Highest-scoring Super Bowl ever: Revisiting 1995 49ers vs. Chargers shootout
Despite all the advances that have been made on the offensive side of the ball in recent years — not to mention rule changes that favor offense over defense — the record for the highest-scoring Super Bowl stands almost 30 years after it was set.
A few games have come close to that mark (notably the 74-point contest between the Eagles and Patriots in 2018), but the 28-year record still belongs to the 49ers and Chargers in 1995.
They scored an amazing 75 points in Super Bowl 29, which saw Steve Young and Jerry Rice blast the doors of San Diego in a record-breaking performance. While San Francisco did most of the work to set the record — beating the Chargers by 23 points in the 49-26 win — it was a largely meaningless result from San Diego that made the game a record-breaker.
That’s cold consolation for a franchise that hadn’t won an NFL championship before the Super Bowl even existed. But at least the Chargers know they still have a place in the NFL record books — at least as long as the record still stands.
MORE: Watch Super Bowl 57 Live With fuboTV (Free Trial)
In the meantime, The Sporting News has everything you need to know about the 1995 Super Bowl and the offensive records the 49ers and Chargers set in it:
Super Bowl 29 Highlights
It was clear from the start that San Francisco would dominate the game, as the 49ers (then) set the record for the game’s fastest goal scoring in Super Bowl history: a 44-yard touchdown connection between Young and Rice only 1:24 in the game. Less than four minutes later, the 49ers became the first team in Super Bowl history to score twice with Young’s second of six touchdown passes just five minutes into the game.
San Francisco’s lead rose to 28-10 at halftime, then to 42-10 late in the third quarter, beating the Cinderella Chargers’ doom. Despite San Francisco’s dominance, it was San Diego that ultimately made the 1995 Super Bowl the most successful in NFL history.
Had quarterback Stan Humphries not completed a 30-yard pass to Tony Martin with just 2:25 left in the game, the record would have stood two years earlier at Super Bowl 27 (69 points). This touchdown also made Super Bowl 29 the first in which both teams scored in each quarter.
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Super Bowl 29 point games
Below is a rundown of every point in Super Bowl 29, including when they happened in-game:
| quarter | Time | score game | score | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13:36 | 49ers: Steve Young 44-yard pass to Jerry Rice | 7-0 49ers | 7 |
| 10:05 | 49ers: Young 51-yard pass to Ricky Watters | 14-0 49ers | 14 | |
| 1:44 | Charger: Natron means 1 yard run | 14-7 49ers | 21 | |
| 2 | 13:02 | 49er: Young 5-yard pass to William Floyd | 21-7 49ers | 28 |
| 4:44 | 49er: Young 8-yard pass to Watters | 28-7 49ers | 35 | |
| 1:44 | Charger: John Carney 31-yard field goal | 28-10 49ers | 38 | |
| 3 | 9:35 | 49ers: Watter’s 9-yard run | 35-10 49ers | 45 |
| 3:18 | 49ers: Young 15-yard touchdown to Rice | 42-10 49ers | 52 | |
| 3:01 | Charger: Andre Coleman 98-yard kickoff return (2-point conversion successful) | 42-18 49ers | 60 | |
| 4 | 1:49 p.m | 49ers: Young 7-yard pass to Rice | 49-18 49ers | 67 |
| 2:25 | Charger: Stan Humphries 30-yard pass to Tony Martin (2-point conversion successful) | 49-26 | 75 |
Super Bowl records between 49ers and Chargers
game records
- Most points scored: 75 (49ers 49, Chargers 26)
- Most touchdowns: 10 (49ers 7, Chargers 3)
- Most 2 point conversions: 2 (Chargers 2, 49ers 0)
- Most pass attempts: 93 (Chargers 55, 49ers 38)*
* Tie in Super Bowl 2018
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Player records
- Most Passing Touchdowns: 6 (Steve Young)
- Most receive touchdowns: 3 (jerry rice)*
- Most scrimmage touchdowns: 3 (Jerry Reis, Ricky Watters)**
- Most points from scrimmage:
- all-purpose yards: 244 (Andre Coleman)***
* Tie before mark set by Rice in Super Bowl 24
** Six players have scored three touchdowns in Super Bowl history
*** Broken by Jacoby Jones (290 all-purpose yards) in Super Bowl 47