"The Charbor Chronicles": Why I Think the 1990 NFL Season Was the Best One

After the better part of a week of serious and grim blog entries, largely due to Hurricane Harvey, and the ongoing drama unfolding from the White House as the nation, and indeed the world, has to endure the world American President in history, it seemed like a good idea to lighten the mood a little bit.

There is no NFL football this Sunday, although that means that the blitz of pro football (NFL football, that is) will start next Sunday. In fact, it will start earlier than that, with the new tradition of the defending Super Bowl champions playing on the Thursday before opening weekend now firmly established. The New England Patriots, surely still riding a high after that amazing comeback win in the Super Bowl, will host the Kansas City Chiefs.

Before that game is played, I will release my predictions for the upcoming season - I promise.

However, today I will focus on another season, which sounds like one that took place long ago, but which still feels fresh to me. It was my favorite NFL season, and everything about it felt exciting and new at the time. This season broke some new ground, and some things happened then that seemed...well, unheard of at the time.

I will explain exactly how this season proved so historical and, at the time, highly entertaining, and take a necessary break from the nonsense and stress of recent news headlines that have completely dominated. After all, it is Sunday in September, and it is Labor Day Weekend. The U.S. Open is taking place right now, and several women have a chance at finishing this calendar year as the new number one in women's tennis. In the meantime, two familiar adversaries are still hoping to win another Grand Slam championship to add to their already impressive collection of tennis hardware. If you have not figured it out yet, I am talking about Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, of course. Both men hope to add another major championship. For Nadal, it would be the second of this year, his 16th overall (second behind Federer), and might propel him to the number one ranking. For Federer, he is looking for his third major title of this calendar year, his 20th Grand Slam championship in all, and a serious chance to finish the year's end with the number one ranking, which would be the sixth time in his storied career, and would tie him with Pete Sampras for the most year end number one rankings for men's tennis.

And hell, we have not even started the NFL season yet, but MSL is still going strong. There is talk of expansion into Nashville, Detroit, and Sacramento, although we shall see which of these cities gets the prize. Toronto FC seems clearly tops in the east, while both New York teams look strong for playoff contention, at least. Out west, the Seattle Sounders are presently on top, although both Portland and Sporting KC are nipping at their heels, and Vancouver, Houston Dynamo, and even FC Dallas all look like they are still contending for elite sports.

Plus, Major League Baseball, although I am admittedly neither as interested nor qualified to speak at length about the unfolding season there.

However, I will go back to the NFL, and although I do look forward to the upcoming season, I will explain why I do not believe that this, or any other season to come, will ever top the season that I believe was far and away the most entertaining - at least from my perspective - and why it stood out so:

Okay, so a new NFL season is upon us, and a lot of people are looking forward to it, and understandably so. After all, it is entertaining, and a lot of people have high hopes for their teams, either their actual NFL teams, for their fantasy football teams. Yes, part of it is that a lot of money exchanges hands during your typical NFL season, either through fantasy football, office pools, or just outright betting on the winner and/or over/under of any given game on Sunday.

Indeed, these days, we have more television coverage of NFL games than ever before. If you are a fan of a team on the other side of the country, you can subscribe to watch that team's games. You can watch endless replays and analysis on numerous sports channels. You can see every touchdown scored on any given weekend, almost live, with certain apps. The picture is clearer and the technology is better than ever before, making viewing more pleasant.

Yet, admittedly, I am old school on many levels. Frankly, I think like everything else in our society, this football obsession tends to go too far. I like watching games, and follow how teams are doing (mostly from the internet), but cannot commit to watching NFL football from literally 1pm on Sundays (or perhaps even earlier for the pregame shows) and through the double-header, and onto the Sunday Night Football game. Depending on whether or not there is overtime, you are talking about at least nine straight hours. And maybe this makes me sound like not such a real fan, but that is just way too much for me. I remember when you watched whatever game was airing locally, and when the analysis was more or less limited to the pregame and postgame shows, and a handful of sports shows that came on afterward (George Michael's Sports Machine, or ESPN's Sports Center, for example).

Yes, I am talking about a long ago era, but that was when it seemed more enjoyable to me. This was before fantasy football completely took over, and individual stats began to mean more than how your favorite team was doing. Back before rampant free agency, and the salary cap, although perhaps a salary cap worked well, and which we could learn from in our over greater society in general.

Surely, some younger people would respond by rolling their eyes, much like I would have when I was much younger, and some old guy would go on about how things were just so much better back in the days when he was younger, whether talking about football or music or the country or the world in general. And perhaps, on some level, that is even what I am doing here. But let me try to explain it anyway.

I am sure that some people would reject my arguments here right away, but I will go ahead and explain why, in my opinion, the 1990 NFL season was the best one.

Let me explain why. First of all, this was indeed before the salary cap and free agency took over, which had the effect of watering down the level of talent for many teams. This was right around the peak of how good teams were getting, and when there was still a load of talent. Just look at the quarterbacks who were playing during that time. You had Joe Montana, still considered the best ever by many people. John Elway was in Denver, coming off three Super Bowl appearances (all losses) in a four year span. Dan Marino was in Miami. Warren Moon was in Houston, for the Oilers. And Jim Kelly was really emerging in Buffalo. Yet, of all the quarterbacks in the NFL during that season, Phil Simms of the Giants wound up being statistically the leading quarterback that season. And here's the kicker: none of those quarterbacks would go on to win the Super Bowl that season!

Let me also get this little nugget out of the way, as well. It was the first season where my preseason picks of Super Bowl participants and ultimately, the Super Bowl winner, came true. That's right, I picked the Giants to beat the Bills in the Super Bowl. Of course, admittedly, I almost always picked the Giants, because it seemed to me at the time inevitable that they would, eventually, follow up that tremendous promise from the 1986 season with at least one more championship. As for the Bills, they had been to the AFC title game two seasons before, and looked solid. The Broncos had been humiliated in the Super Bowl the year before, and I figured that they would not be back in the big game anytime soon again after that. The Browns also kept losing to the Broncos, and it was difficult to see them going to the Super Bowl. That left the Cincinnati Bengals and the Buffalo Bills as the two main teams that I figured would eventually do battle for AFC supremacy. I was wrong about that, because the Bengals, frankly, were never all that great during the 1990 season. And the Raiders would step up in a big way in the AFC West, finishing 12-4, and earning a playoff bye. But the Bills were better than I thought, finishing 13-3 (and losing the final, meaningless regular season game was all that stood in the way of tying the 49ers for the best regular season mark of 14-2). Buffalo destroyed the Raiders in the AFC title game and looked like the heavy favorites in the Super Bowl, while the Giants, the team that I thought would dominate, got off to a hot start, but then were reeling after suffering three losses in a four game span. They earned a playoff bye and soundly beat the Bears, but it took everything that the Giants had to eke out a win in San Francisco. They looked spent, and many thought that they would not be able to contain Buffalo's explosive offense.

But I will get back to that Super Bowl, and why the underdog Giants eventually won, later.

In the meantime, it should be noted that while there were relatively few games (12 in all leading up to the '90 season) in NFL history when two teams with records of 10-2 or better faced off, their were two of them in this season. Both involved the eventual Super Bowl champion Giants. The first was the big showdown, when the 10-1 Giants met the also 10-1 49ers on the first Monday Night Football contest in December.

Now, both the Giants and the 49ers had been involved in such highly anticipated games of teams with incredibly impressive records. In 1986, the 11-2 Giants visited 11-2 Washington. In a slugfest, the Giants managed to win. The Giants had been impressive to that point, but dominating that game (the game was not even as close as the score would indicate), propelled New York to essentially dominate the rest of the regular season. They finished with a 14-2 mark, the best mark in franchise history, and wound up whipping both San Francisco and Washington in the playoffs before beating Denver in the Super Bowl. The next season, San Francisco, sporting a 10-2 record, hosted the also impressive Chicago Bears, who also had a 10-2 record. Both teams were among the most successful frachises of the 1980's, and the Bears had been historically dominant in 1985, and then finished 14-2 in 1986. But the 49ers embarrased the Bears in that game, before a nationally televised Monday Night Football audience, and Chicago never recovered. They finished that season 11-4, and lost for a second straight season at home against Washington in the playoffs. The Niners would finish that season with the best mark in the NFL at 13-2, and were favored to take the title. But San Francisco, the team with both the highest rated offense and defense that season, were themselves on the receiving end of an upset against Minnesota. Still, the 49ers had some amazing talent, and they would go on to win the next two Super Bowls, setting themselves up to the the favorites to "three peat" for the 1990-91 season. That is why the big showdown against the Giants mattered so much, and everyone wanted to see if the Giants would legitimately contend for supremacy in the NFC, or if the 49ers would once again, come out on top.

Then, two weeks later, the 11-2 Buffalo Bills visited the 11-2 New York Giants. That game was not quite as highly anticipated as the first one, because the Bills had kind of snuck up on people. The Bills had gotten blown out in Miami in week 2, losing 30-7. But while the 49ers and Giants both raced out to undefeated 10-0 starts, and everyone anticipated their match-up, with the winner becoming the odds on favorites to hoist the Super Bowl trophy at season's end, Buffalo reeled eight straight wins, and firmly established themselves as the best team in the AFC. Of course, this was at the time when the AFC was smack in the middle of their Super Bowl drought, and thus seen as the inferior conference. However, the Bills seemed to have far more strengths than most AFC contenders of recent seasons leading up to that one, and the big showdown at the Meadownlands against the Giants could be their opportunity to not only be seen as legitimate contenders, but to also show themselves that they could take on traditional NFC bullies like the Giants and beat them - at Giants Stadium, no less! Some people suggested that it might be a Super Bowl preview, although most people conceded that the Giants were now unlikely to beat the Niners in San Francisco come January. But by then, most people figured Buffalo would finally reach the Super Bowl, for the first time in franchise history, although defeating the Giants at the Meadowlands would go a long way towards their being taken seriously or not.

In both of these big showdowns, the Giants lost. And these losses seemed to knock the Giants out of contention according to most experts, especially when Phil Simms, New York's starting quarterback, was lost with a season ending injury. Simms was the NFL's leading passer that season when he went down, but now relying on a backup, and having lost the two biggest games of the season, the Giants seemed almost out of it, according to most of the so-called experts. Surely, a back-up would not fare better than the league's leading passer, and former MVP of both the Super Bowl and the Pro Bowl. As it turned out, however, the Giants would meet both teams again in the playoffs, and they would avenge both of these earlier losses.

The 1990 season was also special because it featured some other tremendous athletes in other positions. Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith, two of the very greatest running backs in history, were still young, although emerging stars. Thurman Thomas was starting to make people stand up and take notice in Buffalo. And Bo Jackson, the ultimate physical specimen, was at his peak and making people marvel at his strength, his speed, and his overall athleticism, although he would wind up with a career ending injury in a playoff game against the Bengals at the end of the season. Lawrence Taylor, the greatest linebacker in history, was on the Giants, and probably the greatest cornerback in NFL history, Ronnie Lott, was playing for San Francisco. The 49ers also had the greatest wide receiver in history in Jerry Rice. They also had perhaps the most dominant dynasty in NFL history that they were coming off of, and were looking to extend their dominance with what they hoped would end with a "three-peat."

There were some incredible performances otherwise, as well. Warren Moon, the prolific passer for the Houston Oilers (a team that now exists as the Tennessee Titans) had one game where he passed for the second most yards of any quarterback in NFL history. The Detroit Lions hosted the Los Angeles Raiders in one of the most memorable Monday Night Football games in history, which the Raiders ultimately won in a wild 38-31 shootout. There was one weekend in which all of the division leaders lost, which was the first time in NFL history that this had happened. And the Giants committed less turnover than any team in NFL history to that point, with only 14 turnovers in 19 games, including the playoffs. That was a huge part of their success. Also, there were some very impressive winning streaks. The Giants and 49ers both had 10-game winning streaks, while the Bills enjoyed an eight-game winning streak. The Bears enjoyed a six game winning streak to reach a record of 9-1, and the Eagles recovered from a dismal 2-4 start to enjoy a five game winning streak, including handing the Giants their first loss, which got them into serious playoff contention again, before bowing to the Bills in a wild showdown in Buffalo's Orchard Park.

Yet, the winning streaks on everyone's mind were the two 10-game winning streaks by the 49ers and the Giants, because that is how the historic 1990 season began. To that end, the 49ers set a record for best start in that franchise's history at 10-0. Yet, they were not alone. The New York Giants also started at a franchise best 10-0, and the two teams were set to meet in Week 13 (this was also the first season with a bye week), when most people figured the two teams would be 11-0. Instead, though, the Giants lost the week before to Philadelphia, and then the 49ers returned the favor by losing to the Rams later that same day. So, the two teams would meet with identical 10-1 marks on the year.

There was that whole east coast-west coast dynamic to the rivalry, and there was also this: the unexpected. Most people prior to the season had assumed - wrongly - that only other flashy, predominately high-powered offensive teams, especially either the Rams or the Bengals, would have a shot at knocking the 49ers out. In fact, the team that would test the 49ers the most severely, and which would, in the end, finally defeat them and end the 49ers dynasty in the process, was a very conservative team with a very tough defense, a smash-mouth offensive approach, and excellent special teams and coaching.

Everyone kind of sensed that these two teams, the Giants and the 49ers, would meet in the playoffs, and that the first meeting in the regular season was to determine which team would enjoy home field advantage. San Francisco was seen as an explosive team offensively, but much overlooked was their tough defense, which was the second rated defense in the NFC, right after New York. So perhaps people should have seen what was coming. Most people seemed to expect a game filled with offensive fireworks, but instead, what they got was a tough, defensive struggle, and the lowest scoring contest of the entire season. The offense for both the Giants and 49ers struggled, but New York struck first with a field goal in the second quarter. But San Francisco answered with a touchdown later in the same quarter. And that was it for the scoring for the entire game. San Francisco won, 7-3.

New York had some scoring opportunities in the second half. They drove well into San Francisco territory, and at some point, they likely should have gone for a field goal to close to within a point. But Parcells was a gambler at times, and he gambled then, looking for a touchdown instead of settling for a field goal. It was a costly decision, and likely cost them the game. They did not covert, did not get the touchdown, and later in the game's final possession, they were in field goal range, but needed a touchdown. They did not get it then, either. In fact, the Giants would not score a touchdown in either game against San Francisco that season.

But these two teams were the two best teams in the NFC. They had been from the start of the season, and they proved to be the two best teams in the conference in the playoffs, as well. So, it was no surprise at all that they met in the NFC Championship, which was hosted by San Francisco. And once again, it was a defensive struggle, with neither offense managing to break out.

The NFC Championship Game

The first half was merely a field goal fest. In the first quarter, the 49ers got a field goal, the Giants responded with a field goal of their own. The Giants got another field goal in the second quarter, and the 49ers answered with a field goal of their own. At the half, the game was nodded up at 6-6. It should be noted that the Giants almost got a touchdown, when Hostetler handed the ball to runningback Dave Meggett, who began to ran, but then threw a sneak pass right to fullback Maurice Carthon. But it went right through his hands. No touchdown.

It was in the second half that this game would truly heat up, and become a classic. The 49ers seemed on the brink of blowing the game open all of a sudden, as Joe Montana found John Taylor for a 61-yard touchdown pass. This was the same quarterback-receiver combination that had struck in their regular season meeting. Suddenly, the Niners were up, 13-6, and the stadium was on it's feet. The home crowd sensed blood, and the place was raucous.

New York stayed composed, however. They did not panic, and their offense worked methodically to get into scoring position. Ultimately, they got a field goal, and closed to within 13-9.

It was a hard-hitting game, and that would become obvious in the final quarter. Former Giant Jim Burt hit Giants quarterback Jeff Hostetler in the knee, and Hoss went out for a little while, although it looked grave for a bit there. Then, Leonard Marshall hit Joe Montana hard. It was a clean hit, although a vicious one, and you can say that Montana was never the same afterward. He did not get up and get back into the game, as Hostetler did. In fact, that hit effectively ended Montana's tenure as San Francisco's starting quarterback.

Indeed, two hard hitting defenses continued to dictate the tempo of play on the field. The Niners were able to hold the Giants, and well into the fourth quarter, the Giants were forced to punt. But Parcells gambled again. And if his gamble in the first meeting did not work well, and likely cost New York a chance to win that game, this time, his gamble paid off handsomely. Instead of the ball going to punter Sean Landeta, it went to defender Gary Reasons, who carried the ball well down the field, easily picking up the first down, and then some. It got New York back into scoring position, but again they had to settle for a field goal. That brought the score to 13-12, in favor of San Francisco.

Now, the defenses were really getting down to crunch time. Neither team had been able to force a turnover yet, and a turnover this late in the game would be critical. It looked to be almost over in favor of San Francisco when Steve Young, filling in for the injured Montana, completed a long pass for a first down and then some to Brent Jones. Jones jumped up and spiked the ball, as if the game were finally clinched. Moments later, however, Giants lineman Erik Howard came up with what commentator John Madden called the biggest hit of his career, hitting the ball that Roger Craig was holding, forcing it to pop out. Lawrence Taylor recovered the fumble, and the Giants had the ball again, and a bit of time to work with.

They had to move the ball down the field to get within field goal range. Time was a factor, but New York had mastered clock management that season like no other team. While the 49ers had seemed to be on the verge of locking the contest up, trying desperately to run out the clock on the Giants, the turnover and sudden switch of possessions now put the 49ers in a precarious position, needing to stave off the Giants tough, physical offense. The Giants were able to get within range, and ate up the clock, suddenly using it against San Francisco. There were some big pick ups, some nice passes, an overall good mixture between pass and run.

Ultimately, the Giants got into position to try a 40-yard field goal on the final play of the game, as they took it down to a mere four seconds left. Matt Bahr lined up for the field goal, and it split the uprights, giving the Giants the win. San Francisco's dynasty was done, it was over, and New York, not San Francisco, were taking that trip to Tampa.

Super Bowl XXV

Super Bowl XXV Logo and Team Helmets

Super Bowl XXV field design

The Giants had beaten the 49ers, a team that had beaten them in the regular season. But they would have to do it again, as their Super Bowl opponents, the Buffalo Bills, had defeated the Giants in the Meadowlands, no less, 17-13. Buffalo's offense was already seen as the most explosive one in the AFC, if not the entire NFL, by that point, but it was their tough defense that earned them that big win against New York just a month and a half or so before these two teams would meet again in Tampa for the sport's ultimate prize: the Vince Lombardi Trophy. It was a rainy, soggy, sloppy game, and both teams had lost their starting quarterback. Jim Kelly went down for what appeared to be a potentially season ending injury, although he would return for the Bills in the AFC title game. The Bills wrapped up their regular season by finishing 13-3, and clearly looking like the best team, and the easy favorites, to take the AFC title. This they did, and Buffalo's offense had gotten hot, and looked simply unstoppable. They scored 44 points in a convincing win against Miami in the snow during the divisional round of the playoffs, and then blew away the Raiders in the AFC title game, jumping out to a 41-3 lead at the half, and ultimately winning, 51-3. Buffalo looked incredibly hot. The conventional wisdom among the experts was that they were too good, that even though the Giants had a tough defense, it would not slow the Bills down enough to win the game.

Phil Simms, in the meantime, had gone down without being touched by an opposing player, and his injury proved even more serious. Jeff Hostetler, the backup, had filled in capably in the meantime. He had led the Giants to victories in Phoenix and New England, but neither victory was spectacular. However, his mobility added a dimension that the less mobile Simms lacked, and this helped to make the Giants offensive approach more versatile and less predictable. Some had expected the Giants to be so diminished that a loss to the Bears in the divisional round was likely, but the Giants overwhelmed Chicago, 31-3. Then, the Giants benefited from Hostetler's mobility somewhat in the NFC Championship, although it was mostly due to the physicality on both side of the ball that allowed New York to win that one.

Still, Buffalo had established themselves as very legitimate, despite the albatross of being in the supposedly inferior conference - the AFC. But victories against some top NFC contenders, including Philadelphia and the Giants, plus their red hot offense, clearly established the Bills as easily the best team that the AFC had sent to the Super Bowl in many years. Having gone on the road and beaten the Giants in the earlier regular season showdown, they had every reason to be confident and to believe that they could win. Indeed, most of the football world agreed.

So, most of the experts believed that Buffalo would take their first Vince Lombardi Trophy home. The official Vegas line was in favor of the Bills, by roughly 6 to 6 1/2 points, although some people even suggested that the Bills would romp over the Giants, much like they had against both Miami and the Los Angeles Raiders.

The Bills themselves seemed a bit cocky. One member of the Bills expressed disappointment that the Giants had won the NFC crown, because he had wanted the 49ers, since they were more famous. Another Bills player let it be known publicly that he was having his finger measured for the inevitable ring. At that point, it seemed that AFC representatives to the Super Bowl were always rather cocky, and predicting great outcomes, then going on to get hammered when the actual big game came around. That was the case the previous season, when the Broncos talking big prior to the Super Bowl against the 49ers. They clearly expected to beat the Niners, and one of them even suggested that it would be an upset if Denver did not win. San Francisco won that Super Bowl in record fashion, 55-10.

Still, the 1990-91 Bills were different. They were indeed very good, and seemed fully capable of backing up their bravado. They had beaten some tough NFC teams, including the Giants, and again, that was at Giants Stadium. Their offense looked virtually unstoppable, and their defense was talented and tough, as well. Head coach Marv Levy added a scholarly touch of class to the team, and he seemed very focused on winning, even skipping the Media Day appearance, for which he was fined. He later apologized, saying that he did not know his absence would prove to be such a big deal, as it got a lot of headlines. But in his apology, he also said that this was the one game that he had waited 40 years for, and he was taking it very seriously.

So, Buffalo seemed ready for Super Bowl Sunday, although most people noticed that the Bills looked a bit uptight, while the Giants, likely drawing on their past successful Super Bowl appearance, seemed more relaxed. Whether that ultimately played a factor in how the outcome was determined or not, it is hard to say. But it might indeed be worth noting.

In any case, the game itself was excellent, featuring a contrast in styles. The Bills had a high-flying offense, as well as tremendous talent on defense. They had serious talent on both sides, but their no-huddle offense just caught fire in the middle of the 1990 season, and they ran with that momentum, which carried them to the Super Bowl as strong favorites. The Giants, by contrast, specialized in a tough, physical defense. It was not the overwhelming, sack happy defense of 1986, but a defense that largely strangled opposing offenses, particularly strong in frustrating the passing game of opponents. But New York also had a strong offense, led by a big, physically imposing offensive line. They had strong special teams, and an experienced coach who was beginning to emerge as one of the best coaches of his time, a master motivator.

The Giants and Bills had met in the preseason, and again in the regular season, so there was some familiarity. Still, early on, it seemed a bit like they were still just feeling each other out. The Giants scored with a field goal and a 3-0 lead, but the Bills answered back with a field goal of their own. By the end of the first quarter, the score was nodded up, 3-3.

It was in the second quarter, however, the Bills began to take over. They had a strong drive, leading to their first touchdown, and a 10-3 lead. Not long after that, with the Giants feeling serious pressure, the hard-hitting Bills defense, which hit Hostetler hard all game long, was able to capitalize on a Giant mistake. Hostetler had tripped over running back Ottis Anderson's feet, and stumbled into the end zone. Bruce Smith, the Bills star defender, grabbed onto Hostetler's wrist, looking to force a fumble in the Giants own end zone. That would give the Bills a commanding 17-3 lead, most likely. But Hostetler hung onto the ball, and even though he was sacked in the end zone for a safety, that play might have allowed the Giants to stay in a game that was on the verge of spiraling out of control for them.

Still, the Bills had to be feeling good with a 12-3 lead, and the Giants were reeling. Hostetler was taking a pounding, and the Bills offense surely could not be contained for long. If the Giants did not score soon, a score - almost any score - by Buffalo might prove fatal for New York's chances. Time was quickly running out for the first half, and the Giants desperately needed a score. They managed to get a strong drive, punctuated by a brilliant pass by Hostetler that found Stephen Baker in the corner of the end zone with less than a minute left before halftime. Suddenly, it was a close game at 12-10. Marve Levy explained after the game that New York getting that touchdown right before halftime definitely had an impact on his team, which had been in control of the tempo of the game up to that point.

To start off the second half, the Giants opened with what was then the longest drive in Super Bowl history, holding the ball for well over nine minutes of play. It almost ended a lot earlier than that, but on 3rd down and 13, Giants receiver Mark Ingram caught the ball and then broke several would be tackles, twisting and turning and ultimately hopping on one leg to pick up the first down - just barely. It kept the drive alive, and the Giants physical offensive line continued to wear down the Bills defense. The drive culminated in a touchdown from Ottis Anderson, giving New York a 17-12 lead. It had seemed like they were on the verge of being out of the game not too much longer before, but the Giant offense had kept the ball for two long drives, the first one to essentially end the first half (the Bills knelt down with the ball with the few seconds they had left), and then another historically long drive to start the second half. After that, the Giants went from being down, 3-12, to having the 17-12 lead.

The dangerous Bills offense had not been on the field for quite a long time, while the Giants defense benefited from the rest. Buffalo's offense looked a little cold after that for a while, but they were not done. Eventually, Thurman Thomas broke free in the fourth quarter and sprinted into the end zone, and once again, the Bills took the lead, 19-17.

However, the Giants methodical offense pounded the Bills by then exhausted defense. They did not manage a touchdown, but they got the field goal, for a 20-19 lead late in the fourth quarter.

In the game's final minutes, the Bills had the ball, and a little over two minutes to play. Their offense showed some of the talent and brilliant execution that had gotten them to highly rated in the first place, and Buffalo moved down to the Giants 30-yard line as time was running out. The Bills had one last chance, and it would be a 47-yard field goal by Scott Norwood to decide it. In one of the most famous and iconic plays in Super Bowl, and perhaps even NFL, history, Norwood's kick sailed wide right, missing what would have been the championship winning field goal by a few feet, securing the unlikely championship for the Giants.

What we now know, looking back, is that the 47-yard line was then the precise point at which most NFL kickers missed more field goals than they made, and Norwood, specifically, started to be shaky on real grass surfaces, which the Tampa Stadium field was, starting around this distance. He barely missed, but it was a miss. Some said that his missing actually detracted from the game, that it was an error, or a mistake, that decided this one.

Perhaps. But both teams played their hearts out, and gave us, the viewers, an instant classic, a truly great and very memorable championship. It was the first playoff game in NFL history where neither team committed a turnover, and the play on the field finally matched, if not exceeded, the billing of a Super Bowl. Both teams played well enough to win, and really, it was a shame that someone had to walk off the field with a Super Bowl loss. But one team did, and that was the Bills. Remember, this was before they earned the reputation as perennial Super Bowl losers, although this clearly would haunt them in their future Super Bowl appearances.

As for the Super Bowl champion Giants, it was their second Super Bowl title in five seasons, and secured their place as one of the great teams of that era. They won it by doing what they had done all season, playing smashmouth football. Their offensive line wore down opposing defenses and controlled the clock, while their physical defense contained other teams, sometimes bending, but rarely ever breaking. Even against the Bills, a team that had scored just shy of 100 points in their two prior playoff contests, the Giants limited them to less than 20 minutes on the field, and allowed the Bills to score only 19 points, giving the Giants offense a chance. And a chance was really all that they needed. They scored more than that and won, albeit barely won. In fact, they won by the slimmest of margins, but the greatness on display on that Super Sunday allows this Super Bowl to consistently rank as among the very best Super Bowls by most experts, even right to the present day. Indeed, it was a fitting end to what truly was a remarkable, and highly entertaining, 1990-91 season.