Top 20 quarterback performances in Super Bowl history
By Joe Romano
18. Joe Montana, San Francisco 49ers, Super Bowl XXIII
There are only two players that will appear multiple times on this list. The first of those is San Francisco 49ers legend and Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana. He will actually appear three times on this list. He played his best in big games.
The first of those three performances is from Super Bowl XXIII in 1989. Montana and the 49ers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 20-16 in Miami.
The Bengals were 12-4 that season while the 49ers finished 106. Cincinnati came into the game with the league’s MVP at quarterback in Boomer Esiason. Both teams rolled through the playoffs en route to the big game.
Montana, for all his praise now, was trying to shake the narrative of choking in big games. The three previous seasons San Francisco was bounced in the first round of the playoffs partly because of Montana’s performance.
Montana was crucial late throwing both of his touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including the game winner with 34 seconds left to John Taylor. This would be the first of many games that shed the choker monkey from Montana.
He would be out shined by the great Jerry Rice in this game. Montana’s stat line of 23-of-36 for 357 and two touchdowns was one of the best in Super Bowl history at the time. However Rice had 11 catches for 215 yards and a touchdown. That impressive performance earned Rice the MVP honors.