Super Bowl XXV - January 27, 1991


While it took only one ballot to award Tampa Bay its first Super Bowl, it would take six ballots to stage a sequel at Tampa Stadium. On May 20, 1987, the NFL owners met in San Diego to name the site for Super Bowl XXV. The contenders were Anaheim, Los Angeles, Miami, San Diego and Tampa. The first two rounds of voting eliminated Los Angeles, Miami and Anaheim, so it came down to Tampa and San Diego. After two more ballots could not reach a consensus, one owner asked how many games were going to be held in California? Including San Diego, who was going to host its first game the following January, three out of the last four games were in California. Two more ballots and a 15-13 vote awarded the game to Tampa Bay.

The Buffalo Bills and New York Giants came to the game after 13-3 regular seasons. For the Bills, it was their first Super Bowl trip. They won the AFC East with regular season losses to Miami, Houston and Washington. In the playoffs, Buffalo defeated Miami 44-34 and dismantled the Los Angeles Raiders 51-3 in the AFC Championship Game. For the Giants, it was their second Super Bowl. They started the regular season 10-0, before losing to Philadelphia, San Francisco and Buffalo. The NFC East champions topped Chicago 31-3 in the playoffs and nipped San Francisco 15-13 in the NFC Championship Game. While the Bill Parcells coached Giants allowed the fewest points per game in the league, the Marv Levy lead Bills had the league's highest scoring offense. Buffalo had posted a 17-13 regular season victory over the Giants and were a six and one-half point favorite.

The Silver Anniversary Game was played against the backdrop of the Persian Gulf War. Less than two weeks earlier, the war with Iraq had begun and brought tension to the game. The threat of terrorism also brought increased security measures and some of the festivities associated with the game were canceled. On game day, 73,813 came to Tampa Stadium to watch two teams with red, white and blue uniforms. The National Anthem sung by Whitney Houston, later it was disclosed she lip-synched it, was one of the most emotional moments in the history of American sports.

The teams exchanged field goals in first quarter, as New York's Matt Bahr hit from 28 yards and Buffalo's Scott Norwood answered from 23 yards. The second quarter saw Don Smith run for a 1 yard touchdown, defensive end Bruce Smith sack Jeff Hostetler for a safety and the Bills lead 12-3. Just before halftime, Hostetler (20 of 32 for 222 yards with an INT) threw a 14 yard pass to Stephen Baker and the score was 12-10 at the break.

photo Ottis Anderson ran for a 1 yard touchdown and the Giants regained the lead. On the opening play of the fourth quarter, Thurman Thomas (135 yards rushing) answered with a 31 yard TD run and the Bills were back on top. Midway through the quarter, a 21 yard field goal by Matt Bahr put the Giants up 20-19. There were eight seconds on the clock when a 47 yard field goal attempt by Scott Norwood drifted wide right. The Giants won the only one point Super Bowl 20- 19.

Giants running back Ottis Anderson, who rushed for 102 yards, was named the game's Most Valuable Player. New York used a ball control offense and set a Super Bowl record for time of possession at 40 minutes, 33 seconds. Buffalo quarterback Jim Kelly (18 of 30 for 212 yards) talked after the game. "It gets frustrating standing on the sideline, wanting to get in there and not being able to do anything about it. Give 'em credit. They did the only thing that could beat us, keep us off the field."

Thurman Thomas had a big game in the losing effort. Thomas totaled 190 yards from scrimmage, rushing 15 times for 135 yards and catching five passes for 55 yards. An exciting game will no doubt be remember for Scott Norwood's missed field goal. Norwood said after the game, "I hit it solid, but I guess I tried to kick it too hard. I let a lot of people down tonight. I did my best. But, in my business, you don't get a second opportunity when your best isn't good enough. But I'll come back from this."

Giants center Bart Oates talked of the franchise's second Super Bowl victory in five years. "It wasn't pretty, it probably was ugly, but this is no beauty contest, either. We turned this into the type of game we wanted. That was the key." The Giants next appearance would come the next time Tampa hosted the game, ten years later. For the Bills, this was the first of an unprecedented four straight Super Bowl trips. They would go on to lose all four.



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