Ranking the Super Bowls, #15: Super Bowl XVI

(photo credit: nydailynews.com)

Super Bowl XVI was a handful of firsts. Hosted in Michigan's Pontiac Silverdome, this was the first Super Sunday in a cold-weather city. This was also both the San Francisco 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals first appearances in the Title game. The 49ers had the best record in the 1981 regular season finishing 13-3 and beating Dallas in the NFC Championship Game on a play known as the catch. In only his third season in the league, Notre Dame product Joe Montana began to establish himself as one of the best signal-callers in the league completing 63.7% of his passes and mastering Bill Walsh's West Coast Offense.

The Bengals were the best team in the AFC in '81 finishing 12-4 and being led by their own star quarterback. Ken Anderson had the best season of his career leading the league in passer rating, and winning both the NFL MVP and Comeback Player of the Year Awards that season. Cincinnati punched their Super Bowl ticket with a victory over Dan Fouts and the San Diego Chargers. The 49ers came to Michigan one point favorites to walk away with the Vince Lombardi trophy.

The Super Bowl started rough for San Francisco with Amos Lawrence fumbling the opening kick-off and the Cincy recovering the ball on the 26 yard line. The 49ers avoided giving up the first score when Free Safety Dwight Hicks picked off Anderson's pass in the red zone. Once he got the ball Montana began to inflict his will on the Bengals defense. He connected on five passes before punching the ball in on a quarterback sneak from the one.

After a pair of punts the Bengals were deep in 49ers territory when wide receiver Chris Collinsworth coughed up the ball inside the 49ers 10. Lynn Thomas recovered for San Francisco and once again Montana went to work. The 92 yard drive concluded when Montana connected with Earl Cooper to give the 49ers a 14-0 lead midway though the second quarter. San Fran would score a pair of field goals before halftime aided by squib kicks. One which was recovering by the 49ers with 15 seconds left in the half.

Facing the largest halftime deficit in a Super Bowl up until that point the Bengals didn't give up. They put seven on the board on the opening possession of the third quarter, going 78 yards before Anderson ran it in from the five yard line. After a series of punts Cincinnati was once again knocking on the 49ers' end zone late in the third frame. Once again Walsh's defense rose to the occasion, stopping Bengals running back Pete Johnson on fourth down from the one yard line. This stop allowed the 49ers to go into the final quarter with a 20-7 lead.

The Bengals scored on their next drive when Anderson found Dan Ross for a 4 yard Touchdown pass. However San Francisco knocked down another field goal on the ensuing possession to go up 23-14 with 5 minutes left. The game effectively ended when Anderson's pass to Collinsworth was intercepted by rookie Cornerback Eric Wright. Wright fumbled on the play but it was recovered by his teammate Willie Harper on the Bengals 22. Eight plays later Ray Wersching hit his fourth field goal of the game putting San Francisco up 26-14. Never one to give up, Cincinnati scored another touchdown with 20 seconds left when Anderson connected with Ross again. However it was too little too late, and the 49ers won their first of five Super Bowls by a score of 26-21.