The San Francisco 49ers came into Super Bowl XXIX as massive favorites over the San Diego Chargers, and with such a big advantage at the quarterback position it’s no wonder.
The Niners had one of the top dual threat QBs of all-time, Steve Young, going up against Stan Humphries, game manager type who surprised millions by leading an undermanned Chargers team led by running back Natrone Means and linebacker Junior Seau to football’s biggest stage.
With the 49ers favored to win by 18 points by the Vegas oddsmakers, a tough spread to cover, there would be no letdown this time around.
Young played the game of his life, erasing all doubts about his worthiness as a successor to Joe Montana and blitzing the Bolts with 326 yards through the air on the day, to go with 49 yards on the ground in just 9 attempts.
Young, Jerry Rice, Ricky Watters and his assortment of co-stars turned in a truly dominating performance on the evening, with the former BYU and USFL star stealing the show.
Check out the highlights below for a refresher on just how dominant Young really was, not to mention just how poetic it must have been for 49ers fans watching him carve up the hapless Chargers defense en route to the franchise’s fifth Super Bowl title (I was one of them at the time; every Lions fan has to have a Team B):
Garoppolo, Young are Razor Close on One Surprising Stat
Can Jimmy Garoppolo come close to matching Young’s MVP performance on Sunday?
The two aren’t often compared, but that obscures the fact that their two Super Bowl seasons are surprisingly close on one of the most important stats.
While most people don’t think of Jimmy G, despite his considerable talent, as being in the same class as Young and Montana, he did best Young’s title winning season in one key area: the two QBs were just 9 passing yards apart.
Garoppolo 2019: 3,978 passing yards, 27 TDs and 13 INTs
Young 1994: 3,969 passing yards, 35 TDs and 10 INTs
(stats via Pro-Football-Reference.com)
But while Garoppolo and Young’s seasons are remarkably close in terms of passing stats, Jimmy G lags far behind in rushing yards (only 116 over his 42-game career to be exact).
Young rushed for 293 yards in 1994 with 7 touchdowns, and made it all look easy along the way.
Needless to say as evidenced by the highlights above, there may never be another 49ers QB like Steve Young.
That being said if he can beat a far superior Chiefs team, Garopollo will raise his stock considerably — perhaps into the same stratosphere as the 49ers greats that came before him, in due time.
