"It played the best": When Bill Belichick remembered stopping Joe Montana's 49ers on their 3-peat run 

North Carolina Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick will forever be remembered for his time with the New England Patriots, for whom he won six Super Bowls. The future Pro Football Hall of Famer made a name for himself as a defensive coordinator with the New York Giants under mentor Bill Parcells, however.

The 1990 NFC Championship game is part of Belichick's sideline legacy. New York squeaked by Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers 15-13 to advance to Super Bowl XXV.

Away at San Francisco's Candlestick Park, the Giants were locked in a close battle with the two-time defending Super Bowl champions. Leonard Marshall's blindside hit sent Montana out of the game in the fourth quarter.

"It was good defense down field," John Madden said on the television broadcast shared in a clip on YouTube from the Giants. "He had no one to throw to. They knocked him out of the rhythm, and he really took a shot in that back. Leonard Marshall, coming from the back side. That is a real shot."

Steve Young held a 13-12 lead as he entered in relief. The 49ers needed just two first downs to run the clock out on New York.

"We're talking there on the sideline saying, 'Look, we gotta get the ball, and if we get the opportunity — and who knows whether it's gonna be from the front, from the side, from the back, which technique — but just that mentality," Belichick said. "And we got it. It was a very opportunistic play by our defense.

"Those are the kinda plays we want to remember ourselves as, and that game — in the biggest game — it was one of the biggest plays," he added.

(from 13:00 mark onwards)

The play Bill Belichick was referring to was a Roger Craig fumble that his defense forced. The loose ball was vacuumed in by Lawrence Taylor, and quarterback Jeff Hostetler helped get the Giants in field goal range. Matt Bahr's 42-yard field goal won New York the game as time expired.

"The thing about the '90 team was that team played well," Belichick said. "I don't know if it was the best team, but it played the best."

How did Bill Belichick and Giants fare in Super Bowl XXV?

Super Bowl XXV is known best for Scott Norwood's kick that sailed wide right — two of Buffalo's least-favorite words. Jim Kelly and the Bills had been trying to beat the Giants in the same manner as New York had downed San Francisco.

Buffalo had entered that contest having scored 44 points in its divisional-round win over Miami and 51 in the NFC Championship. Against Belichick and the Giants in the Super Bowl, they were limited to 19.

Bill Belichick moved on to coach Cleveland the next season, where he stayed until 1995.