European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 24, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday january 24, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 25 49ers from Page 21 super bowl Xxiii Bill Walsh who May Well announce his retirement As coach next week after three super bowl victories in 10 years Al though he declined to make a commit ment after the game. We can t say we re the team of the 80s anymore than the Steeles or the dolphins or the cowboys can say they Rethe team of the 70s. We re just one of the teams that played As Best we  but there was no question about it to commissioner Pete Rozelle who said the 49ers have firmly established themselves As the team of the 80s." and Montana and Rice the fines game by a pair in super bowl history Wyche said certainly were at their Best even after Breech s third Field Goa seemed about to break a string of four straight victories by pfc teams by a average score of 41 -14. It was the closest super bowl since the49ers beat the bengals 26-21 in 1982. We were still confident. That s one thing we never gave up on and it paid off said Montana who also led an 89-Yard drive to win the 1981 pfc title game Over Dallas. But that drive and one led two year Sago by Denver s John Elway in the acc title game with Cleveland weren t in pro football s ultimate showcase the super bowl. You might As Well forget about thereat Denver drive that just got them to the super bowl. Now it s the great Sanfrancisco drive that won the super bowl. That indicates How great Joe Mon Tana is Esiason said. Wyche who was Montana s Quarter Back coach with the 49ers for four years said he s one of the great quarterbacks of All time. I Don t think anybody can say otherwise. I knew that when Joe got into the two minute offence that there was a Mas Ter he s done it  As the drive went on you could see Montana s eyes Light up. Halfway through we knew we were going to score Cross said. You never doubt Joe Montana. You Don t want anybody else who s played the game on a drive like that. Joe s one of the great clutch quarterbacks in  still even with Montana it did look Good after Breech s Field goal and the ensuing Kickoff which was returned by Del Rodgers to the 15 but set Back tothe 8 by a holding Call. Montana hit Roger Craig for 8 Yards John Frank for 7 and Rice for 7 More. After Craig ran for 1 and 4 Yards Montana who had thrown a 14-Yard to pass to Rice earlier in the period hit Rice for17 Yards to the bengals 48. But after a 13-Yard completion to Craig and an incomplete pass Cross was called for being downfield on a Short completion to Craig. That made it Sec Ond and 20 Back on the 45 with 1 15 left. No problem not with Rice around. San Francisco s Jerry Rice chased by Lewis Billups wraps the Ball around the goal line Pylon for a game tying touchdown sunday. Montana dropped Back and connected with his favorite receiver on his favorite play a Post pattern Over the Middle for 27 Yards to the 18. Then with double coverage on Rice Montana went Back Over the Middle for 8 Yards to Craig at the 10 and then right Over the Middle to a wide open Taylor for the most dramatic touchdown insurer bowl history. The Only other last minute Winner was Jim o Brien s last second Field goal that gave Baltimore a 16-13 Victory Over dal Las in 1971. That in fact was the Only other super bowl that was tied in the fourth Quarter. We just got going taking the bal downfield thinking about Field goal thinking about Field goal and we kept getting Man to Man with Jerry Montana said. When they doubled him we came Back with Roger underneath. On the final touchdown John just split the  so simple but so heartbreaking for the bengals. We were 34 seconds away 34 and we re not going to forget this feel ing said Wyche whose team was 4-11 last season. This one hurts. It hurts More for us because we be come so far from a year  Rice s reception total tied Dan Ross super bowl record for Cincinnati in1982 and Rice s yardage broke Rickey Sanders record of 193 for Washington last year. I knew we had to make some plays said Rice who nursed an ankle injury All week. Whenever Joe put the Ball in Theair we had to fight for it. I would rather give Joe the map. He took total  the game that was supposed to be shootout went 44 minutes and 26 seconds without a touchdown the longest dry spell in super bowl history. Then came two within 91 seconds. After Mike Gofer s 32-Yard Field goal tied the game 6-6 for san Francisco with 50 seconds left in the third Quarter Jennings took the Kickoff 93 Yards for a score racing untouched through the Sanfrancisco defense until Terry Greer ran him Down and tripped him As he fell Over the goal line. But the 49ers, whose offence sputtered suddenly came to life going 85 Yards in just four plays to tie the score at13. Montana hit Rice for 31 Yards Craig for 40, then Rice for a touchdown in the left Corner of the end zone from 14 Yards out. On the previous play Cincinnati defensive Back Lewis Billups dropped what appeared to be a sure interception at the goal line. The 49ers got As far As the cincinnati35 with 1 15 left. The first half ended with the score tied at 3 the first halftime tie in superbowl history and the first without a touchdown since Pittsburgh led Minne Sota 2-0 in 1975. It seemed like we never got on track Esiason said. The bengals started without backup fullback Stanley Wilson who was sus Pended by the league about five hour before the game for what was called a violation of the nil s substance  later Wyche said the cocaine Over took  Wilson whose nil career began in 1983, had missed 2 /2 previous seasons including All of 1985 and 1987 and had undergone drug rehabilitation at Leas five times in the past. Then the bengals suffered a More severe loss when All pro nose tackle Tim Krumrie went out with 8 06 left in the first period with a fractured left Tibia and Fibula. At first he refused to go to the Hospital insisting on staying in the locker room for a possible Victory Cele bration later doctors ordered him to go. Krumrie was the second starter to break his left leg in the first seven min utes Steve Wallace san Francisco left tackle suffered a broken Tibia on the 49ers third play from scrimmage. Krumrie was Hurt on the first play of drive that carried the 49ers from their own 3 to the bengals 24 and culminate with the first score of the game Gofer s 41-Yard Field goal with 3 14 left inthe first period. Fifteen of the Yards came on a roughing the passer Cal against David Grant the Rookie fourth round draft Choice who replaced Krum Rie. Analysis from Page 21 123 Yards has t been that effective throughout the playoffs anyway and part of their problem in the super bowl was attributable to the 49ers being so Good on defense. The 49ers defense just had a Little better Day than the bengals running offence or passing of sense. In fact the game probably was a Little closer than it should have been because of the bengals special teams. They had an excellent Day not Only Stanford Jennings 93-Yard Kickoff return but they had a Strong Edge in the punting game As Well As Field goals. That kind of surprised me because the 49ers have been so Good in that area. San Francisco s final drive was a thing of Beauty. It said a lot of things about the 49ers" they have a lot of playoff experience and they re Cool under pressure. But go Back to the opening drive of the second  held the Ball for More than nine minutes and 13 plays arid kicked a Field goal for a 6-3 , a team that moves the Ball that Well Early in the third Quarter keeps going but after that they kind of lost momentum. The polish and poise and experience of the 49erswas really evident the Way Montana played and Jerry Rice having a fantastic Day against a real goo pass defense. That last drive was befitting a super bowl Champion they were in a Hole they had to go the length of Thefield and Montana was 8-for-9 and Rice made a big play on that 27-Yard reception to the bengals 18. San Francisco s experience on offence really showed up on that last drive. In the end when you really have to have it there comes that time where somebody s Gotto take it. It was either going to be Cincinnati taking the Ball away or the 49ers getting Down the Field. Boomer Esiason has nothing to ashamed of. He a probably see some More super bowls Down the Road and the experience he gained sunday will help  s having gone through it before sure made a difference. But the Bottom line was that 49er defense. When your defense is that Good it gives you great consistency and they be been that Way since our game san fran Cisco beat Washington 37-21 in game 12. The 49ers defense had a lot to do with Boomer sub Par Day. They camouflaged their looks in the secondary a lot. They have excellent cornerback and the safeties Don t give you a real solid picture Back there. In fact both teams have great Corners. When you have those kind of athletes on defense it s Tough to have a great Day passing. Montana passed for a super bowl record 357 Yards but he threw a lot of Short passes there was t a lot of vertical passing  s the reason it was a Low scoring game