Super Bowl XXIX was played on January 29, 1995 in Miami, Florida. The opponents were San Francisco 49ers against the San Diego Chargers. This game is regarded as Steve Young's final leap out of the shadow of his predecessor, Joe Montana, who had won four Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers, two with Young as the backup quarterback. Young had tried to distance himself from the bitterness he felt about the Montana problem, created by everything from Joe's obvious jealousy of anything Young achieved to the organization's decision during the spring of 1993 to return the starting job to Montana even after Young led the league in passing in 1992. Montana eventually chose to leave the team and was traded to Kansas City. But even without Joe in a 49ers uniform, Young felt uncomfortable and, in many ways, unwanted in San Francisco. That is, until he stopped fighting the ghost and concentrated on what he could control. San Francisco wasted little time scoring, taking the lead for good on Young's 44-yard touchdown pass to Jerry Rice only three plays and one and a half minutes into the game.

The next time they had the ball, the San Francisco 49ers marched 79 yards in four plays, taking a 14-0 lead when Young teamed with running back Ricky Watters on a 51-yard touchdown pass with ten minutes still to play in the opening period. San Diego then put together its most impressive possession of the game, a 13 play, 78 yard drive that consumed more than seven minutes and was capped by Natrone Means' 1 yard touchdown run, to cut its deficit to 14-7 late in the quarter. But San Francisco countered with a 70 yard drive of its own, and Young's 5 yard touchdown pass to fullback William Floyd made it 21-7. Young's fourth touchdown pass of the half, eight yards to Watters four and a quarter minutes before halftime, increased the advantage to 28-7, and the Chargers could get no closer than 18 points after that. Watters, who ran nine yards for a touchdown in the third quarter, equaled the Super Bowl record with three touchdowns. Rice also scored three touchdowns, the second time in his career he'd done that in a Super Bowl, while catching 10 passes for 149 yards. He established career records for receptions, yards, and touchdowns in a Super Bowl. Young, who scrambled 21 yards and 15 yards to set up touchdowns in the first half, was the game's leading rusher with 49 yards on five carries. San Diego's Means, who rushed for 1,350 yards during the regular season, was limited to 33 yards on 13 attempts.

Chargers quarterback Stan Humphries completed 24 of 49 passes for 275 yards. Rookie Andre Coleman became only the third player in Super Bowl history to return a kickoff for a touchdown, going 98 yards in the third quarter. Steve Young passed for a record six touchdowns, and the San Francisco 49ers became the first team to win five Super Bowls when they routed the San Diego Chargers 49-26 in Super Bowl XXIX at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, January 29. Steve Young, the game's most valuable player, directed an explosive offense that generated seven touchdowns, 28 first downs, and 455 total yards. He completed 24 of 36 passes for 325 yards, and broke the record of five touchdown passes set by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana in Super Bowl XXIV. The San Francisco 49ers' victory was the eleventh straight for National Football Conference (NFC) teams over American Football Conference (AFC) teams in the Super Bowl. The game was telecast by ABC in the U.S. Al Michaels, Dan Dierdorf, and Frank Gifford called the game. The 75 points scored by the two teams established another record, breaking the previous mark of 69 set in Dallas's 52-17 victory over Buffalo in XXVII.