The Catch (American football)

After San Francisco forced Dallas to punt on the opening drive, quarterback Joe Montana completed a 17-yard pass to Charle Young and a 24-yarder to Lenvil Elliott before throwing an 8-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Freddie Solomon. Dallas responded with Danny White's 20-yard pass to Butch Johnson setting up a 44-yard field goal by Rafael Septién. Then 49ers running back Bill Ring lost a fumble on his own 29, leading to White's 26-yard touchdown pass to Tony Hill that put the Cowboys up 10–7.

In the second quarter, San Francisco reached the Cowboys' 27-yard line, only to lose the ball when Everson Walls intercepted a pass from Montana in the end zone. After forcing a Dallas punt, Montana threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Clark to retake the lead, 14–10. Dallas responded with an 80-yard drive, including a controversial pass interference penalty on 49ers defensive back Ronnie Lott which nullified his interception and gave the Cowboys a 35-yard gain to the San Francisco 12-yard line. Three plays later, running back Tony Dorsett scored a 5-yard rushing touchdown to give Dallas a 17–14 lead. The 49ers had another chance to score before halftime when they recovered a fumbled punt on the Dallas 42. After a 15-yard illegal block penalty on Clark, Montana lost a fumble while being sacked by Harvey Martin. The Cowboys fared no better as White was sacked twice on their next drive, once by Jim Stuckey and once by Lawrence Pillers, and the half ended soon after.

In the third quarter, San Francisco had another scoring opportunity when Dwight Hicks returned a punt 12 yards to midfield. The 49ers then drove to the Dallas 16-yard line, but once again they failed to score when Montana threw a pass that bounced out of Elliot's hands and was intercepted by Randy White. However, the Cowboys soon returned the favor with Danny White's interception to linebacker Bobby Leopold, and this time the 49ers converted, regaining the lead at 21–17 with a 2-yard touchdown run by running back Johnny Davis.

One minute into the fourth quarter, Septien kicked a 22-yard field goal that cut the scoring difference down to 1 point at 21–20. Then Walls recovered a fumble from running back Walt Easley at midfield to set up White's 21-yard touchdown pass to tight end Doug Cosbie, giving Dallas a 27–21 advantage. Things got even better for Dallas when Walls recorded his second interception from Montana on the next drive at the Cowboys 27. Dallas managed to pick up a few first downs, but were forced to punt, and White's kick gave San Francisco the ball at their own 11 with 4:54 left in the game and three timeouts.[1]

Montana led the 49ers 83 yards to the Dallas 6-yard line with the following drive:[2]

• 1st and 10 from the SF 11: Montana incomplete pass, dropped by Elliott
• 2nd and 10 from the SF 11: Elliott 6-yard run
• 3rd and 4 from the SF 17: Montana 6-yard pass to Solomon
• 1st and 10 from the SF 23: Elliott 11-yard run
• 1st and 10 from the SF 34: Elliott 7-yard run
• 2nd and 3 from the SF 41: Montana incomplete pass, through Elliott's hands
• 3rd and 3 from the SF 41: Offside penalty on Cowboys, 5 yards
• 1st and 10 from the SF 46: Montana 5-yard pass to Earl Cooper (2 minute warning)
• 2nd and 5 from the Dallas 49: Solomon 14-yard run on a WR reverse
• 1st and 10 from the Dallas 35: Montana 10-yard pass to Clark
• 1st and 10 from the Dallas 25: Montana 13-yard pass to Solomon (49ers first timeout, 1:15 remaining)
• 1st and 10 from the Dallas 12: Montana incomplete pass, intended for Solomon in end zone
• 2nd and 10 from the Dallas 12: Elliott 6-yard run (49ers second timeout, 58 seconds remaining)

Schematic of the action The Catch

Following the 49ers second timeout, they came up to a third down with three yards to go on the Cowboys' 6-yard line with 58 seconds left in the game.

The 49ers lined up in a split backs formation, with Joe Montana under center. Wide receiver Freddie Solomon (the play's intended target) was lined up in the right slot, while Dwight Clark (who ended up catching the pass) was outside of Solomon, wide to the right.

When Montana took the snap, the play, known as Sprint Right Option, was intended to be a pick-play to set up a quick pass to Solomon; earlier in the game, Solomon had scored a touchdown on that play.[3] However, Solomon slipped while running his route, thus ruining the timing of the play, as Clark was no longer in position to set the pick. As such, the Cowboys were able to cover Solomon perfectly. Making matters worse, the pass rush of the Cowboys collapsed the 49ers' offensive line. Two of the Cowboys' defensive ends Ed "Too Tall" Jones and Larry Bethea and linebacker D. D. Lewis chased a backpedalling Montana toward the sideline, and seemed certain to either send him out of bounds or sack him. But at the last moment, and after a pump-fake to get 6-foot 9-inch "Too Tall" Jones to jump, Montana threw a high pass to the back of the end zone that seemed destined to sail out of bounds until 49ers receiver Dwight Clark made a leaping touchdown grab with his fingertips to tie the game with 51 seconds left. The ensuing extra point by kicker Ray Wersching gave the 49ers a 28–27 lead. Clark finished the game with 8 catches for 120 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The play, remembered in 49ers lore as "Change Left Slot – Sprint Right Option[4]" had called for both Clark and the primary receiver, Solomon, to line up on the right. Montana was supposed to roll to his right and find Solomon. Clark's pattern called for him to cut left across the end zone, stop, and immediately reverse his path to the right. If Solomon was covered, it would be up to Montana to find Clark. Due to the pressure, Montana's pass was high, but Clark was in position to make his memorable grab.

A photograph of the catch by Walter Iooss, Jr., with Clark at the height of his leap and Everson Walls reaching out to try to block the ball, was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated the following week.[5]

Other contributors on the final 89-yard drive that led to the play now referred to as “The Catch” included Lenvil Elliott (RB), Earl Cooper (FB), Freddie Solomon (WR), Charle Young (TE), Dan Audick (LT), John Ayers (LG), Fred Quillan (C), Randy Cross (RG), and Keith Fahnhorst (RT).

The game was broadcast in the United States by CBS with Vin Scully doing the play-by-play and Hank Stram doing the color commentary on television and Jack Buck and Pat Summerall doing the play-by-play and color respectively on radio.

This game was a watershed in the historic fortunes of both the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys. The 49ers began the 1970s winning three consecutive NFC West titles (1970–1972) and losing two NFC Championship Games (1970-1971 seasons) to the Cowboys, but spent the remainder of the decade as a losing team. After "The Catch", the 49ers went on to win Super Bowl XVI 26–21 over the Cincinnati Bengals. The 49ers made the playoffs eight out of the next ten seasons, missing the postseason in 1982 despite being defending champions, winning three more Super Bowls in the 1980s to amass a dynasty. 49ers quarterback Joe Montana went on to gain a reputation as a clutch performer.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys, one of the most successful NFC teams in the 1970s with five Super Bowl appearances and two wins, never made it back to the Super Bowl in the 1980s. In the following season, the Cowboys reached their third straight NFC Championship Game, where they were defeated 31–17 by their archrival Washington Redskins. This ended a remarkable period that saw the Cowboys play in 10 of 13 conference championship games, while starting quarterback Danny White drew criticism for "not being able to win the big game," despite leading the team to successful winning seasons in those years. This ultimately led to a quarterback controversy in 1984 between White and Gary Hogeboom, especially after Hogeboom showed a Staubach-like comeback in the loss to Washington in the 1983 NFC Championship Game. The Cowboys managed to make the playoffs in the 1983 and 1985 seasons, only to be knocked out in the first round, then failed to reach the postseason for the rest of the decade. In fact, beginning in 1986, the Cowboys went on to suffer losing seasons for the remainder of the eighties, leading to head coach Tom Landry being fired by new owner Jerry Jones after the 1988 season.

The Cowboys saw an even more dismal 1–15 season in 1989, which saw the debut of #1 draft pick quarterback Troy Aikman and first-year head coach Jimmy Johnson; it is the franchise's worst season since their inaugural 1960 season when they went 0–11–1. Despite the 1–15 record to close out the decade, the Cowboys' future became brighter when they went on to become a dynasty in their own right, winning three Super Bowls in the 1990s—two of them back-to-back, defeating the same opponent (Buffalo Bills). The 1992–1994 seasons would see the Cowboys and 49ers face off in three straight NFC Championship games, with Aikman's Cowboys winning the first two and Steve Young's (who succeeded Montana as starting quarterback) 49ers winning the last one; each victorious team following it up with a Super Bowl title. The NFC Championship for the 1992 season was the first time that the Cowboys and 49ers had met in the playoffs since "The Catch".

Throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, the play was immortalized in advertisements for Kodak film: a television commercial using a snippet of Barbra Streisand's "The Way We Were" as its jingle and featuring The Catch as shown by NFL Films, and a magazine ad featuring a photo still of The Catch, accompanied by the caption, "The 49ers grab a TD and a title."

In the October 16, 2001 episode "My Old Lady" of the American television sitcom/medical drama Scrubs, when a dying patient David asks if anyone has ever heard of The Catch, Turk comes in and says, "Niners-Cowboys, Joe Montana to Dwight Clark deep in the end-zone, zero time left. Kid, please, don't insult me." Turk later joins David in watching the game.

In 2005, a commercial for the Gatorade sports drink, known as "The Winning Formula", portrayed an alternate version of The Catch, in which the ball bounced out of Clark's fingertips. Following the Gatorade logo, the real version was shown with Dwight Clark's completion. This is also done with Derek Jeter's "flip play" going wide of home plate and Michael Jordan's famous buzzer-beater against Cleveland going off the rim.

On August 5, 2007, The Best Damn Sports Show Period did a special show commemorating the top 50 amazing sports catches of all time. The Catch is listed as #17.

• Referee: Jim Tunney (#3)
• Umpire: Bob Boylston (#5)
• Head Linesman: Ed Marion (#6)
• Line Judge: Bob Beeks (#16)
• Field Judge: Ed Merrifield (#20)
• Side Judge: Dean Look (#9)
• Back Judge: Ray Douglas (#5)
• Alternate Referee: Gordon McCarter
• Alternate Umpire: Dave Moss

• The Catch II

• 1981–82 NFL playoffs
• Immaculate Reception
• The Helmet Catch
• The Catch (baseball)
• The Block (American Football)
• Freezer Bowl, 1981 AFC Championship game held on the same day
• Minneapolis Miracle