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For the second time in six weeks, Parcells had to send an unprepared quarterback with minimal game-time experience onto the field during a critical game. Under the Giants’ first- and second-string quarterbacks, points had come sparingly that year against San Francisco; thirteen-year veteran Matt Cavanaugh couldn’t move the ball either. Coming off the sidelines with only seconds to warm up, he fired one pass ten yards over his receiver’s head, was sacked on the next play, and New York had to punt.

While doctors and coaches surrounded Hostetler on the bench, the defense took the field, hopeful they could keep the deficit at four points. Once again, they followed Lawrence Taylor’s lead.

On third and ten from his own twenty-three-yard line, Montana dropped back to pass and looked left where he saw an opening in the defense. He cocked his arm, ready to throw a post-pattern to John Taylor. A more cautious Everson Walls sprung toward Taylor—not the football—and shut Montana’s window.

Montana sensed the pocket was collapsing and rolled right, eyes glued downfield.

Deep along the near sideline, he spied Rice, two steps ahead of safety Myron Guyton. He also noticed Taylor bearing down on him. Montana slammed on the brakes, set his feet, and with Lawrence Taylor unable to pull up, reached back to heave the ball downfield and end the Giants’ season. But setting his feet to throw bought defensive end Leonard Marshall an extra split-second of pass-rushing time.

Prior to the play, Marshall lined up outside of 49ers left tackle Bubba Paris. At the snap, Marshall gave Paris a head fake to the inside, forcing the 350-pounder off balance. Marshall swam around Paris, but was unable to keep his feet. Fullback Tom Rathman pushed him to the ground. As Montana veered to his right, Marshall staggered to his feet, lunged for the quarterback, then stumbled again. Showing uncanny persistence, Marshall crawled on his hands and knees until he could get upright. When Montana paused to avoid Lawrence Taylor, Marshall closed the gap and plowed right into the back of the unsuspecting league MVP. For a moment, Montana looked like he was wearing Marshall as a cape.

“It was a clean lick,” Marshall told reporters following the game. “I wasn’t trying to put him out of the game or end his career.”

End over end the football floated up in the air before hitting the ground thirty-five feet from where the vicious blow had been delivered. Cornerback Mark Collins leapt toward the ball but could not cradle it. Offensive lineman Steve Wallace swooped in to make the recovery. The 49ers had retained possession but now had bigger problems: Montana was hurt.

Doubled over, Montana knelt motionless on the ground. Steve Young, the 49ers’ backup, charged onto the field. Montana gently rolled over onto his back and lay there for several minutes. Trainers sat him up and “Joe Cool” soon got to his feet, only to spend the rest of the day huddled with doctors and paramedics. He had a broken bone in his hand, a bruised sternum, and struggled to breathe.

It had been a rough week for Montana. Thursday night, he was hit with a flu bug and missed practice on both Friday and Saturday. On the first play from scrimmage, Montana didn’t look sharp, tossing a low, wobbly pass a few yards short of his receiver’s feet: Lawrence Taylor clobbered him just as he released the ball.

“After the second series, when he left from under center, he was already passive, you could see it,” said Giants safety Dave Duerson. “He was expecting to get hit. Even when he handed off he was flinching.”

Early in the fourth quarter, Taylor accidently kicked Montana in the knee at the end of a pass play. He limped off the field. Half an hour later, Marshall clobbered Montana, knocking him out of the game. Although nobody knew it at the time, Joe Montana had taken his last snap as the 49ers’ starting quarterback. Steve Young, the former Brigham Young University star and seldom-used professional, warmed up along the sideline.

Across the field,