Top 20 quarterback performances in Super Bowl history

1. Steve Young, Super Bowl XXIX

It’s fitting that our countdown would be topped by a Hall of Fame quarterback for the 49ers, but it isn’t Montana. The best performance in Super Bowl history belongs to his successor, Steve Young.

Young’s history in San Francisco was checkered, to say the least at that point. 49ers’ coach Bill Walsh acquired Young in 1987 believing that Montana was nearing the end, but Montana’s resurgence led to the most infamous quarterback competition of all time.

The 49ers ended the timeshare for good in 1992, trading Montana to the Kansas City Chiefs and handing the starting job to Young for good. Young guided the 49ers to tremendous regular season success in each of his first two years at the helm only to fall to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship game.

The pressure was on for Young and the 49ers in 1994, who went 13-3 in the regular season before facing the Cowboys for a third straight NFC title game. The 49ers finally prevailed, beating Dallas 38-28 to get back to the Super Bowl.

Young and the 49ers were heavily favored against the San Diego Chargers, and they easily covered the 19-point spread in a 49-26 laugher. The star of the day was Young, who went 24 of 36 for 325 yards with a Super Bowl record six touchdowns.

Young took home MVP honors and jokingly had one of his teammates pull the giant monkey off his back since he finally had a championship of his own. The pressure of that moment, combined with Young’s brilliant play, makes it the best performance from a quarterback in Super Bowl history.