Super Bowl XXIII was the second meeting between these two teams in the Super Bowl. The San Francisco 49ers & the Cincinnati Bengal's first met seven years earlier in Super Bowl XVI. Just prior to the start of the game, the Bengal's' starting fullback, Stanley Wilson was found in his hotel room in a cocaine induced stupor. Super Bowl XXIII began with hopes that it would not be another in a recent string of one-sided yawners dominated by the National Football Conference. It wound up being the most exciting Super Bowl ever, ending with the most memorable scoring drive this extravaganza had ever witnessed.

Such a game couldn't have come at a better time for the National Football League. While its title clash had been wallowing in mediocrity, both baseball and basketball could boast of a series of exciting championship events over the previous few years. But this time, the Super Bowl matched the competition with a flourish. And league executives could thank quarterback Joe Montana and the rest of his San Francisco 49er offensive teammates for that. Even though San Francisco held an advantage in total net yards (453 to 229), the San Francisco 49ers found themselves trailing the Cincinnati Bengal's late in the game. With the score 13-13, Cincinnati took a 16-13 lead on Jim Breech's 40 yard field goal with three minutes and twenty seconds remaining. It was Breech's third field goal of the day, following earlier successes from 34 and 43 yards. The San Francisco 49ers started their winning drive at their 8 yard line. Over the next 11 plays, San Francisco covered 92 yards with the decisive score coming on a 10 yard pass from quarterback Joe Montana to wide receiver John Taylor with 34 seconds remaining. At halftime, the score was 3-3, the first time in Super Bowl history the game was tied at intermission.

After the teams traded third period field goals, the Bengal's jumped ahead 13-6 on Stanford Jennings's 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with 34 seconds remaining in the quarter. The San Francisco 49ers didn't waste any time coming back as they covered 85 yards in four plays, concluding with Montana's 14 yard scoring pass to Jerry Rice 57 seconds into the final stanza. Rice was named the game's most valuable player for his 11 catches, a Super Bowl record 215 yards. Montana completed 23 of 36 passes for a Super Bowl record 357 yards and two touchdowns. National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco captured its third Super Bowl of the 1980s by defeating American Football Conference (AFC) champions Cincinnati Bengal's 20-16. The San Francisco 49ers, who also won Super Bowls XVI and XIX, became the first NFC team to win three Super Bowls. Pittsburgh, with four Super Bowl titles (IX, X, XIII, and XIV), and the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, with three (XI, XV, and XVIII), lead American Football Conference (AFC) franchises. The game, played for the first time at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, was attended by a sellout crowd of 75,129. NBC's telecast of the game was watched by an estimated 110,780,000 viewers, according to A.C. Nielsen, making it the sixth most watched program in television history. The game was seen live or on tape in 60 foreign countries, including an estimated 300 million in China. The CBS Radio broadcast of the game was heard by 11.2 million people. This was the final National Football League (NFL) game coached by the San Francisco 49ers' Bill Walsh. NBC televised the game in the United States, with announcers Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen.