The Catch (American Football)
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| Date | January 10, 1982 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Candlestick Park, San Francisco, California | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Jim Tunney | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | CBS | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Vin Scully and Hank Stram | ||||||||||||||||||
The Catch refers to the winning touchdown pass caught by San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Dwight Clark and thrown by quarterback Joe Montana. The play occurred late in the 1982 National Football Conference (NFC) Championship Game between the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers, and enabled the 49ers to defeat the Cowboys 28–27 and win the NFC Championship. The Catch is widely regarded as one of the most memorable events in National Football League (NFL) history. The game represented the end of the Cowboys' domination in the NFC since the conference's inception in 1970, and the beginning of the 49ers' rise as an NFL dynasty in the 1980s.
After forcing Dallas to punt on the opening drive, San Francisco 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 Septien. 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. But 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 on a 5-yard rushing touchdown to give Dallas a 17–14 lead. The 49ers got another chance to score before halftime when they recovered a fumbled punt on the Dallas 42. But 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.
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