Super Bowl History Part 2
Superbowl XVI Through Superbowl XXIV
Super Bowl history in the previous thirteen years had been characterized by AFC dominance of the NFC, with two lone Dallas Cowboys victories the only games the National Football Conference had won since Super Bowl II.
This trend would reverse itself in the next 16 years, as the Superbowl entered a phase where the NFC won 15 of 16 Super Bowls. Only a lone victory by the Los Angeles Raiders broke up the streak, and there was one stretch where the older conference won 13 straight games.
Most of these games were blowout losses, and teams like the Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills were defined less by their perenniel contender status and more by their multiple Super Bowl losses.
This page covers the NFC Years during the era of the San Francisco 49ers dominance.
Super Bowl XVI
- Date: January 24, 1982
- Stadium: Pontiac Silverdome
- Opponents: San Francisco 49ers v. Cincinnati Bengals
- Score: Niners win 26-21
- MVP: Joe Montana
This was Joe Montana’s coming out party in the Super Bowl. This marked the first appearance of both the Cincinnati Bengals and the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl. Ironically, Bill Walsh had been the offensive coordinator of the Bengals in the 1970′s, when he was serving as understudy to Paul Brown and the two were inventing the West Coast Offense.
The Cincinnati Bengals were led by Kenny Anderson at quarterback. Anderson was a scrambling quarterback with the skills to get the ball to downfield threats like Cris Collinsworth. The 260-lb. Pete Johnson was the Bengals biggest threat in the running game.
The 49ers were able to pull out a victory over the Bengals in the first game played in the northern part of the U.S. (Detroit), and a key moment of the game was a goal line stand by the Niners defense against Pete Johnson.
Super Bowl XVII
- Date: January 30, 1983
- Stadium: Rose Bowl
- Opponents: Washington Redskins v. Miami Dolphins
- Score: Skins win 27-17
- MVP: John Riggins
This Super Bowl began with a kickoff return by the Miami Dolphins, who were led by Don Strock. The Washington Redskins were led by Joe Theismann and John Riggins. Though Riggo was the star running back, the Skins had two other units who got a lot of attention on offense: the Hogs and the Smurfs.
The Hogs were the Washington Redskins’ huge offensive line, specifically the 300-lb. Jacoby and Grimm on the left side of the line. The Smurfs were the Washington Redskins small, quick receiving corps, who were known for elaborate touchdown celebrations in the endzone.
The Dolphins were known for their Killer B’s defense, because so many of their defensive players’ last names started with the letter "B". Despite getting off to a fast start, John Riggins and the Redskins o-line were able to wear the Dolphins defense down late. A long Riggins touchdown late in the game sealed the victory.
Super Bowl XVIII
- Date: January 22, 1984
- Stadium: Tampa Stadium
- Opponents: Los Angeles Raiders v. Washington Redskins
- Score: Raiders win 38-9
- MVP: Marcus Allen
The Raiders, having moved to Los Angeles from Oakland since their last Super Bowl appearance, had gone 8-1 in the strike-shortened 1982 season, giving them homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.
Because of the expanded bracket that year, the Oakland Raiders had to play three games to make it to the Super Bowl. In the second of those games, the New York Jets upset the Raiders. The Jets would lose to the Miami Dolphins the next week, and the Fins would go on to the lose to the Washington Redskins in the Superbowl XVII.
Super Bowl XVIII saw the Redskins attempting to repeat. They were the class of the NFC for the second year in a row, based around the running game led by John Riggins and the "Hogs" offensive line.
In Week 5 of the NFL regular season, the Washington Redskins and Los Angeles Raiders (they had moved to L.A. in the offseason) played a hotly-contested game in RFK Stadium in a preview of the Super Bowl. The Redskins narrowly won the game, 37-35, giving both teams hope for their chances in the big game. Most experts believed these were the two best teams in the league in the 1982-1983 NFL season and expected one of the most competitive games in recent Superbowl history.
This wasn’t the case. The Los Angeles Raiders got out to an early lead after a blocked punt and recovery for a touchdown, followed by a Jim Plunkett to Cliff Branch touchdown pass. With Washington down 14-0 late in the first half, the team tried to drive the length of the field in their two-minute offense. In one of the key moments of the game, Joe Theismann threw an errant screen pass to linebacker Jack Squirek, who ran untouched into the endzone for another Raiders touchdown. The game was 21-0 at halftime. (Halftime featured an interview with Mr. T, whose new television series, The A-Team, had debuted the previous Sunday on NBC, which was telecasting Super Bowl XVIII. The second episode would air after the Super Bowl.)
The Washington Redskins got on the right track to start the second half with a methodical 9-play drive that set up a John Riggins touchdown plunge. The Skins special teams problems continued with a blocked extra point.
The Raiders responded immediately with their own touchdown drive. A long interference penalty on Darrell Green set up a 5-yard Marcus Allen touchdown. The Los Angeles Raiders were not finished. On their next drive, Marcus Allen cut back against the Redskins defense and ran 74-yards for a touchdown (for the game’s signature play.) Allen would have another 39-yard run to set up the final field goal for the 38-9 finish.
The Washington Redskins were used to getting up on teams and then wearing their defenses down with their punishing ground game. In Super Bowl XXVIII, the Los Angeles Raiders were able to take an early lead (mainly through turnovers). They turned the tables on the Redskins, because in the 2nd half they were able to wear down the Skins Defense with Marcus Allen runs. Allen was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.
This would be the AFC’s only Super Bowl victory in the period from 1982 until 1997, a 16 year period.
Super Bowl XIX
- Date: January 20, 1985
- Stadium: Stanford Stadium
- Opponents: San Francisco 49ers v. Miami Dolphins
- Score: Forty-Niners win 38-16
- MVP: Joe Montana
The 1984 season was the year that Dan Marino, in his second year, emerged as one of the NFL’s great passers. Marino had immediately shown talent as a rookie. By the 1984 regular season, he was the most feared passer in the league. Dan Marino threw for 48 touchdowns in 1984, a record that was not surpassed until after the NFL changed its passing rules (to favor offenses) before the 2005 season. Marino’s 48 touchdowns are considered more impressive than the later passing records for this reason.
The San Francisco 49ers, on the other hand, posted the quietest 15-1 regular season record in NFL history. Joe Montana’s efficiency was overshadowed by Marino’s heroics. Still, the 49ers came into the game as the decided favorite, due to their previous Super Bowl victory and their more complete team. Roger Craig had been added to the Niners offense since their last Super Bowl victory, giving the team a major upgrade in the running game.
Because of the Dolphins offensive exploits, they were thought to have a punchers chance in the game. That would not be the case.
The game started promising enough. Miami engineered two 1st quarter scoring drives: the first ended with a field goal and the second with a touchdown. Sandwiched between these was a Niners touchdown, so the first quarter ended with a 10-7 Dolphins lead.
Like so many of these NFC-AFC showdowns in the 1980′s, the second quarter saw the wheels come off for the AFC champion. The San Francisco 49ers scored 21 unanswered points because the Dolphins added two late field goals just before halftime, so the game was 28-16 at half.
The Miami Dolphins could not mount any offense in the 2nd half, which settled down into a fairly dull affair. The Niners added 10 points in the half to finish the Dolphins off.
The key adjustment in the game was in the 2nd quarter, when the Niners began to play a nickel defense as their base d. This dared the Miami Dolphins to run the ball, though they still only ran for 25 yards in the game. With an extra defensive back clogging the passing lanes, Marino was intercepted twice and sacked four times.
Super Bowl XX
- Date: January 26, 1986
- Stadium: Louisiana Superdome
- Opponents: Chicago Bears v. New England Patriots
- Score: Bears win 46-10
- MVP: Richard Dent
Unlike the San Francisco 49ers the year before, the Chicago Bears in 1985 had the loudest 15-1 regular season in NFL history. The team was full of characters, such as quarterback Jim McMahon, who was routinely fined by NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle for his outrageous headbands.
On the defense (and some offensive sets), rookie defensive tackle, William "The Refridgerator" Perry, was a fan favorite across the nation.
Even the coaches got into the act. Iron Mike Ditka was the fiery head coach, while Buddy Ryan was the obnoxiously brilliant defensive coordinator. Walter Payton and Mike Singletary added legitimacy to the Bears antics.
The most famous moment of the season was the Super Bowl Shuffle video, where members of the Chicago Bears rapped about how they would win the Super Bowl that year. This level of brashness was inconceivable in the NFL before 1985, and frankly is somewhat inconceivable in today’s NFL. (Imagine the 18-0 2007 New England Patriots rapping about how they would win Super Bowl XVII, then going on to lose the game. They would never live it down.)
The Chicago Bears had little to worry about. Their 46-Defense was dominating throughout the year. The defense was designed to smother teams’ running attacks, forcing them into long passing situations where the Bears blitz packages would overwhelm quarterbacks. This scheme worked to perfection, and only Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins had been able to defeat the Bears in 1985. (The Dolphins employed a spread offense with 4 or 5 receivers in preview of what would eventually kill the 46 Defense and how the NFL would look at the turn of the 21st century.)
The Bears shredded the competition in the ever-tough NFC, adding in two playoff shutouts just for good measure.
In the AFC, the New England Patriots upset the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Championship Game, ending hopes of a much-anticipated Dolphins-Bears rematch. The Patriots were a more traditional football team with good balance on offense and a defense led by Hall of Fame OLB Andre Tippett.
The game was a blowout from the start, though. The Patriots put up 10 more points than any other of the Bears’ playoff opponents, but the Chicago Bears ran over the Patriots in one of the most festive Superbowls ever. When William Perry dove in for his own touchdown, you knew the rout was on. Interestingly, the Ditka/Buddy Ryan feud boiled over when the players carried both coaches off the field on their shoulders, as if Buddy Ryan had as much (or more) to do with the win than Ditka. Buddy Ryan would leave the team for a head coaching position with the Philadelphia Eagles in the offseason.
Super Bowl XXI
- Date: January 25, 1987
- Stadium: Rose Bowl
- Opponents: New York Giants v. Denver Broncos
- Score: Giants win 39-20
- MVP: Phil Simms
This year saw the emergence of Bill Parcells as a coaching genius. When Parcells took over the Giants a couple of years before, the team’s fans had suffered through 20 years of mediocrity. So when Bill Parcells brought in a tough-minded, defensive style of football, the New York City fandom fell in love with the team. The two previous years had seen the New York Football Giants improve, though their improvements were overshadowed by the 15-1 49ers and 15-1 Bears of the two previous seasons. The 1986 New York Giants went 14-2 on their way to the Super Bowl.
They started the season with a tough 31-28 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, who were only a year removed from 20 straight winning seasons under Tom Landry. A resurgent Danny White led the Cowboys to a 6-2 record going into the rematch with the Giants in Week 9. The Giants were also 6-2 and everyone knew the winner would likely win the tough NFC East.
The game proved a close run thing, though Danny White was knocked out of the game (and the season) with a broken wrist. Late penalties killed any hopes of a Dallas Cowboys comeback, and White’s injury in this game signaled the final death knell of the Tom Landry Dallas Cowboys dynasty.
A new era had started, with the New York Giants going unbeaten from this point on. The new era was perhaps symbolized by the Gatorade Shower, where the players soak the winning coach with Gatorade to celebrate in the final moments of a game. This ritual was started by the 1986 New York Giants during their Super Bowl run.
Meanwhile, history was being made in the AFC, too. This was John Elway’s first deep playoff run, and in many ways his most famous. Elway led a high-powered Denver Broncos offense into Cleveland Browns Stadium for the AFC Championship Game. The Browns had a solid ground attack with Ernest Byner and Kevin Mack, and a passing game led by Bernie Kozar, Ozzie Newsome and Webster Slaughter. The defense featured tough cornerbacks like Frank Minnifield and solid linebackers like Clay Matthews.
None of this was enough to stop John Elway, who led the Broncos on a late game-tying 98-yard drive that’s so famous it’s now known as "The Drive". The Broncos won on an overtime field goal.
Many hoped that John Elway could muster another big upset in the Super Bowl, but the Broncos were simpy overmatched by the bigger and tougher New York Giants. Surprisingly, the New York Giants quarterback would put on the more impressive showing, as Phil Sims set a Super Bowl record with 22 for 25 on pass attempts and leading the team to 26 straight points at one stretch of the game.
Super Bowl XXII
- Date: January 31, 1988
- Stadium: Jack Murphy Stadium
- Opponents: Washington Redskins v. Denver Broncos
- Score: Redskins win 42-10
- MVP: Doug Williams
The Denver Broncos once again made it to the Super Bowl, once again defeating the Cleveland Browns in the AFC Title Game. This time, the game took place in Mile High Stadium and the Broncos were the favorites. Instead of "the Drive" killing the Browns, this time it was "The Fumble". Ernest Byner fumbled the ball (without being touched) at the Broncos goal line on a late drive that would have tied the ballgame.
Meanwhile, the Washington Redskins won the NFC in an understated fashion. This was another strike-shortened season and–like the last strike year of 1982–the Redskins won their way to the Super Bowl. John Riggins was gone, this time replaced by George Rogers, a former Heisman Trophy winner. When George Rogers was injured in the latter stages of the season, he was replaced by Timmy Smith, who would set a Super Bowl record with over 200 yards rushing.
The biggest interest story of the Washington Redskins 1987 season was Doug Williams. Williams, a talented quarterback out of Grambling University, was the first African-American starting quarterback in NFL history. Doug Williams had led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to an unlikely NFC Championship Game early in his career, but his career was sidetracked when he left the Bucs to play in the floundering USFL. After Joe Theismann’s career was cut short due to injury and a second option (Jay Schroeder) did not work out, Doug Williams became Joe Gibbs’ second Super Bowl winning quarterback.
Doug Williams would have a career game in Super Bowl XXIII, leading the team to 35 unanswered points in the 2nd quarter. John Elway and the Denver Broncos were once again overwhelmed in a game that many thought they would have the advantage.
Super Bowl XXIII
- Date: January 22, 1989
- Stadium: Joe Robbie Stadium
- Opponents: San Francisco 49ers v. Cincinnati Bengals
- Score: 49ers win 20-16
- MVP: Jerry Rice
This was the last year of Bill Walsh’s time as the San Francisco 49ers head coach. In many ways, Walsh chose the perfect game to end his coaching career on, as Joe Montana engineered one of his most famous comebacks in Super Bowl XXIII. Walsh left the team in great shape. Over the next couple of years, the 49ers would be the class of the NFL.
The Cincinnati Bengals, on the other hand, were a brash, upstart team under head coach Sam Wyche. Ickey Woods was the famous rookie fullback for the team who had become a touchdown scoring threat in short yardage. Ickey Woods was most famous for his "Ickey Shuffle", a silly dance he would perform after every touchdown.
The Cincinnati Bengals’ play-action pass was among the best in the league, not only due to the threat of Ickey Woods and James Brooks, but also because QB Boomer Esiason had one of the best handoff fakes of his generation. This opened up the defense to long passes to Eddie Brown, a dangerous wide receiver out of the University of Miami.
The Bengals defense was able to play the 49ers hard, limiting the Niners to only 13 points in the first 59 minutes of the game. Inevitably, though, Joe Montana had one last heroic drive, and he hit John Taylor for a touchdown with 36 seconds remaining.
Famously, Joe Montana is said to have quieted the nerves of his teammates prior to the final drive with his own non-chalance. He is said to have come into the huddle, pointed to the stands and said, "Hey, isn’t that John Candy?"
Super Bowl XXIV
- Date: January 28, 1990
- Stadium: Louisiana Superdome
- Opponents: San Francisco 49ers v. Denver Broncos
- Score: 49ers win 55-10
- MVP: Joe Montana
This was probably the best San Francisco 49ers team of the 1980′s. This time, they were led by George Seifart. George Seifart had been the defensive coordinator under Bill Walsh on the Niners staff.
Joe Montana and Jerry Rice were in the primes, as were John Taylor and Roger Craig. Brent Jones, a dangerous tight end threat, was also coming into his own.
On defense, the San Francisco 49ers continued to have an impressive cast. Charles Haley was one of the most-feared pass rushers in the NFL, while Pierce Holt provided a pass rushing threat on the other side. Ronnie Lott had gone from a hard-hitting cornerback to a harder-hitting safety. Matt Millen, Bill Romanowski and Keena Turner led the linebacking corps.
This was all too much for the Denver Broncos, who were playing in their third Super Bowl in four seasons. For the third time in four seasons, the Broncos and John Elway had defeated the Cleveland Browns to make the Super Bowl. This time, there had been no drama, as the Denver Broncos blew out the aging Browns.
Unfortunately, the San Francisco 49ers returned the favor in Super Bowl XXIV. The game was never in doubt, and many watchers (outside of Denver) would have said it was never in doubt from the time the matchup had been set. Pitting a 3-time Super Bowl champ and the defending world champion against a 2-time Super Bowl loser (by blowout) wasn’t very compelling, and the game proved to be as lopsided as it appeared on paper.
John Elway appeared as if he would forever be known as a loser of the big game, though he would get a chance to prove himself years later, when most thought his career as a contender was over.
For the third part in our ongoing story of NFL Super Bowl History, take a look at Super Bowl History Part 3.
More Football Resources
- Super Bowl History
- Super Bowl History Part 4
- Super Bowl History – Super Bowl XLII
- 101 Football Articles Resources
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