Super Bowl XXIX was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion San Diego Chargers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1994 season. The 49ers defeated the Chargers by the score of 49–26, becoming the first team to win five Super Bowls. The game was played on January 29, 1995 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida (now part of the suburb of Miami Gardens).
This game is regarded as 49ers quarterback Steve Young's final leap out of the shadow of his predecessor, Joe Montana, who had won four Super Bowls with the 49ers, two with Young as the backup quarterback. With Young at the helm, and a defense consisting of several veteran free agents that joined the team during the previous off-season, San Francisco finished the regular season with a league-best 13-3 record, and led the league in total points scored (505). The Chargers, on the other hand, were regarded as a "Cinderella" team, and advanced to their first Super Bowl after posting an 11-5 regular season record and overcoming halftime deficits in both their playoff wins.
Young threw a record 6 touchdown passes en route to the Super Bowl MVP award. (His four TDs in a half tied Doug Williams from the Washington Redskins). He also completed 24 out of 36 passes for 325 yards, and was the top rusher of the game with 49 rushing yards (the first time both top passer and rusher were the same person). Two of Young's touchdown passes occurred on the 49ers' first two drives of the game. The Chargers were able to cut the deficit late in the first quarter, 14-7, on 13-play, 78-yard drive, but could not slow down San Francisco afterwards. Still, this became the first time that both teams scored in all four quarters of a Super Bowl. The combined aggregate score of 75 and the ten total touchdowns both remain Super Bowl records.
Despite the predicted blowout, and the fact that San Diego did not have as much national appeal nor a relatively large core fan base, the telecast of the game on ABC still had a Nielsen rating of 41.3.
Read more about Super Bowl XXIX: Background, Television and Entertainment, Game Summary, Starting Lineups, Officials, Notable Deaths From 1994 Chargers Team
Famous quotes containing the word bowl:
“It seemed a long way from 143rd Street. Shaking hands with the Queen of England was a long way from being forced to sit in the colored section of the bus going into downtown Wilmington, North Carolina. Dancing with the Duke of Devonshire was a long way from not being allowed to bowl in Jefferson City, Missouri, because the white customers complained about it.”
—Althea Gibson (b. 1927)