NFL Super Bowl Winners

Super Bowl XXIV played on January 28, 1990, was won by the Champions of the NFC the San Francisco 49ers who defeated the AFC Champions the Denver Broncos at the Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana.

The San Francisco 49ers had finished 1st in the 1989 NFC West Division coached by George Seifert with a regular season record of 14-2-0. The 49ers point scoring average had been 27.6 points per game which made their offense 1st best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 15.8 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 3rd in the league.

The 49ers postseason games began with the NFC Divisional Playoffs where their opponents were the Minnesota Vikings who had finished 1st in the 1989 NFC Central Division coached by Jerry Burns with a regular season record of 10-6-0. The Vikings point scoring average had been 21.9 points per game which made their offense 11th best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 17.2 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 6th in the league.

The 49ers and the Vikings had not played against each other in regular season but going by which team had been the most winning and also taking into account who had the best averages it looked to be a formality for the San Francisco 49ers.

The 49ers easily brushed aside the Vikings to win their NFC Divisional Playoff by 41 points to 13.

The 49ers next playoff game was in the 1989 NFC Championship and their opponents were the Los Angeles Rams who had finished 2nd in the NFC West Division with a regular season record of 11-5-0. The Rams point scoring average had been 26.6 points per game which made their offense 2nd best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 21.5 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 17th in the league.

The Rams had got through to the playoffs by winning the NFC Wild Card game against the Philadelphia Eagles by 21 points to 7.

In regular season the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams had played against each other twice. They had registered one victory each when playing away from home. Both games had been very tight with narrow margin scorelines. In their first game the Rams had beaten the 49ers 13 - 12 and in the second of those games the 49ers had got their revenge to win by 30 - 27.

Looking at how they had played these two regular season games it would be easy to say that there did not look to be much too between them. The two teams were both very good in offense, the 49ers top of the NFL on their point scoring average but the Rams were very close up in 3rd place overall.

However, there did seem to be a big difference in the two teams defensive capabilities. The Rams conceded on average nearly 6 points a game more than the 49ers. Fair enough, the 49ers and the Rams had played two close games and honors were even but it was always on the cards that the 49ers impressive defense were going to shut out the Rams sooner or later.

Shut them out is just what they did in the Conference Championship Game. The San Francisco 49ers beat the Los Angeles Rams very easily in a one-sided contest by 30 points to 3.

The San Francisco 49ers opponents in Super Bowl XXIV were the Denver Broncos who had finished 1st in the 1989 AFC West Division with a regular season record of 11-5-0. The Broncos point scoring average had been 22.6 points per game which made their offense 8th best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 14.1 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 1st in the league.

The Denver Broncos playoff games began with the AFC Divisional Playoffs where their opponents were the Pittsburgh Steelers who had finished 2nd in the AFC Central Division coached by Chuck Noll with a regular season record of 9-7-0. The Steelers point scoring average had been 16.6 points per game which made their offense 24th best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 20.4 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 15th in the league.

The Pittsburgh Steelers had got through to the playoffs as a Wild Card. They had won their AFC Wild Card Game against the Houston Oilers by 26 - 23.

The Denver Broncos and the Steelers had played against each other once in regular season with the Broncos winning easy by 34 points to 7.

The Pittsburgh Steelers did not look to be any sort of a match for the Denver Broncos but in what turned out to be an extremely close tie the Broncos got pushed all the way to the wire before winning by 24 points to 23.

The Denver Broncos next playoff season game was the AFC Championship where their opponents were the Cleveland Browns who had finished 1st in the AFC Central Division coached by Bud Carson with a regular season record of 9-6-1. The Browns point scoring average had been 20.9 points per game which made their offense 14th best of 28 in the NFL and they had a points allowed average of 15.9 points conceded per game which ranked their defense 4th in the league.

In regular season the Broncos and the Browns had played against each other once with the Browns winning a close game at their home field by 16 - 13.

Looking at the two teams averages for points scored and conceded then the Broncos appeared to be the stronger team. In addition, as the Broncos had the better record of winning (11-5-0 against 9-6-1) plus the advantage of playing at home then the Denver team looked to be a good tip.

In the Conference Championship Game their was no banana skin waiting for the Broncos and they won well enough by 37 points to 21.

Super Bowl XXIV looked to be a good match of teams. The 49ers had the top offense and the Broncos had the top defense.

In regular season the two teams had not played against each other but taking into account the excellent playoff form the San Francisco 49ers were showing, their better regular season win record (14-2-0 against 11-5-0) plus the overall picture that their offense and defense averages gave then the 49ers were the easy pick.

The Super Bowl XXIV game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Denver Broncos turned out to be one of the most one-sided Super Bowl′s ever played. The 49ers scored a total of 8 touchdowns (2 in each quarter) from Jerry Rice (3), Brent Jones, Tom Rathman (2), John Taylor and Roger Craig. The 49ers also scored points from seven kicks (of eight) at goal that converted.

The sad Broncos could only manage a 1st quarter David Treadwell field goal and a 3rd quarter John Elway touchdown followed by a David Treadwell kick.

The San Francisco 49ers won Super Bowl XXIV by 55 points to 10.

Joe Montana the San Francisco 49ers Quarterback was named Super Bowl XXIV Most Valuable Player after he completed 22 of 29 passes for 297 yards and 5 touchdowns.

Note
The San Francisco 49ers playoff averages were 42 points scored per game (27.6 regular season) and an average of 8.7 points conceded per game (15.8 regular season).

The Cincinnati Bengals playoff averages were 23.7 points scored per game (22.6 regular season) and an average of 33 points conceded per game (14.1 regular season).

In Conclusion
The San Francisco 49ers team who won Super Bowl XXIV were an awesome side.

After achieving a very good regular season record along with practically the best averages in both offense and defense they then succeeded in stepping up their game to a new level for playoff season. This new level was somewhere near perfect.

The Denver Broncos yet again were found out in Super Bowl. The Broncos scored points throughout the playoff games at somewhere near their regular season average but their top rated defense just went A.W.O.L.

As soon as they got into the postseason games they began to leak points quite a way above their regular season average and were having to score a good total themselves to win and so when the Broncos came up against a team such as the San Francisco 49ers who possessed the ultimate game they were bound to come unstuck.

For the Broncos it looked to be a similar story to their Super Bowl XXII hiding that they got at the hands of the Washington Redskins - a case of Déjà vu.

San Francisco 49ers 1st - the rest nowhere!

Team	1	2	3	4	OT / Overtime	T / Total
San Francisco 49ers (NFC)	13	14	14	14	-	55
Denver Broncos (AFC)	3	0	7	0	-	10