The Catch (American football)

1981 NFC Championship Game

Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California, the site of the game.
Dallas Cowboys (2) (12–4) San Francisco 49ers (1) (13–3) 27 28 Head coach: Tom Landry Head coach: Bill Walsh
1 2 3 4 Total DAL 10 7 0 10 27 SF 7 7 7 7 28
Date	January 10, 1982
Stadium	Candlestick Park, San Francisco, California
Referee	Jim Tunney
TV in the United States
Network	CBS
Announcers	Vin Scully and Hank Stram

The Catch was the game-winning touchdown reception in the 1981 NFC Championship Game played between the Dallas Cowboys and the eventual Super Bowl XVI champion San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park on January 10, 1982, as part of the 1981-82 NFL playoffs. With 58 seconds left in the game, the 49ers faced 3rd down and 3 yards to gain on the Cowboys' 6-yard line. San Francisco wide receiver Dwight Clark made a leaping grab in the back of the end zone to complete a 6-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Joe Montana, enabling the 49ers to defeat the Cowboys, 28–27. The Catch is widely regarded as one of the greatest plays in National Football League (NFL) history. It came at the end of a 14-play, 83-yard game-winning drive engineered by Montana. The Catch symbolized 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.