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00:04A number 10 Montana game of all time, Joe's first comeback.
00:09That's a great way to kick off the list.
00:11Well, for a lot of people, that wouldn't be number 10.
00:13It would be about two or three.
00:16Until that comeback, Joe Montana was a rumor.
00:21The 1981 Super Bowl team, I think, began with that game in 1980.
00:28We've got a daddy for you today.
00:29The San Francisco 49ers started out very quickly with three straight wins,
00:33and then they lost their eight games in a row.
00:35The New Orleans Saints, of course, are winless.
00:37The Saints were 0-14 or something like that at the time,
00:40and they were the worst team in the league.
00:42In 1980, nobody was paying attention to the 49ers, so they didn't count yet.
00:46Batting there and out of game.
00:47Good protection. Gets it to the park.
00:49He's got it like Harris.
00:51And when the score of this ballgame is flashed around the country,
00:54there's a four-letter word that people are going to say.
00:57WHAG. They won't believe it right now.
01:00Ha.
01:02At the half, the 49ers trailed 35-7.
01:06That's why it's only 10 the Saints were winless.
01:09Why were they even down to the Saints?
01:13Led by a second-year quarterback, no one knew what to expect.
01:18They knew this kid had done great things at Notre Dame,
01:22and yet he's a third-round draft pick,
01:24and the 49ers just can't get over the hump,
01:27and now they're getting destroyed by the Saints.
01:31Montana with a straight drop.
01:34Can't get over the hump.
01:35They were terrible the last eight years.
01:39So they couldn't even get to the hump.
01:45Why should you think that we had any chance?
01:47In fact, we got in the locker room,
01:48and all Bill could talk about was, you know,
01:50we expected him just to go off.
01:52But he basically said,
01:54hey, look, I can't tell anything that you don't already know.
01:57You're embarrassing yourself.
01:59And try to make this respectable.
02:01The thing that gave me some hope
02:04was the fact that when we went toward our dressing room,
02:07at the end of the half,
02:08our players ran as a group.
02:10So you could sense it as you went toward the dressing room
02:12that we were not a beaten team.
02:18Montana back to throw.
02:19Big brush put on.
02:20He throws.
02:21He completes it underneath the Dwight Clark.
02:22He's a 40, the 45.
02:24He's a 50.
02:25It's a foot race.
02:26Touchdown, 49ers.
02:28That may be the one play that will wake up the 49ers.
02:31But that was the start of the Joe Montana legend.
02:35Back to throw, Montana.
02:36He's being rushed.
02:37Look out.
02:37He throws.
02:38He has Solomon open.
02:40At the 5.
02:40Breaks a tackle.
02:41Touchdown, 49ers.
02:43It's been a damn.
02:44And the second half has been all San Francisco.
02:4728 unanswered points.
02:50Wait a minute.
02:5235-14.
02:5435-20.
02:55What?
02:55Joe Montana?
02:56He translates to the pros.
02:58This guy is magic.
03:00It is long enough.
03:01It is good.
03:02It's the greatest comeback the 49ers have made as they win it by a score of 38-35.
03:10When you think of Joe Montana, you think of fourth quarter comebacks.
03:14And that was number one.
03:15That was his first one.
03:16So a real sit-up-and-take-notice game that wasn't noticed by probably people around the league to bottom
03:23-dweller teams, but certainly made San Francisco pay attention.
03:27He wasn't a great player at Notre Dame just by passing through town.
03:30His great, he showed up there and then showed up since he's probably the first put on a male supporter.
03:37For every great quarterback, it has to start somewhere.
03:40Whenever you were down and you kind of look at the clock and you go, five minutes?
03:4617 points or four?
03:48No problem.
03:49We can beat these guys.
03:51And a lot of that was born in that game against New Orleans.
03:55The number nine Montana game of all time.
03:59Joe beats Buddy in the House of Pay.
04:0293.
04:03In the playoffs, they play a game in Houston.
04:07The Houston Oilers had won 11 games in a row.
04:09Oh, division.
04:09They were the hottest team in football going into the postseason.
04:12You know, Buddy Ryan was their defensive coordinator.
04:14He was just killing teams with his blitz.
04:16There's no reason to believe that Joe's not going to get sacked at least eight or nine times in this
04:20game.
04:211993, the Oilers were as good as any team in the league.
04:24Buddy's got the meanest, nastiest defense on the planet.
04:28They knocked 11 quarterbacks out of games a year.
04:31One game after punching offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride,
04:35Ryan hoped to knock out the 37-year-old Montana, who appeared to be on his last legs.
04:42He had missed all but half a game of two seasons with an elbow injury.
04:47Throwing elbows.
04:48People didn't know if Joe Montana was still going to be Joe Montana.
04:52And that moment showed everyone, yeah, he's still Joe.
04:57Yep.
05:04More options.
05:06Granger has over...
05:06Joe Montana?
05:08Who's that, man?
05:09Oh, that guy's 37 years old, Laney.
05:11I'm going to take it to him today.
05:12Knockout, baby.
05:13Back to pass Joe Montana.
05:15Stop it.
05:15Hit as it goes.
05:16A long lead pass.
05:17It's a new second.
05:18Yeah!
05:20I want you!
05:22I want you!
05:24Like all the great Montana games on the countdown,
05:27our choice for number nine didn't make the list for how it began,
05:31but for how it ended.
05:34What made him different in the second half of the game,
05:37it's that when you broke the huddle
05:39and you came to the line of scrimmage,
05:41you saw in the other guy's eyes,
05:44they knew who they were playing,
05:45and they also knew they didn't have any chance.
06:03They led the Chiefs in the fourth quarter,
06:05just as they led Flo the year before,
06:08Denver the year before that,
06:09so what happens?
06:13Joe Montana's last miracle.
06:14Montana backpedal sets.
06:16Hutt fakes.
06:17There's a line drive down the middle into the end zone.
06:19Touchdown!
06:20J.J. Burton!
06:22It was a perfect throw by Joe Montana.
06:24They tried to blitz him,
06:25but the Chiefs did their best 49ers impersonation.
06:28You know you won when Buddy Ryan stopped blitzing.
06:31He stopped.
06:32He had to go do something else.
06:33We knew at that point that we got him.
06:35Back to pass Joe Montana.
06:37Looks like.
06:37Watches a pass into the end zone.
06:39A backpedaling, leaping catch.
06:41That's it!
06:42I don't believe what I just saw.
06:44Montana Magic is back alive and kicking in Houston, Texas.
06:49And Montana has struck three touchdown passes in the second half.
06:54And it's classic Montana.
06:55Coming back late in the game to lead his troops for victory in the playoffs.
07:00The number eight Montana game of all time.
07:02Montana versus Marino.
07:04Super Bowl XIX.
07:10Not high enough.
07:12That game could be a lot higher on your list.
07:15It could be in your top three.
07:16That might be number two on my list.
07:21You got two quarterbacks.
07:23Born and raised in West...
07:24Whoa.
07:25Four Super Bowls that Montana was in and won.
07:29And then there's the catch.
07:32How can this be any lower than five?
07:37Eastern Pennsylvania.
07:38The entire week leading in, I remember it was at Stanford, so it was essentially a home game for the
07:4449ers.
07:44The story was not Joe Montana.
07:46The story was Dan Marino.
07:48The biggest crowd of reporters was around Joe Montana.
07:51The question there, is Montana in any way jealous of Dolphin quarterback Dan Marino?
07:56The answer was no.
07:57Everybody has their time, and this is his right now.
08:00He's had a great year, so I didn't expect anything less from it.
08:03I don't want to say it was, you know, the old gunslinger and the new gunslinger, but it was somewhat
08:08of that type of situation.
08:10Montana was 28.
08:13In fact, we just saw it again recently when New England played Denver in the playoffs.
08:18The whole thing that week was Tim Tebow, Tim Tebow, Tim Tebow.
08:24And you've got a guy who's won three Super Bowls, Tom Brady, just sitting over there, and nobody seems to
08:29be paying any attention to him.
08:30And he throws six touchdown passes, and the Patriots kill him.
08:34This was the same thing.
08:35The kid from Pennsylvania did not like hearing it was all about Marino.
08:39Now, he would never tell you that, but deep down inside, the competitor that he is, yeah, that was driving
08:45him that game.
08:47Walsh came into the locker room before the game and laid down on the floor and started saying,
08:52Oh, how are we going to ever beat Dan Marino?
08:55We can't beat him.
08:56We're done.
08:57Of course, classic Bill, you know, made the team laugh and fired them up at the same time.
09:04In our number eight Montana game, Miami took a 10-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
09:10But in the second quarter, Joe Cooley.
09:13They got outscored 31-6 the rest of the game.
09:18We wanted to stop them from running the football, and we didn't do a great job of that.
09:22Montana crossback, short drop, fake spots.
09:24He's going to run it himself.
09:25He's hit it in the end zone.
09:27Touchdown.
09:28And then we wanted to contain Joe Montana.
09:30We wanted to keep him in the pocket, and we didn't do a very good job of that.
09:33He made a lot of plays throwing the football outside of the pocket, and that's the one thing that we
09:37knew we couldn't allow him to do.
09:38While Marino struggled, Montana thrived, leading the 49ers to a 28-16 halftime advantage.
09:46He carved up the Dolphins.
09:48He basically did whatever he wanted all day long.
09:52It was one of those games that was never really in doubt.
09:56It just felt like Joe had it under control the whole time.
10:00The domination continued in the second half, and Montana led the 49ers to a 38-16 Super Bowl victory.
10:08The Miami defense just cannot cope with the 49ers now.
10:12I couldn't even tell you Joe's stats, but if he missed more than a handful of passes for that game,
10:17I'd be just amazed.
10:25The guy that came out of that was going to be considered the best quarterback during that era, and then
10:30unfortunately, Joe was the guy that came out.
10:32What a bag of tricks by Bill Walsh.
10:34Absolutely destroyed the myth of Marino as this superhuman being, because the real superhuman being was the guy in red,
10:41number 16.
10:42I remember seeing him after the game.
10:44It was just a look of, okay, I'm still pretty good.
10:54Hey, Marino.
10:55Great game, man.
10:57Oh, thanks.
10:58That draw plan, the second quarter, great choice.
11:01Can I buy you one?
11:02It's the least you can do.
11:03Here you go.
11:04I'm going to drop it.
11:06See you, Dan.
11:07The number seven Montana game of all time.
11:10The 1990 NFC Championship.
11:13What the hell is this thing doing in your top ten?
11:15What is that doing here?
11:16I'm pretty sure, though, this is a celebration of Montana and all of his greatness.
11:20Yeah, I would leave this off.
11:22Right there is a hit.
11:23Leonard Marshall coming from the backside.
11:26Who's doing this list?
11:27With all due respect to the fine people at NFL Films, I would respectfully request that that game be removed.
11:33Sorry, Niner fans, but our choice for number seven is staying put.
11:38The reason for including such a devastating loss on our list?
11:42That hit by Leonard Marshall marked a turning point in the history of Montana, the 49ers, and the NFL.
11:54San Francisco entered the game feeling pretty good about their chance to become the first franchise to win three straight
12:01Super Bowls.
12:02And we'll see who has the right to play Buffalo next week.
12:06In a game dominated by the defenses, there were plenty of bone-jarring collisions that January day.
12:13That's a way to jamble on that too, okay?
12:15Keep hammering them.
12:16Keep hammering those outside seats.
12:18But no hit had a bigger impact than the one delivered by Leonard Marshall.
12:27Here's Montana, long time in the pocket.
12:29Watch it live.
12:30That chase.
12:31Oh!
12:31Hit from behind.
12:33The ball's loose.
12:34Probably the worst hit that I've had.
12:36My ribs and chest hurt so bad that I didn't know my hand was broken.
12:40But I couldn't even get a breath out.
12:42And I was thinking, oh God, I'm going to die here.
12:44I know it.
12:45On that one fateful play, Montana suffered a bruised stardom, a bruised stomach, cracked ribs, and a broken hand.
12:52But the most painful after-effect of Marshall's crushing blow was the end of Joe's reign in San Francisco.
13:00Montana up, but woozy.
13:03That's how the transitional phase, if you want to call it that, was completed,
13:07is that Montana was hurt in the NFC Championship game.
13:11And I think at that point, it became Steve Young's team.
13:14It changes that game.
13:17It ends the three-peat.
13:19I don't know how we're celebrating this as a Montana moment.
13:22But it's a significant moment, nonetheless, in his career.
13:29Giants are trailing by a point.
13:31It all depends on Matt Barr.
13:32And the kick is good.
13:35There will be no three-peat.
13:39By 1990 now, he's won back-to-back Super Bowls.
13:42Now he's the biggest icon in San Francisco sports history.
13:45The 49ers were going to win three Super Bowls in a row.
13:48And no team was ever going to come close to that.
13:51This was Montana into the archives forever.
13:53Lock it up.
13:54Don't want to hear any arguments.
13:56This is the greatest of all time.
13:57And instead, it was tragically and cruelly and violently taken away.
14:02I'm sure Montana's going to love sitting down.
14:04Joe's like, oh, yeah, man, I remember that play against the Bengals.
14:07Oh, that was a great comeback.
14:08Yeah, in the Super Bowl.
14:09Oh, man, I remember Dwight Clark's catch.
14:11Wait, here comes ten minutes of me getting crunched by Leonard Marshall from behind.
14:16See ya.
14:17I'm going to go make a sandwich.
14:18The number six Montana game of all time, Super Bowl XXIV.
14:25Our number six Montana game matched up two of the greatest quarterbacks to play the game.
14:33Whereas Montana Marino wasn't billed as this great quarterback clash,
14:38at this point it's Montana Elway.
14:40That's legit.
14:41Everybody's ready to see if John Elway can step up and match Joe Montana.
14:47The guy who couldn't match Phil Simms and Doug Williams.
14:54Flash 59, laser!
14:58The 49ers struck first.
15:01First drive.
15:03Montana to Rice.
15:04Right down to the goal line.
15:06Boom!
15:06There's Steve Atwater.
15:08Steve Atwater's on the ground.
15:09Jerry Rice goes into the end zone.
15:11Pretty much looks like game over at that point.
15:13Just complete control of the offense.
15:15Precision on where the third and fourth receivers are.
15:19It's plenty.
15:23I love all the drama, but when you're a fan of a team, you really don't want trauma.
15:30The game that was billed as a quarterback battle turned into a one-man show.
15:35Montana threw for five touchdowns in 297 yards and only three quarters.
15:41But down here, you went A-right or C-right or left, and free-release.
15:47And back right, two steps off.
15:49That middle back was slow.
15:50It was just embarrassment of riches.
15:53And it was one of those games at halftime where I was really thinking,
15:57can we score 80?
15:58Caught by Jones to the end zone.
16:00Touchdown!
16:05In some ways, it was the best game he's ever played.
16:09The 49ers of the game.
16:10The 49ers of the game.
16:11You know, the piece de resistance or whatever.
16:14I mean, this was like from minute zero to minute 60.
16:17You know, this was full flower Montana decimating a defense.
16:23Throws for the end zone.
16:24Taylor!
16:26Touchdown, 49ers!
16:28Pump fake by Montana.
16:30Launches it for the end zone.
16:31Jerry Rice!
16:32Oh, what a catch by Rice!
16:34Oh, what a catch by Rice!
16:35Call.
16:36Listen to that call.
16:38Listen to that call.
16:40Oh, Jerry Rice!
16:42Oh, what a catch by Rice!
16:44I told you that.
16:46I'm there.
16:47I mean, that was one of those.
16:50Here's a blank check.
16:52Fill in the blanks.
16:53I mean, the 49ers could have scored 105 points that game.
16:57Looks over the field.
16:58Goes for the end zone.
16:59Jerry Rice!
17:00Touchdown, 49ers!
17:02And the Bay Area may begin its celebration earlier than anticipated.
17:11I don't know that football had ever been played that well up to that point.
17:17A lot of the throws were just perfect.
17:20I mean, the guy was in a zone.
17:21We all hope, no matter what we do, whether it's sports rider or, you know.
17:25You know what the best part of this is?
17:29The Broncos were the number one defense in football that year.
17:35Number one scorer in defense.
17:37A photographer or whatever.
17:39We all hope for that one moment when we can feel like we did everything right.
17:44And that's what happened to Joe.
17:47Congratulations for everything.
17:50The number five Montana game of all time.
17:54Chicken Soup, anyone?
17:56Sure, the Chicken Soup game's got to be on the list because it's where it all began.
18:00Throughout his career, Joe Montana has got to come from behind quarterback for Notre Dame.
18:05The whole country didn't know, really, about the legend of Joe Montana.
18:10They knew that this guy had sort of come in and made things happen and sort of looked like Barry
18:15Manilow to some people.
18:17People go, the legend began with the catch.
18:20You know, Dwight Clark.
18:21Are you kidding me?
18:22The legend began on the frozen tundra of Dallas, Texas.
18:26Montana's rolling and looking and keeping and Montana more in the shoulder and got in for the touchdown.
18:34We do have ice storms in Dallas and that may have been the worst ice storm that we've had here
18:39in the last 30 or 40 years.
18:41I was behind the Notre Dame Batch a moment ago and talked to Joe Montana.
18:44He says he has never been this cold during a football game in his life.
18:47I challenge him to watch the clips of that game and not go, ooh, cold.
18:51Even if you're in Miami or Palm Beach watching Scottsdale, you put that on the DVD and you're watching, you've
18:56got to go, ooh.
18:58Montana's 23-point fourth quarter comeback outside in those frigid conditions was impressive.
19:04But the reason this game made our list has more to do with the temperature inside Joe's body.
19:14Early in the game, I would come off the field and I'd run right to the heater and go back
19:18into the field right to the heater.
19:20I ended up getting my temperature down to like 96.
19:23They kept me in the locker room and they had chicken soup there to keep everybody warm at halftime.
19:28So they just kept feeding it to me and feeding it to me to get my temperature back up.
19:31Joe Montana did not come out for the second half.
19:34The team positioner just told me he has the chills, his body temperature is below normal.
19:39They're giving him warm fluids and he may be back before the end of the game.
19:42He said it's kind of like the start of the flu.
19:44Nobody thought he was going to play when they heard how sick he was.
19:48And Houston went out on him, dominated the Irish.
19:54And everybody thought they were dead and buried except Joe Montana.
20:01Now the story about the chicken soup and how cold it was and everything else wasn't half as good as
20:07just sitting there watching the game in person.
20:09Montana has sparked the surge of closing moments.
20:13A 23-point comeback in the final eight minutes, that alone, that's astonishing.
20:17That he did it while he was sick, that's legendary.
20:21That's a lot like the Jordan 1997 game five against the Jazz where he had the flu and dominated in
20:27the finals.
20:28It's all come down to this.
20:29Two seconds left to play.
20:31Houston 34, Notre Dame 28.
20:33That's not the catch.
20:35Montana.
20:36Going.
20:38And it's a touchdown.
20:39And Montana has done it again.
20:41Notre Dame completely dead.
20:43Came back in the fourth quarter to win it by one.
20:46The image of him in college with the chicken soup and the coat on him becomes like part of the
20:52lore.
20:52Kind of like Greek mythology.
20:53They do some heroic feat that lets people know that they are on the ground.
20:57That would be Montana's chicken soup game.
21:00The young myth gets built.
21:03The number four Montana game of all time.
21:06Super Bowl XXIII.
21:08Yeah.
21:08Joe is hot, so let's cover him.
21:11He's throwing good warm-ups.
21:12I guess that means something.
21:13That was Walsh and Montana's Mona Lisa.
21:17Nothing better.
21:19It's number one as far as I'm concerned.
21:22Our number four Montana game featured the 49ers as a seven-point favorite, despite the Bengals having a better record.
21:30We were on such a roll, or as good a roll as, you know, a 10-16 gets on, kind
21:36of like the last two Giants Super Bowls.
21:38Losing never entered my mind.
21:40They completed passes all game, but the offense was sort of stuck.
21:45For a long time, a stinker of a game.
21:47Real slugfest.
21:48You've got people all over the country, you know, what's going on here?
21:51The ball is put down.
21:52The kick is away.
21:53It is long enough.
21:54And it is...
21:55Goal!
21:56Free gear!
21:58And with 3.20 left to go, the Bengals take a 16-13 lead.
22:02And then the Bengals score late, and all of a sudden, whoa, the 49ers are going to lose the Super
22:08Bowl.
22:11They got the ball, and they had to go 70, 80 yards, whatever it was.
22:16And Montana's in the huddle of the Super Bowl, and he's looking around in the crowd.
22:19Hey, look, there's John Candy.
22:21John Candy's here at the Super Bowl.
22:23Check it out, guys.
22:24John, he just had a calming presence about him, and calmed everybody down in that huddle, and the players believed
22:31in him.
22:32I think it was very calculated.
22:34Don't make it bigger than it is.
22:35It's football.
22:44The 49ers have a long way to go.
22:47Montana back to throw.
22:49First down.
22:50Throws over the middle.
22:51Completed to Craig.
22:52Craig is to the 16.
22:53And everybody knows about the drive, and it was so meticulous and thoughtful, and it was a class of Joe.
23:02Montana with a first down.
23:03Two receivers to your side.
23:05Joe back to throw.
23:06Steps up.
23:07Throws.
23:08Out here for Rice.
23:09He has it at midfield.
23:10Man, this guy is so cool.
23:12Three-step drop.
23:13Hitting Jerry Rice.
23:14You're just sitting back, and you're like, man, this guy's making it look easy.
23:19Montana trying to drive him the length of the field here with the game and the balance.
23:2316-13, the Bengals lead.
23:25Montana back to throw.
23:26Throws over the middle.
23:27A fight.
23:28Montana just hits him perfectly in stride to the point where Rice can catch it and break the second tackle.
23:35I think in his mind, he was just, hey, this is what I do.
23:38Everybody else was going crazy.
23:40Like, this is unbelievable.
23:41This is the best drive ever.
23:44At the 10-yard line.
23:4539 seconds remaining.
23:47Back to throw, Montana.
23:49Shift-up throws.
23:51Yeah!
23:54Yeah!
23:54And it's a quarter touchdown.
23:56Let's get it.
24:05Oh, he zipped that ball.
24:08It was just, it was so tightly thrown.
24:10It was so beautiful.
24:12That's the epitome of the Bill Walsh, Joe Montana era.
24:16That drive.
24:16And I'm telling you, it's rare now.
24:18It'll still be on tape, DVD, something, and people will still marvel at it.
24:23The number three Montana game of all time, Joe versus Steve.
24:30The 49ers had a great quarterback in Steve Young, but every 49er fan's worst nightmare,
24:37Joe Montana's gone, and he's thriving in Kansas City.
24:40We got Joe!
24:41We got Joe!
24:43The 49ers, very early in the season in 1994, are now Steve Young's team.
24:48Joe's not our quarterback.
24:49I'm not a center no more.
24:50How's that?
24:51But until Steve Young won a Super Bowl, Joe still owned that town.
24:55Montana's still the best, and he always will be.
24:58It wasn't like, we don't like Steve.
25:00It was more for the memory of those four Super Bowls.
25:03We love Joe Montana!
25:06He got traded as Kansas City.
25:08Emotionally, I think there's a lot of people in the Bears, like, they're with him.
25:13Someone wants to play with him.
25:14He was positive.
25:15He was the best quarterback.
25:16He got that, and he...
25:17Joe and Steve did not like each other very much.
25:19There was not a lot of love lost, uh, between the two.
25:23Of course he wanted to cook as a threat.
25:25A threat who needed punished his chance.
25:28Teams, two playoff teams that year.
25:30I'm Steve.
25:31I'm Joe acknowledging him, and I'm sure Joe wasn't.
25:34Tis.
25:34Joe was saying, hey, game on.
25:36High formation play fake by Montana.
25:38What's the throw?
25:39Wide open.
25:39Joe Valerio has a touchdown!
25:41I think you can see it in that reaction.
25:44He wants his win today.
25:46While Joe enjoyed some sweet success in the number three game on our list...
25:51Back to throw is Montana.
25:53Fires for the end zone.
25:53Keith Cash!
25:54Touchdown, Kansas City!
25:56His counterpart was left with a much more sour taste in his mouth.
26:01Young will throw.
26:02He's being rushed.
26:03He's headed the end zone!
26:04He's headed the end zone!
26:05Into safety!
26:06Jerry Pullman steals Steve Young!
26:09And Steve Young tried to force that one to Jerry Rice.
26:13Steve Young has really had a scramble to stay away from the constant pressure.
26:17That was the best team of the decade for the 49ers.
26:22They won the street ball later.
26:23They only lost three games.
26:25One of the games they lost was at airhead to Joe Montana.
26:30This game means so much to Joe Montana.
26:33Yeah, I mean, he can play it down and not talk, but I know Joe Montana.
26:37You could make the argument that if he maybe was honest about this,
26:42he would rank that victory maybe even the equal of anything he did in the Super Bowl.
26:48On his list, I've got to think outside of winning a championship game,
26:53that one might have felt pretty good.
26:54I don't know.
26:55The number two Montana game of all time, the 1989 Eagles game.
27:01There are so many, and obviously the big games, the Super Bowls, the playoffs, clutch.
27:06But the one that really resonates with me was the Philadelphia Eagles game.
27:10Good afternoon, everybody.
27:11This is Joe Starkey at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
27:13Is this the team of the 80s against the team of the 90s today?
27:17Concentration will win this game for us, man.
27:20No, it's not.
27:21These guys are not better than us.
27:22So what?
27:23They've been in the Super Bowl.
27:23So are the Reds fans.
27:25It's time to go out and kick some a**.
27:26Work on three.
27:27Work on three.
27:27One, two, three.
27:28Work!
27:29People don't understand the overtones that preceded this game.
27:33The 49ers are the defending champions, but Bill Walsh is gone.
27:36It's 1989.
27:37It's going to be a good game.
27:39Two good teams.
27:39Got beautiful weather.
27:40What the hell?
27:40You know, it's a lot of y'all wins, a lot of y'all lose, man.
27:43They had pulled out two games to start the season under George Seaford.
27:47But the Eagles were the it team.
27:49That whole city and team was geeked up.
27:52And this was going to be the changing of the guard game.
27:55And that's how it played out in the first half.
28:06In the first half, Montana was sacked six times.
28:16That Philadelphia Eagles defense might have been the best defense in history of the league.
28:22They're playing a Philadelphia team on that horrendous artificial turf that might as well have been just concrete painted green.
28:31Joe Montana just got pummeled over and over.
28:35Chase McGinnis.
28:37What a drop.
28:37It's Clyde Simmons.
28:39I would run a route, 10-yard route, turn around, I'd be open, and there'd just be a huge pileup.
28:44I'd look and I'd go, where the heck is he?
28:47Unbearing himself from, you know, five defensive players.
28:51That's the safety.
28:57The things were so bad that 49ers offensive line coach Bob McKittrick went to Joe Montana at halftime and apologized.
29:05I said, I'm on pitch.
29:06And he came to sweat and I got washed off.
29:10It was stunning because everybody in the press box had counted the 49ers out of that game.
29:16But we all forgot who was the quarterback of the 49ers.
29:24At halftime, they knew they couldn't survive, so they spread him out and went to four wide.
29:29Well, that's counterintuitive.
29:30They're killing Joe Montana, our fine China.
29:34Let's take a back out of the backfield and run a spread offense so they can kill him even more.
29:39But what Holmgren knew is that not only is Montana tough enough to stay in, but if you give him
29:46a little bit more space, he might pick you apart.
29:53I know there's a few times in the huddle where he told those guys they'd better stink and block because
30:02we're not out of this thing.
30:10You know, you can say, hey, man, we're on the road, we're down big, chalk this one up to an
30:15L, let's go home, go win the West, don't worry about it.
30:18No, by McKittrick saying that to Montana at halftime and by Montana kind of coming out and doing what he
30:24did showed that incredible resolve and the physical toughness.
30:29In the fourth quarter alone, Joe passed for four touchdowns and accounted for 246 total yards.
30:38Disgusting.
30:44There's this weird buzz in the stands like, what's going on?
30:47But we could still come back and they run a play action.
30:50You see Jerry Rice going deep and you knew this is the, I'm Joe Montana and you're not playing.
30:58Montana to throw, he wants the end zone, Rice has got it, touchdown 49ers!
31:04All those players were far physically tougher than they got credit for.
31:08And that game, Joe showed it in its finest fashion.
31:12It's interesting that you have it as two because I've always thought it's an underrated Montana game.
31:16Apparently now it's overrated.
31:20I have a number one, uh, just because of the, of the beating he took.
31:26And now, the number one Montana game of all time, the catch.
31:33Obviously.
31:34We all agree what number one on this list is.
31:36The catch game has to be number one.
31:38The outcome of a Super Bowl bird hangs in the balance.
31:41When you think of Montana, you think of the catch.
31:44It's got to be number one.
31:50There are few games, if any, in NFL history which were as seminal.
31:55You had essentially the end of the Landry Cowboy era and the start of the Walsh 49er era.
32:05It has to be number one, even though it wasn't his greatest statistical game.
32:10It was.
32:10What was, might have been his greatest statistical game was the previous one.
32:16Only Joe Montana threw for 400 yards and five touchdowns while being sacked five times.
32:23Certainly symbolically the greatest game of his career.
32:31Montana, seven, up to throw deep.
32:33Flows in high.
32:34Down in the corner.
32:35Emerson Ball takes it away from Freddie Solomon.
32:39What is often forgotten about our number one Montana game is that Joe's career masterpiece was clearly a work that
32:47could only be appreciated after viewing its final act.
32:51It certainly wasn't his best game.
32:53We threw three picks.
32:54They turned it over six times.
32:56We fumbled the ball.
32:57We had interceptions.
32:59We had sacks.
33:00It wasn't really pretty, except for that last drive.
33:06And they marked the ball down at the San Francisco 11th.
33:10That's how far they have to go to win.
33:12Well, at that point, Montana had done the Saints' comeback.
33:14He'd done the chicken soup game.
33:16But this is the Dallas Cowboys.
33:18They knocked the 49ers out of the playoffs in 70, 71, and 72.
33:23Can Joe Montana actually drive them all the way down?
33:26That game is about the defining moments of the last two men.
33:31This guy, Montana.
33:33I'm John Wayne.
33:35And John Wayne never loses.
33:39Mmm.
33:41San Francisco has never won a championship in professional sports.
33:4750, 8 seconds left.
33:49We're going to call a sprint option.
33:51He's going to break up and break into the corner.
33:53You got it.
33:54Dwight, we're clear.
33:55Montana lines up at the 5.
33:57And on third down and 3.
33:59He rolls right looking to throw.
34:02He throws into the end zone.
34:05As a 49er fan, growing up, you're thinking,
34:07just get rid of the ball.
34:08Just give us one more play.
34:10He releases the ball and it's just,
34:11oh, thank you.
34:12We have one more chance.
34:13And then, a blur shouldn't be there.
34:17Cut!
34:19Cut!
34:20Cut!
34:21Cut!
34:21Cut!
34:22Cut!
34:24Cut!
34:25Cut!
34:27Cut!
34:30What's the Cowboys defense that gave up 55 points their last six games?
34:36Nine a game and they shut out the Bucks in the divisional round.
34:42so to do that
34:43all sorts of myths surrounding that stuff
34:45did Dwight know that that pass was going there
34:48was he throwing it away
34:49no matter what anybody says
34:51if you talk to all the Cowboy players
34:53they will tell you he was throwing that ball away
34:56if you don't get what you want
34:57simply throw the ball away
34:59it sure looked from the sideline
35:01like he was just getting rid of the ball
35:03because they were coming
35:05sorry Dallas Cowboy fans
35:07he wasn't throwing the ball away
35:08he was throwing the ball where only Dwight
35:11was going to go up and get it
35:16no they practiced the play
35:18they'll tell you
35:19we had practiced this play so many times
35:21I knew exactly what Joe was trying to do
35:24when we practiced it
35:25Joe would always throw it either too low
35:27or way over my head
35:28but in the game that sends you to the Super Bowl
35:31he puts it in the exact spot
35:33where it has to be
35:34you know what it doesn't matter
35:36all that matters is that Dwight Clark
35:38was in that moment
35:39at that place
35:40and made that catch
35:42there's so many great Joe Montana moments
35:44to choose from
35:45the catch is number one
35:46the catch will always be number one
35:48because of all the things that he's done
35:50all the great plays
35:51and all the comebacks
35:53Joe Montana
35:53is the greatest quarterback
35:55that I have ever seen play
35:58the game of football
35:59when you did
36:00what he's done
36:01and we've all watched him
36:03I'll say it with no disclaim
36:04but this guy's the greatest quarterback
36:06ever played the game
36:07hey just kidding
36:08I'm with 2012
36:10what's up
36:11don't
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