Super Bowl XIX — 1984 Season

Result

Super Bowl MVP

Joe Montana, QB, San Francisco 49ers

Starting lineups

Starting offense

Starting defense

Box score

Passing

Rushing

Receiving

Game context

Super Bowl XIX was billed as a showdown between the game's two brightest young quarterbacks -- San Francisco's Joe Montana, already a champion from Super Bowl XVI, and Miami's Dan Marino, coming off a record-shattering 1984 regular season in which he threw for 5,084 yards and 48 touchdowns, both then-NFL records. The anticipated shootout instead turned into a decisive 38-16 San Francisco victory, with Montana thoroughly outplaying Marino and the 49ers' defense smothering Miami's high-powered passing attack. Miami actually led 10-7 after the first quarter behind an early field goal and a short touchdown drive, but San Francisco seized control in the second quarter, scoring three touchdowns to build a commanding 28-16 halftime lead (Miami had also scored a field goal in the period). San Francisco's defense then shut Miami out entirely over the final 30 minutes, intercepting Marino twice and limiting the NFL's most prolific rushing-and-passing attack of the era to just 25 rushing yards for the entire game. A third-quarter touchdown extended San Francisco's lead to 38-16, and the final period passed scoreless as the 49ers ran out the clock. Montana was named Super Bowl MVP for the second time in four years after completing 24 of 35 passes for 331 yards and three touchdowns, all Super Bowl records at the time, while also rushing five times for 59 yards and a touchdown of his own -- a near-total performance that overshadowed Marino's statistically respectable 29-of-50, 318-yard, one-touchdown, two-interception outing under heavy pressure from San Francisco's pass rush, which sacked him four times. Running back Roger Craig became the first player in Super Bowl history to score three touchdowns in a single game, adding 58 rushing yards and 77 receiving yards to his ledger, while fellow back Wendell Tyler chipped in 65 rushing yards and 70 receiving yards, giving San Francisco's offense balance that Miami's defense could never solve. For Miami, receiver Mark Clayton led the team with six catches for 92 yards, but it was not nearly enough to keep pace. The result launched a run of NFC dominance in the Super Bowl era, as the conference went on to win 13 consecutive Super Bowls beginning with this game, a streak that would not end until the Denver Broncos' AFC victory in Super Bowl XXXII. San Francisco also became the first team to win a Super Bowl played essentially in its home region, with Stanford Stadium located roughly 30 miles from the 49ers' home in San Francisco. The game was also notable as ABC's first Super Bowl broadcast and featured President Ronald Reagan participating in the pregame coin toss via satellite from the White House. For Marino, the loss proved to be his only Super Bowl appearance in a Hall of Fame career that otherwise never again reached the championship game.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Super Bowl XIX
• Pro-Football-Reference: Super Bowl Game Summaries