Editing Super Bowl XIX (section)

===Second quarter===
In the second quarter, the 49ers began to take control of the game. After being forced to punt, Bill Walsh switched to a 4–1–6 (or [[dime defense]]) to slow down the Dolphins' passing attack, with [[Keena Turner]] as the sole linebacker. Miami tried to run against the 4–1–6 alignment, to no avail. Safety [[Dwight Hicks]] broke up two consecutive Marino passes, and the Dolphins were forced to punt from their own 10-yard line. Then after taking the ball at the Miami 47-yard line, Montana scrambled for a 19-yard run, and then completed a 16-yard pass to wide receiver [[Dwight Clark]] to reach the 12-yard line. From there, running back [[Wendell Tyler]] rushed for 4 yards, and then Montana threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to running back [[Roger Craig (American football)|Roger Craig]], putting the 49ers back in front with a 14–10 lead.

San Francisco never trailed again for the rest of the game. Miami then had to punt again on their ensuing possession, and 49ers cornerback [[Dana McLemore]] returned the ball 28 yards to the 49ers 45-yard line. After advancing 15 yards with two running plays by Tyler and Craig, Montana completed a pair of passes to tight end [[Russ Francis]] to move the ball 29 yards to the Miami 11-yard line. Craig ran for 5 yards on the next play, and then Montana finished the drive himself with a 6-yard touchdown run, increasing San Francisco's lead to 21–10. After the ensuing kickoff, the Dolphins again were forced to punt after a three-and-out, and McLemore returned [[Reggie Roby]]'s 39-yard punt 10 yards to the 49ers 48-yard line. Montana was sacked for a 5-yard loss by defensive end [[Doug Betters]] on the first play of the ensuing drive, but he struck back with a 20-yard completion to Craig and a 7-yard run over the next two plays. On the next play, wide receiver [[Freddie Solomon]] appeared to catch a pass from Montana at the 12 before losing a fumble to safety [[Lyle Blackwood]]. However, field judge Bob Lewis blew the play dead, ruling that Solomon's fumble was an incomplete pass. Bill Quinby, the side judge, who was nearest to the play, did not make any call. Five plays later, Craig finished the 9-play, 52-yard drive with his second touchdown of the game on a 2-yard run, increasing the 49ers' lead to 28–10.

With nearly two minutes left in the half, the Dolphins finally managed to get a good drive going on their next possession. Marino completed seven out of nine passes, the last one being a 30-yard pass to tight end [[Joe Rose (American football)|Joe Rose]], to reach the 49ers 12-yard line. However, San Francisco's defense tightened up on the next three plays, forcing two incompletions and a completed pass for no gain, and Miami was forced to settle for von Schamann's 31-yard field goal to cut their deficit to 28–13 with 12 seconds left in the half. Then the Dolphins caught a break as the 49ers botched the ensuing kickoff. San Francisco guard [[Guy McIntyre]] received von Schamann's short kick and was about to down the ball, but then changed his mind at the last second and decided to return it after being urged by teammates Monroe and Harmon. This turned out to be a mistake; McIntyre fumbled while being leveled by running back [[Joe Carter (running back)|Joe Carter]], and wide receiver [[Jim Jensen (wide receiver)|Jim Jensen]] recovered the ball for Miami at the San Francisco 12. After that, von Schamann kicked a 30-yard field goal on the last play of the half, cutting the Dolphins' deficit to 28–16. "I can laugh about the play now, but it wasn't funny at the time," McIntyre said after the game. "My first instinct when I got the ball was to fall down. Then I heard everyone yelling, 'Get up! Get up!' So I got up, and here comes someone sneaking underneath me, and he hit the ball."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/features/superbowl/archives/19/ |title=Archived copy |access-date=June 30, 2007 |archive-date=October 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020104957/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/features/superbowl/archives/19/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>