European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 24, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday january 24, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 21 49ers win super Bow Montana leads Lafe comeback by Dave Goldberg Miami a thanks to the drive of the decade led by the quarterback of the decade the san Francisco 49ers Are truly the team of the decade. And thanks 19 that after Xxiii years the super bowl is finally super. The 49ers 20-16 win Over Cincinnat came Down to the final 3 minutes 20 seconds and 92 Yards. It started when san Francisco was forced to begin on its 8 after a penalty on the Kickoff following a 40-Yard Field Goalby Jim Breech that gave the bengals a 16-13 Lead. It ended with 34 seconds left when Joe Montana hit John Taylor from 10 Yards out capping a drive in which he hit 8 of 9 passes for 97 Yards. Montana set a superbowl record with 357 passing Yards 215 of them on 11 completions to Jerry Rice the game s most valuable player. After 23 years the super bowl was finally super said san Francisco Cente Randy Cross who is retiring after 13 sea sons. It was one you could finally look Back on and say that was a great game " i think when you look at it that was a whale of a game Cincinnati coach Sam Wyche said. But hardly mistake free. Cross himself was guilty of three major errors including a bad snap that Cost the 49ers a Field goal and a penalty for going downfield illegally that almost aborted that final drive. Cincinnati s Boomer Esiason the top rated quarterback in the nil was sacked five times and was just 11 of 25 for 144 Yards missing several open receivers. The top rated Cincinnati offence Wen without a touchdown the Only to came on Stanford Jennings 93-Yardkickoff return Only the second of its kind in super bowl history it certainly did t detract from san Francisco s Effort. To a great great team said coach see 49ers on Page 25 Joe Montana ignores pressure from Jim Skow during his record setting super sunday. More coverage of Xxiii on pages 22, 23 & 25 drive is the stuff of legend by Jim litre Miami a watch it a thousand times Over and a thousand times it ends the same Way. David Fulcher s curse is Mohave had one the Best seats in the House for one of the worst moments of his life. Would you sound bitter if you lost a game you thought you should have won the Cincinnati safety began quietly sunday painfully piecing together Asan Francisco 49er drive that Only min utes after its spectacular conclusion a10-Yard touchdown catch by John Taylor already was being heralded As one forthe Ages. I was two Steps away or else i could have hit the Ball. It just turned out that Way. I could rerun the tape Fulche added bravely seeking Solace in the gloom of the bengals locker room an then i d know what to  Ickey Woods walked up and Down the sidelines praying but it was too late for that As Well. Boomer Esiason was resigned to find ing his Comfort in having seen history made. You might As Well forget about thereat Denver drive that got them into the super bowl he said. Now it s the great san Francisco drive that won the super bowl. And it indicates he added just How great Joe Montana  not that Montana needed another yardstick. Until sunday s final drive see drive on Page 22 play it again an Frankfurt West Germany it s already being called the play in super bowl history but for Ameri can forces network viewers it was Only the  John Taylor caught Joe Montana s 10-Yard, game winning touchdown pass with 34 seconds left in super bowl Xxiii an viewers i Europe were seeing the end of a Public service announcement when the live action resumed 49er players were shown celebrating in the end  to an it was a just a matter of a Stow Finger in the control room Here. The master control operator was afew seconds late in getting Back to the game Tom Baxter an chief of television operations said monday actually our timers did get three  explained that the aimed forces radio and television service i los Angeles fills All the commercial Breaks and an inserts its spot announcements Over those of arts in the lower half of the  s a reaction time thing said Baxter. Ninety nine times out of 100,it s done right. The Bottom line is our Guy made a mistake by being a few second slate. We re sorry if it inconvenienced anybody. But the touchdown was show immediately on the  stateside super bowl fans saw  touchdown live. An Abc spokesman in new York said he was99 per cent sure that there was no net work commercial break after the two minute warning and he confirmed that the entire winning play was shown. Once again defense nails Down the Crown editor s note Joe Gibbs has been head coach of the Washington redskins for eight years. He is the win ingest coach in redskins history with a record of 92-42.657, including two super bowl titles three pfc championships and four division crowns. By Joe Gibbs How Many times have you hear coaches say that you win championships with defense listen one More time you. Win championships. With. Defense. Experience on offence does t Hurt and Joe Montana showed on that final drive that he had been there before. The bengals were the nil s no. 1 offensive team during the regular season averaging 378.6 Yards a game. The 49ers analysis held them to 229.i was really curious to see How the bengals would do against the 49ers Rush ing defense. The first few times they gave the Ball to Ickey Woods they got on to areal Good Start four carries for 27 Yards but Only 16 for 52 thereafter. But the 49ers defense got stronger As the game went along and took the run Ning game away from the bengals who Are so big up front and like to Pound away at you. The 49ers Are Tough to run on. It was mostly just great defensive play handsome Good hits by the secondary. Cincinnati s passing attack 11 of 25, see analysis on Page 25