason just missed Collinsworth near the San Francisco 45 as the pass bounced off Collinsworth's hands near the sideline. On fourth down with ten seconds remaining, Esiason's desperation heave to the left sideline fell incomplete, and it was over. Montana finished the game completing 23 of 36 passes for a Super Bowl record 357 yards. Rice, named the game's MVP, caught 11 passes for a Super Bowl record 215 yards. Craig became the first running back in Super Bowl history to gain 100 receiving yards in a single game.

• 7. Endings and What Followed

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  Super Bowl XXIII was the final NFL game coached by Bill Walsh, who retired from coaching immediately after. He spent the next three seasons as a broadcaster for NBC before coaching Stanford from 1992 to 1994, then returned to the 49ers' front office as vice president and general manager from 1999 to 2001. His coaching staff connection to Sam Wyche stretched back to 1979, when Walsh had talked Wyche out of retirement to join the 49ers as an assistant. Wyche stayed on until 1982, winning a Super Bowl ring that season against the very same Bengals he would bring to Miami seven years later.

  Center Randy Cross and wide receiver Cris Collinsworth both retired as players the day the final whistle blew. Both became broadcasters. Cross went to CBS while Collinsworth joined HBO's Inside the NFL. Between 1994 and 1997, both men worked simultaneously as NBC broadcasters.

  Pete Rozelle presided over the game as NFL Commissioner for the last time. Paul Tagliabue was selected as his successor later in 1989, taking over midway through that season.

  On the 26th of January 2006, NFL.com ranked Super Bowl XXIII number one on its list of the top 10 Super Bowls of all time. The Bengals would not appear in another Super Bowl until Super Bowl LVI. For Cincinnati cornerback Lewis Billups, who dropped the interception that preceded Rice's tying touchdown, there was no such retrospective redemption.