Super Bowl XXIII Super Bowl XXIII was an American football game played on January 22 , 1989 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami , Florida to decide the National Football League ( NFL ) champion following the 1988 regular season . This was the first Super Bowl hosted in the Miami area in 10 years , and the first in Miami not held at the Orange Bowl . This was also the last Super Bowl played on the second to last Sunday in January . From 1990 to 2001 , the game was played on the last Sunday of January and since 2002 , on the first Sunday in February ( with the exception of Super Bowl XXXVII , which was played on January 26 , 2003 ) . The National Football Conference ( NFC ) champion San Francisco 49ers ( 13 - 6 ) defeated the American Football Conference ( AFC ) champion Cincinnati Bengals ( 14 - 5 ) , 20 - 16 . This was the second meeting between the two teams in the Super Bowl , their first meeting being seven years earlier . The game is remembered for the 49ers ' fourth - quarter game - winning drive . Down 16 - 13 , San Francisco got the ball on their own eight yard line with 3 : 10 on the clock and marched 92 yards down the field in under three minutes . They then scored the winning touchdown on a Joe Montana pass to John Taylor with just 34 seconds left in the game . 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice was named the Super Bowl MVP . He caught 11 passes for a Super Bowl record 215 yards and a touchdown , while also rushing once for 5 yards . This was the final NFL game coached by the 49ers ' Bill Walsh as well as the final Super Bowl that Pete Rozelle presided over as NFL Commissioner . On January 26 , 2006 , NFL . com ranked this game number 1 on its list of the top 10 Super Bowls of all time . Background . NFL owners voted to award Super Bowl XXIII to Miami , Florida during their March 10 – 15 , 1985 meetings . This was the sixth time that Miami hosted the game , and the first at Joe Robbie Stadium ; the 5 previous Super Bowls in the area were played at Miami Orange Bowl . Originally , the selection was to be voted on during the May 23 – 25 , 1984 meetings . However , after balloting for XXI took more than two hours , voting for XXIII was rescheduled . Twelve cities were part of the bidding process , which was scheduled to award two Super Bowls ( XXIII and XXIV ) The bidding cities included : Anaheim , Detroit , Houston , Jacksonville , Miami , Minneapolis , New Orleans , Philadelphia , San Francisco , Seattle , Tampa , and Tempe . Miami entered as the favorite . San Francisco 49ers . For the 49ers , it was their first Super Bowl appearance since they defeated the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX . They had made the playoffs in the three seasons between Super Bowl XIX and Super Bowl XXIII , but were eliminated each time in the first round , primarily because of the poor performances by their offensive stars in those games ; quarterback Joe Montana , receiver Jerry Rice and running back Roger Craig all failed to produce a single touchdown . In the 1988 season , San Francisco won the NFC West with a 10 - 6 regular season record , but it was a long uphill battle . The team had a quarterback controversy with Montana and Steve Young each starting at quarterback during the season . But after a 6 - 5 start , Montana led the 49ers to win 4 of their final 5 regular season games . Montana finished the regular season with 238 completions for 2 , 981 yards and 18 touchdowns , and also added 132 rushing yards . His favorite target was Rice , who recorded 64 receptions for 1 , 306 yards ( a 20 . 4 yards per catch average ) and 9 touchdowns . Craig was also a key contributor , leading the team in receptions ( 76 ) while finishing the season with a total of 2 , 036 combined rushing and receiving yards and 10 touchdowns , earning him the NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award . Fullback Tom Rathman also made a big impact , rushing for 427 yards and catching 42 passes for 387 yards . San Francisco also had a major special teams threat in second year receiver John Taylor , who led the NFL in punt return yards ( 556 ) , yards per return , ( 12 . 6 ) , and touchdowns ( 2 ) . He also gained 228 yards on kickoff returns and 325 receiving yards on just 14 recetions ( a 23 . 2 yards pre catch average ) . The 49ers defense was led by defensive backs Ronnie Lott , Eric Wright , Jeff Fuller , and Tim McKyer , who recorded a combined total of 18 interceptions . McKyer led the team with 7 , while Lott recorded 5 . Linebacker Charles Haley was also a big contributor with 11 . 5 sacks and 2 fumble recoveries . Cincinnati Bengals . The Bengals were also a team on the rebound . During the 1987 strike - shortened season , quarterback Boomer Esiason and head coach Sam Wyche had openly feuded , and the team finished with a miserable 4 - 11 record . A lot of Bengals fans would have been happy to see them both leave the team , but they worked out their differences in the off - season and Esiason ended up having the best season of his career en route to Super Bowl XXIII . During the regular season , he threw for 3 , 572 yards and 28 touchdown passes with only 14 interceptions , while also rushing for 248 yards and a touchdown on 43 carries . Esiason ' s performance made him the top rated quarterback in the league with a 97 . 4 passer rating and earned him the NFL Most Valuable Player Award . Cincinnati had a number of offensive weapons , boasting 6 Pro Bowl selections . Wide receiver Eddie Brown was the top receiver on the team , with 54 receptions for 1 , 273 yards and 9 touchdowns , setting franchise records for most receiving yards in season , highest yards per catch average in a season ( 24 . 0 ) and most receiving yards in a single game ( 216 against the Pittsburgh Steelers ) . Wide receiver Tim McGee and Pro Bowl tight end Rodney Holman were also major threats , combining for 75 receptions , 1 , 213 yards , and 9 touchdowns . Rookie fullback Ickey Woods was their top rusher with 1 , 066 yards and 15 touchdowns , while also catching 21 passes for 199 yards and gaining a lot of media attention with his " Ickey Shuffle " , a dance routine he did in the end zone to celebrate his touchdowns . Multi - talented running back James Brooks was also a key contributor , gaining a total of 1 , 218 combined rushing and receiving yards and 14 touchdowns . And the Bengals ' offensive line was led by such Pro Bowl players as right guard Max Montoya and left tackle Anthony Muñoz . Muñoz was named the NFL Offensive Lineman of the Year the third time in his career , and was selected to play in the Pro Bowl for the 8th season in a row . With all these weapons , Cincinnati ' s offense led the NFL in scoring ( 448 points ) , rushing yards ( 2 , 710 ) , and total yards ( 6 , 302 ) . The Bengals defense ranked 17th in the league , allowing 5 , 556 yards and 329 points during the regular season . Cincinnati had a superb defensive line , led by Pro Bowl defensive tackle Tim Krumrie , along with linemen Jim Skow ( 9 . 5 sacks ) , David Grant ( 5 sacks ) , and Jason Buck ( 6 sacks ) . Pro Bowl defensive backs Eric Thomas and David Fulcher combined for 12 interceptions , while safety Lewis Billups added 4 interceptions and 2 fumble recoveries . The team ended up winning the AFC Central with a 12 – 4 record . Playoffs . The Bengals went on to defeat the Seattle Seahawks , 21 - 13 , and the Buffalo Bills , 21 - 10 , in the playoffs . Woods was the key contributor in both wins , rushing for a combined total of 228 yards and 3 touchdowns . Cincinnati ' s 17th ranked defense during the season made a major improvement in the playoffs , holding both their opponents to a combined total of 23 points and recording 5 interceptions . Meanwhile , Bill Walsh guided the 49ers to their crushing playoff wins over the Minnesota Vikings , 34 - 9 , and the Chicago Bears , 28 - 3 . With the win over the Bears , the 49ers became the first road team to win an NFC Championship Game since the 1979 season . Super Bowl pregame news . Despite the Bengals superior regular season record and Esiason ' s MVP award , the 49ers were heavily favored to win the Super Bowl , mainly because of Montana . Montana had already led the 49ers to 2 previous Super Bowls and both times left with a championship ring and Super Bowl MVP honors . While Montana had problems during the regular season , he appeared to be playing his best in the postseason , throwing for 466 yards and 5 touchdowns in his 2 playoff games , with only 1 interception . In contrast , Esiason had thrown for only 202 yards and 1 touchdown , with 2 interceptions . Cincinnati also had internal problems . On the night before the game , Bengals running back Stanley Wilson , the team ' s third leading rusher during the season with 398 yards , was caught using cocaine in his hotel room and was suspended from the team . The rematch was the third time in Super Bowl history two teams were meeting for a second time . Miami and Washington met in Super Bowls VII and XVII , with the teams splitting the games . Dallas and Pittsburgh met in Super Bowls X and XIII , with Pittsburgh winning both of those games . Both Dallas - Pittsburgh matchups were in Miami at the Orange Bowl . Pittsburgh and Dallas would later meet in Super Bowl XXX ( which the Cowboys won by 10 ) to become the first two teams to ever meet three times in the Super Bowl . The Cowboys and Bills is the only other Super Bowl rematch , which happened in Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII . Overtown rioting . On January 16 , 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 , leading to rioting and looting which lasted into January 18 . A television van and several automobiles and buildings were set on fire , and police used tear gas against the rioters . A teenager was shot and killed in the melee and more than $ 1 million worth of damage was done . Rumors began that the Super Bowl might be moved to Tampa , and the incident later prompted the NFL to look at the league ' s hiring of minorities and its lack of a black coach . Television and entertainment . The game was broadcast in the United States by NBC with Dick Enberg handling the play - by - play duties and color commentator Merlin Olsen in the broadcast booth . This would be Olsen ' s final Super Bowl broadcast , as he was demoted the following season to make room for Bill Walsh . Bob Costas along with Gayle Gardner hosted the pregame , halftime , and postgame coverage with analysts Paul Maguire and then - Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula , pregame roving reporter Jim Gray ( who was also working as a researcher for NBC Sports at the time ) and Marv Albert , who interviewed Boomer Esiason after the game . Meanwhile during NBC ' s pregame coverage , Ahmad Rashād and John Candy hosted the Diet Pepsi Talent Challenge at the Miami Seaquarium . Also , Frank Deford delivered a special segment profiling recently deceased Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney . This was also the first NFL game that NBC covered with their new " Quantel Cypher " graphics system , which was introduced during their coverage of the 1988 Seoul Olympics ( they had used Chyron for their graphics prior to Super Bowl XXIII ) . NBC also introduced their " cursive font " logo during this broadcast . Before , it was just the 1986 peacock logo with " NBC SPORTS " in their generic corporate font . With the win , the 49ers became the first team to win Super Bowls televised on three different networks ( CBS - XVI , ABC - XIX , and NBC ) . Since then , the Washington Redskins ( in 1992 ) , the Green Bay Packers ( in 1997 ) , the Pittsburgh Steelers ( in 2006 ) and the New York Giants ( in 2008 ) have accomplished this same feat . The game aired on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom , and simulcast on CTV in Canada and Televisa ' s Canal de las Estrellas in Mexico . The pregame festivities honored the Miami and South Florida areas , along with a tribute to NASA . Singer Billy Joel later sang the national anthem . He also sang the national anthem at Super Bowl XLI which coincidentally was held at the same venue . The coin toss ceremony featured former Miami Dolphins players Nick Buoniconti , Bob Griese , and Larry Little . This was the last outdoor Super Bowl to start earlier than 6 p . m . Eastern Standard Time , as it started just after 5 p . m . The halftime show was titled " Be Bop Bamboozled in 3 - D " and featured Elvis Presto and hundreds of South Florida - area dancers and performers . Ironically , not one actual Elvis Presley song was performed . Several scenes included computer generated 3 - D images . Prior to the game , Coca - Cola distributed 3 - D glasses at retailers for viewers to use . At the onset of the halftime show , primary sponsor Diet Coke aired the first commercial in 3 - D ( Coca - Cola had originally planned to use the 3 - D Diet Coke commercial as part of the 1987 - 1988 , aired in 3 - D season finale of " Moonlighting " , but withdrew plans due to the 1988 Writers Guild of America Strike ) . This game also marked the debut of the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter . The first winner of the annual survey was an ad from American Express starring " Saturday Night Live " stars Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz , who went to the game with different credit cards - Carvey with AmEx rival Visa , Lovitz with American Express . The movie " Brotherhood of the Rose " aired after the game . For viewers watching the game on AFN TV Europe ( Armed Forces Network ) , AFN and NBC broke for a commercial just before the Montana - Taylor touchdown play . AFN continued their announcements and did not get back to the game until after the touchdown . AFN viewers saw the winning touchdown in replay . Game summary . The game started out with devastating injuries on both sides . On the third play of the game , 49ers tackle Steve Wallace was taken off the field with a broken ankle . Later on , Bengals defensive lineman Tim Krumrie twisted his ankle nearly 180 degrees , shattering two bones in his left leg . After the two teams traded punts on their first drives of the game , the 49ers , aided by a roughing the passer penalty and a 17 - yard screen pass to Tom Rathman on 3rd - and - 10 , marched 73 yards from their own 3 - yard line to the Bengals 24 . But dropped passes , including one by receiver Mike Wilson on the 2 - yard line ( the first time in a Super Bowl that instant replay was used to reverse a call ) , forced them to settle for a 41 - yard field goal from kicker Mike Cofer . On the 49ers next drive , Montana threw a pass to wide receiver Jerry Rice , who first tipped it to himself and then made a one - handed catch before stepping out of bounds at the San Francisco 45 - yard line . Then after reaching the Cincinnati 42 - yard line , Montana spotted defensive back Lewis Billups trying to cover Rice one - on - one and made him pay for it by completing a pass to the receiver at the 10 . But two plays later on a third down play , Bengals safety David Fulcher made a touchdown saving tackle at the 2 - yard line to keep Rathman from scoring . Cofer then attempted a 19 - yard field goal , but a poor snap from center Randy Cross ( though NBC ' s Dick Enberg initially blamed backup guard Chuck Thomas ; who lined up next to Cross ) threw off the kicker ' s timing and his kick sailed wide left . It became the shortest missed field goal in Super Bowl history . The 49ers then forced the Bengals to punt on their next drive . On the play , San Francisco Pro Bowl punt returner John Taylor misplayed punter Lee Johnson ' s kick , and it sailed over his head , bouncing all the way to the 49ers 9 - yard line to make it a Super Bowl record 63 yard punt . But Taylor made up for his mistake by chasing the ball down and returning it for a Super Bowl record 45 yards to the Bengals 46 - yard line . Thanks to Taylor , a seemingly routine punt had turned into a double record setter . However , the 49ers were unable to take advantage of their excellent starting field position . On first down , running back Harry Sydney fumbled a pitch from Montana and was downed for a 10 - yard loss after he dove on the ball . On the next play , Montana was sacked by defensive lineman David Grant ( who replaced Krumrie at nose tackle ) . Then on third down , Fulcher forced a fumble from 49ers running back Roger Craig , and Bengals defensive end Jim Skow recovered the ball on his own 41 - yard line . Cincinnati then drove to the San Francisco 42 - yard line , but after 2 incomplete passes and defensive end Danny Stubbs ' s 8 - yard sack on Bengals quarterback Boomer Esiason , they were forced to punt . However , Johnson pinned the 49ers back at their own 11 - yard line with his punt . Then the Cincinnati defense limited the 49ers to just 1 yard on their ensuing drive , and ended up with great field position after defensive back Ray Horton returned San Francisco punter Barry Helton ' s 37 - yard punt 5 yards to the 49ers 44 - yard line On their ensuing drive , the Bengals managed to get into scoring range by driving 28 yards to the San Francisco 16 - yard line , assisted by an 18 - yard completion from Esiason to receiver Tim McGee . But after Esiason ' s third down pass intended to wide receiver Eddie Brown was overthrown , they were forced to settle for kicker Jim Breech ' s 34 - yard field goal with 1 : 15 left in the half . The two teams went into their locker rooms tied 3 – 3 , the first halftime tie in Super Bowl history , and the lowest halftime score since the Pittsburgh Steelers took a 2 – 0 halftime lead over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IX . On their opening possession in the second half , the Bengals managed to get a sustained drive going , moving the ball 61 yards in 12 plays and taking 9 : 15 off the clock . Esiason , who completed only 4 of 12 passes for 48 yards in the first half , completed 3 of 4 passes for 54 yards on the drive , including a 20 - yard completion to James Brooks and 23 - yard and 11 - yard completions to Cris Collinsworth , setting up a 43 - yard field goal from Breech to give the Bengals their first lead of the game , 6 - 3 . Cincinnati then forced San Francisco to punt , but on the first play of their next drive , 49ers rookie linebacker Bill Romanowski intercepted a pass from Esiason at the Bengals ' 23 - yard line . However , after a dropped pass by Jerry Rice , the 49ers offense could not get a first down , and they had to settle for Cofer ' s 32 - yard field goal to tie the game . With less than a minute left in the third quarter , it appeared that this would become the first Super Bowl ever to go 3 quarters without either team scoring a touchdown . But on the ensuing kickoff , Bengals kick returner Stanford Jennings returned the ball 93 yards for a touchdown to give the Bengals a 13 – 6 lead . Jennings would be the second player to return a kickoff for a touchdown in Super Bowl history . Of the five Super Bowls played at Joe Robbie Stadium , four of them had a kickoff return for a score , all by the eventual losing team . But the 49ers immediately responded with a touchdown of their own , on an 85 - yard , 4 - play drive . First , Montana threw a short pass to Jerry Rice , who turned it into a 31 - yard gain . Then the San Francisco quarterback completed a 40 - yard pass to Craig on the first play of the 4th quarter , moving the ball to the Bengals 14 - yard line . Montana ' s next pass was nearly intercepted but dropped by Billups in the endzone . Montana then threw a 14 - yard touchdown pass to Rice , and the game was tied , 13 – 13 . Cofer ' s ensuing kickoff went out of bounds , giving the Bengals the ball at their own 35 - yard line . But they could only reach the 43 - yard line before being forced to punt . Taylor nearly turned the ball over by fumbling Johnson ' s punt , but his teammate Darryl Pollard recovered the ball at the San Francisco 18 - yard line . On the first play of the ensuing drive , Montana completed a 44 - yard pass to Rice , and then Craig ran for 7 yards , moving the ball to the Bengals 31 - yard line . But after Craig was tackled for a 1 - yard loss on the next play , Fulcher broke up a third down pass intended for Taylor , and then Cofer ' s ensuing 49 - yard field attempt sailed wide right . The Bengals took over from their own 32 - yard line following the missed field goal , and retook the lead with a 10 - play , 46 - yard drive , featuring a 17 - yard reception by backup receiver Ira Hillary on third down and 13 , along with 21 yards on three carries from Ickey Woods and a 12 - yard play - action sideline pass to James Brooks . At the end of the drive , Breech kicked a 40 - yard field goal , giving the Bengals a 16 - 13 lead with 3 : 20 left in the game . The 49ers returned the ensuing kickoff to their own 15 - yard line with 3 : 10 on the clock , but an illegal block penalty on the play pushed the ball back half the distance to the goal line to the 8 . Montana then led an 11 - play , 92 - yard drive to score the winning touchdown . In order to calm his teammates in the huddle just before the final game - winning drive , Montana pointed into the stadium crowd and said " Hey , isn ' t that John Candy ? " The tactic worked , and the 49ers were able to drive down the field for the win . It became the defining moment of Montana ' s " Joe Cool " reputation . Assuming that the Bengals would expect him to throw the ball near the sidelines ( to enable the receivers to step out of bounds to immediately stop the clock ) , Montana first threw a pair of completions in the middle of the field , one to Craig and one to tight end John Frank . His next pass went 7 yards to Rice , which was then followed up by a pair of runs by Craig to reach their own 35 - yard line . Montana then completed a 17 - yard pass to Rice to advance the team to the Bengals 48 - yard line , and followed it up with a 13 - yard completion to Craig to move them to the 35 - yard line . But on the next play , Montana threw his first incomplete pass of the drive . After that , Cross committed an illegal man downfield penalty , which at the time was a 10 - yard foul , moving the ball back to the 45 - yard line and bringing up second down and 20 to go with just 1 : 15 left in the game . But Montana overcame the situation on the next play with a 27 - yard completion to Rice , who caught the ball at the 33 , evaded 3 Bengal defenders , and ran to the 18 - yard line before Horton managed to tackle him to prevent a touchdown . An 8 - yard pass to Craig then advanced San Francisco to the 10 - yard line . Then with 39 seconds left in the game , Montana finished the drive with a 10 - yard touchdown pass to Taylor , giving the 49ers the lead for good . Finally , San Francisco ' s defense sealed the victory after Esiason ' s pass to Collinsworth was broken up as time expired . Although Jerry Rice was named MVP , Montana had an MVP - worthy performance , completing 23 of 36 passes for a Super Bowl record 357 yards , throwing for 2 touchdowns , and gaining 14 rushing yards . Craig finished the game with 71 yards rushing , and 8 receptions for 101 receiving yards . He was the first running back in Super Bowl history to gain over 100 receiving yards . Taylor finished the game with a Super Bowl record 56 punt return yards . His 18 . 7 yards per return was also the highest average in Super Bowl history . For Cincinnati , Jennings rushed one time for 3 yards , and gained 117 yards and a touchdown on 2 kickoff returns . Woods was the top rusher of the game with 79 yards . But Esiason was limited to just 11 out of 25 completions for 144 yards and no touchdowns , with 1 interception . Collinsworth ( who retired after this game ) was the Bengals top receiver of the game , but with just 3 catches for 40 yards . The 49ers became the 6th team to win the Super Bowl over a team with a better regular season record going into the game ( 12 - 6 for the 49ers to 14 - 4 for the Bengals ) . The 49ers also became the first team , since the NFL went to a 16 - game schedule in 1978 , to win the Super Bowl after winning only 10 games during the regular season . Their 6 losses are tied for the most ever by a Super Bowl champion .