NFL Super Bowl Winners

Super Bowl XIX played on January 20, 1985, was won by the Champions of the NFC the San Francisco 49ers who defeated the AFC Champions the Miami Dolphins at the Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto, California.

The San Francisco 49ers had finished 1st in the 1984 NFC West Division coached by Bill Walsh with a regular season record of 15-1-0. Their point scoring average had been 29.7 points per game which made their offense 2nd best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 14.2 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 1st in the league.

The 49ers postseason games began with the NFC Divisional Playoffs where they met NFC Wild Card team the New York Giants who had finished 2nd in the NFC East Division coached by Bill Parcells with a regular season record of 9-7-0. The Giants had a point scoring average of 18.7 points per game which made their offense 19th best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 18.8 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 8th best in the league.

In regular season the 49ers and the Giants had played against each other once and it was the 49ers who had won impressively 31 points to 10.

Going by the form book the Giants had no chance in the Divisional Playoff and this was proved as the 49ers won by 21 - 10.

The San Francisco 49ers next playoff game was the NFC Championship Game in which they played the Chicago Bears who had won the 1984 NFC Central Division coached by Mike Ditka with a regular season record of 10-6-0. The Chicago Bears had a point scoring average of 20.3 points per game which made their offense 16th best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 15.5 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 3rd best in the league.

The 49ers and the Bears had not played against each other in regular season but that made no difference. The 49ers had a far superior offense, were a better team in defense and were odds-on favorite.

The 49ers won the 1984 NFC Championship Game like a good thing by 23 points to 0 and were all set for Super Bowl.

The opponents of the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XIX were the Miami Dolphins who had won the 1984 AFC East Division coached by Don Shula with a regular season record of 14-2-0. The Dolphins had a point scoring average of 32.1 points per game which made their offense 1st best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 18.6 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 7th best in the league.

The Miami Dolphins postseason games began with the AFC Divisional Playoffs in which their opponents were the Seattle Seahawks who had finished 2nd in the 1984 AFC West Division coached by Chuck Knox with a regular season record of 12-4-0. The Seahawks had a point scoring average of 26.1 points per game which made their offense 5th best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 17.6 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 5th best in the league.

The Seahawks had progressed to the playoffs via the AFC Wild Card Game in which they had beaten the Los Angeles Raiders by 13 points to 7.

The Dolphins and the Seahawks had not met through the course of regular season. However, the Miami Dolphins had beaten the New England Patriots twice who the Seahawks had lost to whilst the Miami Dolphins had lost to two teams in that same time who were the San Diego Chargers and the Los Angeles Raiders who had both been beaten by the Seattle Seahawks.

Although the Dolphins were the better team according to rankings the Seahawks were a good side themselves and it looked to be quite a fair contest for this particular stage of the playoffs.

Nevertheless, it was the Dolphins who made short work of the tie to win by 31 points to 10.

The Miami Dolphins next playoff game was the AFC Championship Game in which their opponents were the Pittsburgh Steelers who had won the 1984 AFC Central Division coached by Chuck Noll with a regular season record of 9-7-0. The Steelers had a point scoring average of 24.2 points per game which made their offense 8th best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 19.4 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 11th best in the league.

The Miami Dolphins and the Pittsburgh Steelers had met once through the course of regular season when the Steelers had been no match for the Dolphins offense and the Dolphins had won easy by 31 points to 7.

Looking at the game bluntly the Dolphins had proved they were far better class than the Steelers through amount of wins and they also had better points averages. Plus the Dolphins had already shown that they could beat the Steelers.

The game itself went to form with the Miami Dolphins beating the Pittsburgh Steelers by 45 points to 28 and win the 1984 American Football Conference. I suppose at least the Steelers seemed to put up a bit of a fight!

The 14-2-0 Miami Dolphins team against a 9-7-0 Pittsburgh Steelers team did not look on the face of it to be much of a Championship Game. However, there was one little link from this game to the Dolphins future opponents in Super Bowl XIX and that of course was the Pittsburgh Steelers as they had been the only team in regular season to have beaten the San Francisco 49ers.

Super Bowl XIX definitely had the best teams through as the San Francisco 49ers and the Miami Dolphins could hardly be faulted on their regular season form or playoff game results. The Dolphins the top offense and the 49ers the top defense.

In regular season the 49ers and the Dolphins had not played against each other but on overall form and taking both offensive and defensive averages into account one would of had to give the 49ers the nod as they seemed more or less invincible.

The first quarter of Super Bowl XIX saw a quick start by both teams during which a number of point scoring opportunities were taken and the Dolphins took a 10 - 7 lead.

However, the second quarter saw the 49ers take the game by the scruff of the neck when they scored three touchdowns (two by Roger Craig and one by Joe Montana) plus three converted kicks by Ray Wersching to take a 28 - 16 half-time lead.

In the third the 49ers were still in total control and scored another 10 points with no reply from the Dolphins.

The fourth quarter was without any further points and the San Francisco 49ers won Super Bowl XIX by 38 points to 16.

Super Bowl XIX MVP was the San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Joe Montana who completed 24 of 35 passes for 331 yards and three touchdowns and rushed 5 times for 59 yards including a 6-yard touchdown.

Note
The San Francisco 49ers playoff averages were 27.3 points scored per game (29.7 regular season) and an average of 8.7 points conceded per game (14.2 regular season).

The Miami Dolphins playoff averages were 30.7 points scored per game (32.1 regular season) and an average of 25.3 points conceded per game (18.6 regular season).

In Conclusion
Super Bowl XIX was a tale of two defenses!

The San Francisco 49ers defense was brilliant for the 1984 playoff season and hardly gave anything away, culminating in an extremely resolute performance in Super Bowl XIX. The 49ers offense, although not improving on averages for postseason, did put in their best performance in the big game itself against the so called toughest opposition the Miami Dolphins.

In contrast, the Miami Dolphins defense was found out by better opposition and their points allowed average rose quite steeply during the playoffs. The Dolphins offense although performing quite well in the early playoffs was well and truly undone by the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XIX.

The best team of 1984 were the San Francisco 49ers - BY A LONG WAY!

Team	1	2	3	4	OT / Overtime	T / Total
Miami Dolphins (AFC)	10	6	0	0	-	16
San Francisco 49ers (NFC)	7	21	10	0	-	38