# Super Bowl XIX
**Super Bowl XIX** was the [National Football League](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-football-league)'s championship game for the 1984 season, in which the [San Francisco 49ers](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-francisco-49ers) of the NFC defeated the [Miami Dolphins](https://www.edgepedia.org/miami-dolphins) of the AFC, 38-16, on January 20, 1985 at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California.[1](https://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/football-history/1980-1999/1985) It matched the league's top offense, Miami's, against the league's top defense, San Francisco's, and it was the first Super Bowl broadcast by ABC.[2](https://www.psacard.com/ticketfacts/super-bowl/super-bowl-xix/1166) • [3](https://as.com/us/us/2017/02/18/nfl/1487437972_061031.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Result | San Francisco 49ers 38, Miami Dolphins 16; San Francisco's second Super Bowl title[1](https://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/football-history/1980-1999/1985) • [4](https://operations.nfl.com/media/nppjkdp1/2023-record-and-fact-book.pdf) |
| Date and site | January 20, 1985, Stanford Stadium, Stanford, California; attendance 84,059[1](https://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/football-history/1980-1999/1985) • [5](https://static.www.nfl.com/league/apps/league-site/media-guides/2024/MIA.pdf) |
| Team records | 49ers gained a Super Bowl-record 537 yards and held time of possession 37:11 to 22:49[6](https://www.49erswebzone.com/superbowls/xix/) • [4](https://operations.nfl.com/media/nppjkdp1/2023-record-and-fact-book.pdf) |
| Matchup quality | The teams brought a combined 33-3 record, the best two-team mark the Super Bowl had seen[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1985/01/20/super-bowl-xix/bbbdf6df-d6d0-4250-9c78-a4597b67941d/) |
| Television | 115,936,000 US viewers, a 46.4 rating and 63.0 share, then the largest audience for any live event[1](https://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/football-history/1980-1999/1985) |
| Economic impact | $113.5 million in direct impact on the San Francisco Bay area[1](https://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/football-history/1980-1999/1985) |
## The teams
The 1984 Dolphins were built around quarterback [Dan Marino](https://www.edgepedia.org/dan-marino), who in his second season passed for 5,084 yards and 48 touchdowns and was the unanimous NFL MVP.[1](https://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/football-history/1980-1999/1985) • [2](https://www.psacard.com/ticketfacts/super-bowl/super-bowl-xix/1166) Miami reached its fifth [Super Bowl](https://www.edgepedia.org/super-bowl), the most of any franchise at the time, by beating [Pittsburgh](https://www.edgepedia.org/pittsburgh) 45-28 in the AFC Championship Game.[8](https://sportshistorynetwork.com/football/nfl/super-bowl-19/)
San Francisco, coached by Bill Walsh, went 18-1 across the 1984 season behind an offense that set several records and a defense that ranked among the league's best.[9](https://as.com/us/us/2019/08/31/nfl/1567281557_200696.html) The 49ers and Dolphins entered with a combined 33-3 record, a better two-team mark than any previous Super Bowl had produced.[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1985/01/20/super-bowl-xix/bbbdf6df-d6d0-4250-9c78-a4597b67941d/)
## Choosing the site
NFL owners awarded the game to Stanford University Stadium at their meeting on December 14, 1982, with San Francisco as the designated host team; the same meeting placed [Super Bowl XX](https://www.edgepedia.org/super-bowl-xx) at the Louisiana Superdome.[1](https://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/football-history/1980-1999/1985) It was the first Super Bowl played at [Stanford Stadium](https://www.edgepedia.org/stanford-stadium) and the fourth played in a college stadium.[2](https://www.psacard.com/ticketfacts/super-bowl/super-bowl-xix/1166)
## The game
Miami opened with a hurry-up, no-huddle offense intended to keep San Francisco from making its usual mass substitutions, and it caused the 49ers only minor problems early.[10](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1985/01/21/the-super-bowl/59aeaf26-2763-40b0-949d-a53732184053/) • [11](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-21-sp-14270-story.html) After that, San Francisco took control on both sides of the ball. Miami did not score in the game's final two quarters.[5](https://static.www.nfl.com/league/apps/league-site/media-guides/2024/MIA.pdf)
**Montana's performance.** He was named the game's Most Valuable Player, his second such award.[12](https://www.fanhospitality.com/super-bowl-history/super-bowl-1985) As a team, San Francisco gained 537 yards, a Super Bowl record that testified to the balance of Walsh's offense, and controlled the ball for 37:11 against Miami's 22:49.[6](https://www.49erswebzone.com/superbowls/xix/) • [4](https://operations.nfl.com/media/nppjkdp1/2023-record-and-fact-book.pdf)
Contemporary accounts credited the 49er defense as much as the offense: the game showed that defenses still decide championships, and it took the luster off Marino's rising star.[6](https://www.49erswebzone.com/superbowls/xix/) Writers who had proclaimed it would be the greatest Super Bowl concluded instead that XIX was not, though it settled that San Francisco was the better team.[13](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-26-ca-13878-story.html)
## Broadcast and audience
The game was televised on ABC and drew 115,936,000 viewers in the United States, more than any other live event in history to that point, with a 46.4 rating and a 63.0 share; about 6 million people each watched in the United Kingdom and Italy.[1](https://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/football-history/1980-1999/1985) President Ronald Reagan took his second oath of office and then tossed the coin for the game as one of those viewers.[1](https://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/football-history/1980-1999/1985) ABC estimated shortly afterward that about 110 million people had watched at least part of the telecast.[14](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-22-ca-11148-story.html)
## Aftermath
The win gave San Francisco its second Super Bowl title, following [Super Bowl XVI](https://www.edgepedia.org/super-bowl-xvi), and Walsh's 49ers went on to win Super Bowls XXIII and XXIV within the decade.[4](https://operations.nfl.com/media/nppjkdp1/2023-record-and-fact-book.pdf) • [9](https://as.com/us/us/2019/08/31/nfl/1567281557_200696.html) For Miami the game marked an end: despite Marino and coach [Don Shula](https://www.edgepedia.org/don-shula), both later Hall of Famers, the Dolphins never returned to the Super Bowl, and the 38-16 loss stood as their most recent appearance decades later.[15](https://www.foxsports.com/stories/other/a-30-year-drought-dolphins-through-the-decades-since-super-bowl-xix) The game also became a reference point for Super Bowl staging; a retrospective in the [San Francisco Chronicle](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-francisco-chronicle) described the Stanford game as a source of creative inspiration for the event's later development.[16](https://www.sfchronicle.com/super-bowl-lx/article/49ers-dolphins-super-bowl-xix-stanford-21322606.php)
## References
1. [1985, Pro Football Hall of Fame](https://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/football-history/1980-1999/1985)
2. [Super Bowl XIX, PSA TicketFacts](https://www.psacard.com/ticketfacts/super-bowl/super-bowl-xix/1166)
3. [La relación entre la NFL y los presidentes de Estados Unidos, AS](https://as.com/us/us/2017/02/18/nfl/1487437972_061031.html)
4. [Super Bowl Summaries, 2023 NFL Record and Fact Book](https://operations.nfl.com/media/nppjkdp1/2023-record-and-fact-book.pdf)
5. [Super Bowl XIX media guide, NFL.com](https://static.www.nfl.com/league/apps/league-site/media-guides/2024/MIA.pdf)
6. [Super Bowl XIX: Miami Dolphins vs. San Francisco 49ers, 49ers Webzone](https://www.49erswebzone.com/superbowls/xix/)
7. [Super Bowl XIX, The Washington Post, January 20, 1985](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1985/01/20/super-bowl-xix/bbbdf6df-d6d0-4250-9c78-a4597b67941d/)
8. [Super Bowl XIX (Dolphins vs. 49ers): An Ultimate Recount of the Game, Sports History Network](https://sportshistorynetwork.com/football/nfl/super-bowl-19/)
9. [Bill Walsh, el genio que cambió las ofensivas en la NFL, AS](https://as.com/us/us/2019/08/31/nfl/1567281557_200696.html)
10. [The Super Bowl, The Washington Post, January 21, 1985](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1985/01/21/the-super-bowl/59aeaf26-2763-40b0-949d-a53732184053/)
11. [From Out of His Bag of Defensive Tricks, Walsh Pulls the 4-1-6, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-21-sp-14270-story.html)
12. [1985 Super Bowl, Fan Hospitality](https://www.fanhospitality.com/super-bowl-history/super-bowl-1985)
13. [The Un-Super Bowl: Imperfect Match, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-26-ca-13878-story.html)
14. [110 Million Saw Super Bowl, ABC, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-22-ca-11148-story.html)
15. [A 30-year drought: Dolphins through the decades since Super Bowl XIX, FOX Sports](https://www.foxsports.com/stories/other/a-30-year-drought-dolphins-through-the-decades-since-super-bowl-xix)
16. [How 49ers-Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX at Stanford 'changed everything', San Francisco Chronicle](https://www.sfchronicle.com/super-bowl-lx/article/49ers-dolphins-super-bowl-xix-stanford-21322606.php)
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