This was great matchup of contrasting styles, and remains my favorite Super Bowl ever, as well as the most thrilling finish in Super Bowl history.

   The Cincinnati Bengals, under Coach Sam Wyche, had dizzied opponents all year with a fast-paced, no-huddle offense. The slower, older, 49ers franchise, under coach Bill Walsh, was the Team of the 1980s, but the upstart Bengals were ready to dethrone the kings. San Francisco had endured a tough season - at one point, they were 6-5, and Walsh had toyed with the idea of replacing Hall of Fame passer Joe Montana with Steve Young.

     For most of the game, the Niners basic 3-4 alignment effectively contained NFL MVP quarterback Boomer Esiason and rookie running sensation Ickey Woods. The Cincinnati defense proved to be highly effective as well, and the teams were knotted 3-3 at the half - the first halftime tie in Super Bowl history.

     Late in the third quarter, with the score 6-6, the Bengals' Stanford Jennings fielded a kickoff and ran 93 yards for a touchdown. As the fourth quarter began, the mighty 49ers trailed 13-6. The 49ers tied the game by moving 85 yards in just 91 seconds. Rice's touchdown play was mind-boggling; he caught a short pass and deftly hit the left pylon with the ball as he hurtled out of bounds.

     The underdog Bengals bounced back: with 3:20 remaining, Jim Breech made his third field goal of the day to make the score 16-13. After being penalized on the ensuing kickoff, the 49ers took over at their 8-yard line

     And so began the drive: for a quarter of a century, the Super Bowl had waited for this - the game's greatest quarterback, leading the game's greatest team the length of the field for the victory.

     On the sidelines, one of the Bengals yelled, "We got 'em!" Veteran wide receiver Cris Collinsworth shot back, "Will you please see if #16 is in the huddle?" "Yeah," his teammate answered. "Then we haven't got 'em," Collinsworth said flatly.

     Number 16, of course, was Montana, already renowned for engineering comebacks in college (for Notre Dame in the 1978 Cotton Bowl) and the pros (the 1981 NFC Championship Game vs. Dallas). Montana began slowly, throwing short passes to halfback Roger Craig (9 yards), tight end John Frank (7), and Rice (7). After a pair of runs by Craig, Montana hit Rice for 17 and Craig for 13. The ball was at the Cincinnati 35-yard line now.

   Then Montana began to have vision problems - his eyes went blurry, and he purposely overthrew Rice on the next play to stop the clock. After another penalty, the 49ers faced second-and-20 at the Bengals' 45. Then came one of the biggest plays of the game, a 27-yard pass to Rice, who was under triple coverage. Montana hit Craig for another 8 yards and San Francisco called its second time out with 39 seconds remaining.

   Everyone expected the next play to go to Rice, who was the game MVP with 11 catches for 215 yards. So coach Bill Walsh called a pass to Roger Craig - unfortunately, the Pro Bowl halfback was covered, and Montana had to improvise, throwing a perfect strike to wide receiver John Taylor at the back of the end zone. Taylor had not caught a pass all day, but this one gave the 49ers a stirring 20-16 win, and their fourth Super Bowl of the decade.