Ray Wersching's Super Bowl record-tying four field goals and Joe Montana's controlled passing helped lift the San Francisco 49ers to their first NFL championship with a 26-21 victory over Cincinnati.
The 49ers built a game-record 20-0 halftime lead via Montana's 1-yard touchdown run, which capped an 11-play, 68-yard drive; fullback Earl Cooper's 11-yard scoring pass from Montana, which climaxed a Super Bowl record 92-yard drive on 12 plays; and Wersching's 22- and 26-yard field goals.
The Bengals rebounded in the second half, closing the gap to 20-14 on quarterback Ken Anderson's 5-yard run and Dan Ross's 4-yard reception from Anderson, who established Super Bowl passing records for completions (25) and completion percentage (73.5 percent on 25 of 34).
Wersching added early fourth-period field goals of 40 and 23 yards to increase the 49ers' lead to 26-14.
The Bengals managed to score on an Anderson-to-Ross 3-yard pass with only 16 seconds remaining. Ross set a Super Bowl record with 11 receptions for 104 yards.
Montana, the game's most valuable player, completed 14 of 22 passes for 157 yards.
Cincinnati compiled 356 yards to San Francisco's 275, which marked the first time in Super Bowl history that the team that gained the most yards from scrimmage lost the game.
SCORING
San Francisco 7 13 0 6 -- 26
Cincinnati 0 0 7 14 -- 21
SF- Montana 1 run (Wersching kick), 9:08 1st
SF- E. Cooper 11 pass from Montana
(Wersching kick), 8:07 2nd
SF- FG Wersching 22, 14:45 2nd
SF- FG Wersching 26, 14:58 2nd
CIN- Anderson 5 run (Breech kick), 3:35 3rd
CIN- Ross 4 pass from Anderson (Breech kick),
4:54 4th
SF- FG Wersching 40, 9:35 4th
SF- FG Wersching 23, 13:03 4th
CIN- Ross 3 pass from Anderson (Breech kick),
14:44 4th
TEAM STATISTICS S.F. Cin.
Total First Downs 20 24
Rushing 9 7
Passing 9 13
Penalty 2 4
Total Net Yardage 275 356
Total Offensive Plays 63 63
Avg. Gain per Off. Play 4.4 5.7
Rushes 40 24
Yards Gained Rushing (Net) 127 72
Average Yards per Rush 3.2 3.0
Passes Attempted 22 34
Passes Completed 14 25
Had Intercepted 0 2
Tackled Attempting to Pass 1 5
Yards Lost Attempting to Pass 9 16
Yards Gained Passing (Net) 148 284
Punts 4 3
Average Distance 46.3 43.7
Punt Returns 1 4
Punt Return Yardage 6 35
Kickoff Returns 2 7
Kickoff Return Yardage 40 52
Interception Return Yardage 52 0
Fumbles 2 2
Own Fumbles Recovered 1 0
Opponent Fumbles Recovered 2 1
Penalties 8 8
Yards Penalized 65 57
Total Points Scored 26 21
Touchdowns 2 3
Rushing 1 1
Passing 1 2
Returns 0 0
Extra Points 2 3
Field Goals 4 0
Field Goals Attempted 4 0
Safeties 0 0
Third-Down Efficiency 8/15 6/12
Fourth-Down Efficiency 0/0 1/2
Time of Possession 30:34 29:26
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
San Francisco No. Yds. LG TD
Patton 17 55 10 0
E. Cooper 9 34 14 0
Montana 6 18 8 1
Ring 5 17 7 0
Davis 2 5 4 0
Clark 1 -2 2 0
Cincinnati No. Yds. LG TD
Johnson 14 36 5 0
Alexander 5 17 13 0
Anderson 4 15 6 1
A. Griffin 1 4 4 0
Passing
San Francisco Att. Comp. Yds. TD Int.
Montana 22 14 157 1 0
Cincinnati Att. Comp. Yds. TD Int.
Anderson 34 25 300 2 2
Receiving
San Francisco No. Yds. LG TD
Solomon 4 52 20 0
Clark 4 45 17 0
E. Cooper 2 15 11t 1
Wilson 1 22 22 0
Young 1 14 14 0
Patton 1 6 6 0
Ring 1 3 3 0
Cincinnati No. Yds. LG TD
Ross 11 104 16 2
Collinsworth 5 107 49 0
Curtis 3 42 21 0
Kreider 2 36 19 0
Johnson 2 8 5 0
Alexander 2 3 3 0
Interceptions
San Francisco No. Yds. LG TD
Hicks 1 27 27 0
Wright 1 25 25 0
Cincinnati No. Yds. LG TD
None -- -- -- --
Punting
San Francisco No. Avg. LG Blk.
Miller 4 46.3 50 0
Cincinnati No. Avg. LG Blk.
McInally 3 43.7 53 0
Punt Returns
San Francisco No. FC Yds. LG TD
Hicks 1 0 6 6 0
Solomon 0 1 0 ** 0
Cincinnati No. FC Yds. LG TD
Fuller 4 0 35 17 0
Kickoff Returns
San Francisco No. Yds. LG TD
Hicks 1 23 23 0
Lawrence 1 17 17 0
Cincinnati No. Yds. LG TD
Verser 5 52 16 0
Frazier 1 0 0 0
A. Griffin 1 0 0 0
San Francisco 49ers Cincinnati Bengals
== Offense ==
Quillan, Fred C Bush, Blair C
Ayers, John G Lapham, Dave G
Cross, Randy G Montoya, Max G
Audick, Dan T Munoz, Anthony T
Fahnhorst, Keith T Wilson, Mike T
Young, Charle TE Ross, Dan TE
Clark, Dwight WR Collinsworth, Cris WR
Solomon, Freddie WR Curtis, Isaac WR
Patton, Ricky RB Alexander, Charles RB
Cooper, Earl FB Johnson, Pete FB
Montana, Joe QB Anderson, Ken QB
== Defense ==
Board, Dwaine DT Whitley, Wilson NT
Reese, Archie DT Browner, Ross DE
Dean, Fred DE Edwards, Eddie DE
Stuckey, Jim DE Harris, Bo OLB
Reynolds, Jack OLB Williams, Reggie OLB
Turner, Keena OLB Cameron, Glenn ILB
Leopold, Bobby MLB LeClair, Jim ILB
Lott, Ronnie CB Breeden, Louis CB
Wright, Eric C. CB Riley, Ken CB
Williamson, Car. SS Hicks, Bryan FS
Hicks, Dwight FS Kemp, Bobby SS
== Substitute ==
Bunz, Dan Bass, Don
Choma, John Breech, Jim
Davis, Johnny Burley, Gary
Downing, Walt Davis, Oliver
Gervais, Rick Dinkel, Tom
Harper, Willie Frazier, Guy
Harty, John Fuller, Mike
Kennedy, Allan Griffin, Archie
Lawrence, Amos Griffin, Ray
McColl, Milt Hargrove, Jim
Miller, Jim G. Harris, M. L.
Pillers, Larry Horn, Rod
Puki, Craig Kreider, Steve
Ramson, Eason McInally, Pat
Ring, Bill Moore, Blake
Shumann, Mike Obrovac, Mike
Thomas, Ronald Razzano, Rick
Wersching, Ray Simmons, John
Wilson, Mike R. St. Clair, Mike
Verser, David
== Did Not Play ==
Benjamin, Guy Bujnoch, Glenn
Easley, Walt Schonert, Turk
Elliott, Lenvil Thompson, Jack
Martin, Saladin