Super Bowl XVI

Super Bowl XVI -San Francisco 49ers vs Cincinnati Bengals: 2nd Half

Part 1 - SB XVI Pregame | Part 2 - SB XVI 1st Half

The Bengals immediately set about to get back into the game.

Quarter 3

Wersching's squib kick bounced to the one where Verser grabbed it and returned to the 17. The Bengals drove from there in nine plays for their first touchdown. Alexander started the march by gaining 13y around right end, by far Cincy's longest run of the game. A 5y face mask penalty on the play moved the ball to the 35. Johnson's 3y run and a short pass to Alexander made it 3rd-and-four. Anderson then connected with WR Steve Kreider in front of Lott for 19y to the SF 40. After Johnson gained five up the middle, the Bengals executed their own dipsy-do play. Anderson handed to Archie Griffin who pitched it back to Anderson who threw to Curtis for 13y. The play should have gained more because there was no defender within 10y of Curtis, but he had to go to the ground to catch the low throw. Wright helped by hitting the receiver late to add half the distance to the goal line to the 11. Griffin got four up the middle and Johnson two to the left. From the four, Anderson went back to pass, then ran up the middle and dove into the end zone. Breech booted the PAT. 49ers 20 Bengals 7 (11:25)

Anderson: "My touchdown from the five was supposed to be a pass all the way, but it wasn't open. I eluded one tackler and there was nothing between me and the end zone, so I kept running.

Montana goes back to pass.

The 49er miscues continued on the kickoff. The ball went out of bounds, but LB Bobby Leopold was flagged for a personal foul. So Breech kicked again out of the end zone. The fired-up Bengal defense, blitzing more and in general becoming more aggressive, forced a three-out. Browner set the tone on first down by sacking Montana for a 9y loss. Breeden then broke up a pass to Solomon before Walsh made a conservative call on 3rd-and-19. Patton gained four around RE. So Miller punted 47y to Fuller, who returned 13y to the SF 49.
The defenses stayed in control, forcing two more three-and outs as the two offenses gained a total of 5y.

Pat McInally punts.

After a 50y punt by Miller, the Bengals began at midfield and drove deep into SF territory. But first they went backwards on a holding penalty and and a personal foul that erased a 15y pass to Ross. Matters got worse when Dean, who moved around on the defense from play to play, dropped Anderson for a loss of four to make it 3rd-and-23. On the next snap, Collinsworth got behind Wright down the left side again and this time didn't drop the ball for a 49y gain to the 14.

Anderson: "We had just split 'em on the outside. We had sent somebody down the middle and they kind of looked that guy off a little bit while Cris snuck up the left side. Cris made a great over-the-head catch while running in full stride."
49ers defensive coordinator Chuck Studley had called a soft-zone defense to prevent the long pass. But Collinsworth burst past Wright, who didn't heed Coach Rhodes's warning. "Caught me sleeping," Wright admitted.

With a chance to pull within six points of the Niners, the Bengals ran eight plays and ended up with no points. Hacksaw Reynolds made two straight tackles, stopping Alexander for a 1y gain and sacking Anderson for a loss of two. On 3rd-and-11, Ken connected with Ross over the middle, but Williamson stopped him a yard short of the first down mark. Gregg said go for it and was rewarded by Johnson banging for 2y to make it first-and-goal at the three.

LB Keena Turner thought defensive coordinator had called for the "giant" defense rather than the "goal-line" defense. So he stayed on the sideline for the fourth down play. As a result the 49ers had only ten defenders on the play.

Next came what both sides agreed was the key series of the game.
1st down: Johnson plunges over RG to the 1. LDT John Choma, a rookie free agent offensive lineman who came in for goal line defense, is not blocked and makes the touchdown-saving tackle with assist from LB Bunz.

Coach Studley: "They double-teamed Archie Reese but didn't block Choma and ran right at the double team. They figured Choma would overpenetrate. What they didn't know is we worked our tails off all week on that play too."
"It was a sucker play," said SF defensive line coach Bill McPherson. "As far as I know, [Tom] Landry with Dallas started that in the NFL. You didn't see it very often. It was always a tough play for a defensive tackle, especially Choma because he wasn't experienced."

Left: First down - John Choma (far right), unblocked, stops Johnson on the one
Middle: Second down - C Blair Bush tries to leap over NG Reese to get to Reynolds (64).
Right: Reynolds meets Johnson headon in the hole.

2nd down: The call was another handoff to Johnson, the "human rhino," this time over LG. C Blair Bush's assignment was to block MLB Reynolds. But NG Archie Reese charged low into Bush, forcing him to try to jump over him to get to Hacksaw. Too late. Reynolds met Johnson head-on and stuffed him for no gain.

There was another missed block on the second down play. Anderson called a blocking audible while under center. The man in motion from right to left, Verser, was supposed to block RILB Craig Puki, who was in a low stance at the line of scrimmage inside the RDE. But Verser didn't hear the audible, and Puki jammed lead back Charles Alexander (40) to steer Johnson into Reynolds. If Verser blocks Puki, Alexander is free to block Reynolds.
"That probably was the play right there that hurt us the most," Gregg said. "David [Verser] was a good blocker, but the noise was so great he didn't hear the call. David blocked the wrong man, leaving a linebacker free in the hole."

3rd down: Anderson flips a pass to Alexander in the right flat but LLB Dan Bunz (far right in the picture on the left below) nails him in his tracks 1' from the goal line. Cincinnati calls timeout.

Once again, the play was not executed properly. Alexander was supposed to get into the end zone (yellow arrow on the left below) before making his cut. Instead he made it too soon (red arrow).
Bunz was mostly a backup but came in on the goal line defense. "On the third down, I cheated outside to the flat because Alexander kept looking at me. I almost went for the ball, then thought, 'What if I miss?' I liked playing rugby, so I hit Alexander, lifting him with a rugby tackle, trying to get him off his feet so he couldn't drive in. I always attribute playing rugby to my skills as a tackler. You have no gear; you have to wrap the guy up."
Coach Studley: "Bunz was an ordinary player. He was big, tough, strong. He was a tremendous competitor. You never had to worry about Danny Bunz being ready to play football. He was 230, maybe 235. But, God, you'd time him with a sun dial. ... Danny was a decent zone player but this was man-to-man. You put him in man-to-man, and you were scared to death." Asked how often he would expect Bunz to make the play on Alexander, Studley replied, "I would say Bunz would make that play one out of 100."

Left: Alexander cuts his route short. Right: 49ers converge on Johnson on 4th down.

Gregg for the second time decides against a field goal.
4th down: Johnson tries RG, but Reynolds (highest circle in the picture at the right above), Bunz (middle circle), and Lott (lowest circle) converge to keep him from crossing the goal line. San Francisco takes over on the 1/2 yard line.

Craig Puki (54) and Archie Reese (78) stop Johnson's fourth down plunge.

Johnson on the fourth down play: "I saw the 49ers rise up at the snap. I figured I could go under them. There just wasn't anything."
Bunz: "On fourth down, I noticed they had a bit more of a wider split between the guard and tackle on my side. From film studies and then seeing Charles looking at me, I surmised they'd coming my way with Alexander blocking for Johnson, so I yelled to Hacksaw, 'It's coming here!' When the ball is snapped, I take out lead blocker Alexander while Reynolds and others group wrestle Johnson for no gain. I remember looking down and seeing the goal line at my chest, so I knew they didn't score. I broke my chin strap and a couple of buckles that held together the face mask. After the play, I'm in a daze. 'Where the hell am I?' Archie Reese congratulates me, then looks at me and says, 'Do you know where you're at?' I manage to blurt out 'Super Bowl.' But I was seeing stars. I knew we stopped somebody, but I didn't know what team we're playing or what stadium we were at. Reese says, 'You should get knocked out more often - you're playing great."
Bengals Hall of Fame T Anthony Munoz recalled: "I don't know what kind of career Dan Bunz had, but if he ever made another play where you tackle a 230-pound back as strong as Charlie Alexander dead in his tracks, that had to be the play of his career. Awesome!"
Ronnie Lott: "Goal-line defense is about beating your opponent to the punch and establishing position, and that's what we did ... If you look at every play of that stand, we beat them to the punch. We drew a new line of scrimmage each time."
Coach Gregg: "We said, 'If we're going to win this game, then we're going to have to run this play. We ran the off-tackle slant. Reynolds, the old fox, sniffed it out, and we didn't get in. Reynolds was basically unassigned. You hope you get enough push off the line of scrimmage where you can get into the end zone."
Studley: "I just think they went to the well once too often. They told me that the whole season long Pete Johnson had never been stopped down there."
Walsh: "The Bengals were a very good team, but a very mechanical team."

Ring carried twice out to the eight to end the quarter.
The 49ers ran only eight plays during the period for a measly 4y.
49ERS 20 BENGALS 7

Quarter 4

Browner stopped Cooper 1y short of the first down marker to force a punt to the Cincy 47.
The Bengals started another drive, and this time they wouldn't be denied. Johnson gained three up the middle, and Anderson completed consecutive passes over the middle to Collinsworth for 12 and Ross for nine to the SF 29. Then Lott was called for pass interference, making it 1st-and-10 on the 15. After an incompletion, Anderson went back to TE Ross for nine. Alexander gained two for a first down at the four. There would be no goal line stand this time - not even close. Ken tossed to Ross in the middle of the end zone. 49ers 20 Bengals 14 (10:06)

Walsh: "I was really uneasy because we couldn't hold them off forever. We hadn't made a first down yet in the half. We continued to have poor field position and were reduced to avoiding a critical error and taking time off the clock."

The SF offense needed to at least run some time off the clock to regain some momentum. They did that, consuming 4:41 with a nine-play, 50y drive to a field goal. Montana overcame a bad start - an incompletion and a false start penalty - by rolling right and connecting with WR Mike Wilson on a button hook pattern at the right sideline for 22y to the 44. It was the 49ers initial first down of the half.

Wyche afterward: "Bill anticipated single coverage for Mike Wilson from a certain formation. He had Joe roll right. He had Wilson go down the field 25 yards, then hook back, on a timing route. As Mike was hooking back, the ball was on its way. It might have been the biggest play of the game."
Walsh: "It was the biggest play of the game because it finally gave us some breathing room, improved our field position, and got us untracked."
Anderson agreed. "We had them backed up and it was a long yardage situation. Montana ... hits the big play for the first down. They ate up a lot of clock after that."

Next came a pass interference on CB Ken Riley for an automatic first down at the 49. Patton then got the call three straight times, gaining a total of 19y to the Cincy 32. On 3rd-and-one, Montana scrambled 4y to move the chains. But three runs advanced the ball only 5y. So Wersching sailed a 40y field goal through the uprights. 49ers 23 Bengals 14 (5:25)

Walsh: "Ray Wersching had nerves of steel in the clutch. Ray's kicking was the difference in four games that year, three of which we won by three points and one by just two. 40y normally was approaching the outer edge of his 'automatic' range, but kickoff off the artificial turf in an indoor stadium extended his range, as it does for any kicker."

Ken Riley takes aim at Earl Cooper.

Needing two scores now, Anderson and Company needed to move downfield in a hurry. But CB Eric Wright would have none of that. He stepped in front of Collinsworth to intercept a pass at the 47 and returned 25y. Then he nearly spoiled his great play by trying to lateral as he was hit by G Max Montoya. Fortunately for the 49ers, LB Willie Harper covered the ball at the 22.

Anderson: "It wasn't desperation time yet, but certainly we had to do things quickly with just over five minutes remaining and being down by two scores. We had to get downfield in chunks, and I had tried to force one in there. On the first play after we got the ball back, I tried to hit Collinsworth down the left side. That was pretty much the same play I'd completed to Cris earlier, but this time it was a little shorter, and Eric Wright made a nice play, stepping in front of it to make the interception."
As for the end of the play, Wright said, "What I did was very stupid. Young player. Got caught up in the moment."
Walsh: "Eric Wright made a brilliant interception ... and ran the ball back 25y. The Wright-Collinsworth matchup was one of the great features of the game, both superb athletes and great competitors. At the end of the play, Wright tried a lateral. Oh, my God! The ball bounced around on the turf. My heart was in my throat. Here, Eric had just made a play that should have almost clinched the win for us, but he might be giving the ball right back to them. Then Willie Harper fell on the ball for us, and I could breathe again."

Already in field goal range, Walsh called six straight running plays to eat up the clock. Patton for four, Cooper for three, and Davis for four to make it 1st-and-10 at the 11. After Patton gained another four, Cincinnati called its second timeout. LB Rick Razzano dumped Patton for a loss of six, and Gregg called his last timeout. Montana kept on a bootleg for 7y to reach the two-minute warning. When play resumed, Wersching booted his fourth field goal, this one from the 13. 49ers 26 Bengals 14 (1:57)
The Bengals didn't quit. With the Niners playing a defense in which the outside linebackers moved outside the wide receivers to discouraged completions at the sidelines, Anderson went six-for-six - one to Curtis for 21 after scrambling, two to Ross for 24, a 9y completion to Collinsworth and a 17yarder to Kreider. Finally, from the three, Anderson again found Ross in the middle of the end zone. 49ers 26 Bengals 21 (0:16)

Ross exults after catching TD pass.

Anderson: "Some people criticized us for throwing those passes down the middle of the field because that would prevent us from getting out of bounds to stop the clock. But if there's less than two minutes in the game, and you are told you can score a touchdown and still have a few seconds left on the clock to try an onside kick, you'd agree to it. We did exactly what we wanted to do under the circumstances. We made the plays and scored, and then had the chance to recover an onside kick."
Ross set a Super Bowl record with 11 receptions. "The record doesn't mean a thing," he said. "We wanted to win the game, and we didn't do it. I can't figure it out. We played tense, and I don't know why."

The victory that seemed hopeless a few minutes earlier now had a slim chance, starting with recovering the onside kick and then completing a Hail Mary in the end zone. But WR Clark snagged the bouncing ball at the SF 48 to allow Montana to take a knee to set off rejoicing in the City by the Bay.
FINAL SCORE: 49ERS 26 BENGALS 21

Montana was voted the game's MVP.

Anderson recalled: "Once they recovered the onside kick, you knew it was over. Done. You realize it's the biggest game of your life, and it's the most disappointing. My six-year-old son Matt was behind the bench. He was holding my hand as we were walking, and there were so many people that he got scared, and I ended up carrying him off. We got into the locker room and it was real quiet. I'm undressing. Finally I turn to my son - he was the only kid in there - and I said, "Well, Matt, that was a tough day. What'd you think?" And his eyes got real bright and he said, "Dad, it was the best halftime show I've ever seen." At least that brought a smile to my face.

Final statistics

Time of possession: 49ers 27:47 Bengals 32:13
First downs: 49ers 20 Bengals 24
Rushing: 49ers 40-127 Bengals 24-72
Passing: 49ers 22-14-0/148 Bengals 34-25-2/284
Return yardage: 49ers 5-98 Bengals 11-87
Fumbles-Lost: 49ers 2-1 Bengals 2-2
Penalties: 49ers 8-65 Bengals 8-57
Punting average: 49ers 4-46.3 Bengals 3-43.7
Attendance: 81,270

Postgame

49ers Locker Room

Coach Bill Walsh: "Cincinnati showed tremendous character coming back in the second half. They blitzed us heavily, and we were able to hold on to survive. We went to our running game and beat a terrific football team. Basically, our offense swept them off their feet in the first half, and then we had to depend on our defense to hold the fort when they came out blitzing in the second half. We went to our running game. That gave us a chance to take apart the blitz, and that's what won it for us." He praised his club. "It was a rare moment for me to work with such a great group of men and win a Super Bowl championship. It was the greatest moment of my life." He complimented his MVP QB. "Joe will be the great quarterback of the future. He is one of the coolest competitors of all time, and he has just started. He'll be even better in the future."
Montana almost seemed embarrassed by the MVP award. "I really was surprised because I didn't think I did that much out there." When asked to grade his performance, he replied, "B minus or C. There were times I should have gotten out of a blitz, things I could have done better." Who would you give the award to? someone asked. "The team. The team was the MVP today."
He commented on the predictions for the Niners before the season began. "People didn't believe we were a playoff team, let alone where we are now. People still weren't convinced. It was disheartening, but we stuck together as a unit."
Montana won his Super Bowl on the same day of his life that Joe Namath did - 25 years, six months, 13 days old - an exact tie for youngest QB to win the Big Game at that time. Years later he recalled, "My dad was always a kind of a teacher ... if anyone is going to tell you something, it will be about what you did wrong. That's how I was taught. ... I was excited that we won, but agonized over things I could have done better. Usually I go straight to the training room where the press can't get in. I went in there and one of the team guys brought me a cheeseburger because he knew I didn't eat much on game day. So I'm sitting there eating, and my dad enters. He is all smiles, then looks at me and asks, 'What's the matter?' I mumbled, 'I don't know, I just don't think I played that well.' My dad says, 'Would you shut up! You just won the Super Bowl. Relax and have some fun now.' Well, that kind of put it in perspective."
WR Freddie Solomon: "The difference is simple. Bill Walsh. Every week he keeps coming up with some more X's and O's. Joe Montana is quite a leader; he's got poise. He always get the job done."
S Ronnie Lott cited the interceptions by Dwight Hicks and Eric Wright. "I said before the game that if we were going to win, our defensive secondary was going to have to come up with big plays, and both those guys did."
T Keith Fahnhorst, one of the 49ers who suffered through the lean years. "It's fantastic. It hasn't sunk in yet. It's unbelievable. I don't know how we're ever going to top this. I'm starting to worry about that already."
Earl Cooper recalled: "It's hard to believe. I had to pinch myself. I think I was numb for a while. Brent Musberger tried to talk to me, and I don't think I could get words out. It was so unbelievable that we had come so far, so fast and so quick to be Super Bowl champions."
Dwight Hicks: "Bill Walsh asked the coaches their expectations (before the season started) of what our record would be. Each coach wrote down on a piece of paper whtat it was. I think Bill Walsh wrote down that if we were 8-8, we'd be right on schedule. We were 16-3."
G Randy Cross said that even when Cincinnati cut the lead to 20-14 in the third quarter, "Montana was totally calm. The only time he got a little concerned was at the beginning of the second half when they blitzed and blitzed and blitzed, and we didn't pick up a lot of it."
Years later, Cross summarized the 1981 49ers this way: "Our Super Bowl XVI team was a collection of seasoned guys tired of losing, helped by an influx of young players determined to turn things around."

Bengals Locker Room

Coach Forrest Gregg: "We had an opportunity right off the bat to score. When we didn't, I think the players started thinking about what could have been instead of what was." Asked about the fourth down call from the one in the third quarter, he replied, "Nobody had stopped us on that play all year. In a situation like that, you give it to the strongest guy. The 49ers did a good job. They jammed things up a little bit, and we didn't get movement on the defensive backs and linebackers." He added, "We lost, but we have a lot to be proud of. No one expected us to be there. They (the experts) weren't picking us to finish past third in the division. This is a dedicated bunch. They'll feel bad for a while, but not long. They don't have to hang their heads down."
GM Paul Brown, after congratulating his coach: "Too many mistakes early against a good team like San Francisco really was the difference. We made a gallant try to come back and went right to the very end."
QB Ken Anderson: "You can't play a Super Bowl game and turn the ball over three times and think you're going to win."
TE Dan Ross said his team was tense. "It was just like stage fright. I was in awe of everything. The difference was they played loose, and we didn't. They didn't let it get to them."
WR Steve Kreider: "If we had to lose in the Super Bowl, I'm glad it's to the 49ers. I really enjoyed playing against a guy like Ronnie Lott. He's going to be a great player for a long time."

Bill Walsh pleaded with San Francisco officials not to hold a victory parade. He figured the Bay Area populace was too sophisticated for such revelry. Walsh was pleasantly shocked when a half million people packed the parade route. It was the city's largest public gathering since the end of World War II.

Steve Kreider