The BillsNo Huddle “K-Gun” offense, after having a breakout1990 season, once again dominated the league by gaining an NFL leading 6,525 yards and scoring 458 points, a franchise record, and second only toWashington. The leaders of the offense, quarterbackJim Kelly and running backThurman Thomas, both had the best seasons of their careers. Kelly completed 64.1 percent of his passes for 3,844 yards and a league-leading 33 touchdowns, with only 17 interceptions, to give him a 97.6 passer rating. Behind his fullback Carwell Gardner, Thomas rushed for 1,407 yards, caught 62 passes for 620 yards, and scored 12 touchdowns to earn him both theNFL Offensive Player of the Year Award and theNFL Most Valuable Player Award. Just like Washington, Buffalo had more than one threat in their backfield. Running backKenneth Davis emerged as a big threat off the bench, rushing for 624 yards, catching 20 passes for 118 yards, and scoring 5 touchdowns.
The Bills also had several major weapons in their passing game. Wide receiverAndre Reed led the team with 81 receptions for 1,113 yards and 10 touchdowns, and also rushed 12 times for 136 yards. On the other side of the field, veteran wide receiverJames Lofton recorded 57 receptions for 1,072 yards and 8 touchdowns to earn his 8th Pro Bowl appearance and finish the year just 55 yards short of the all-time receiving record held bySteve Largent (13,089 yards). Pro Bowl tight endKeith McKeller was also a big contributor with 44 receptions for 434 yards, while receiverDon Beebe had 32 catches, 414 yards, and 6 touchdowns. Once again, the Bills offensive line was led by centerKent Hull along with Pro Bowl guardJim Ritcher.
Despite few impact players in the later rounds, the Bills’ first two picks had long careers in Buffalo. The first pick, safetyHenry Jones, played for the next ten seasons in Buffalo, making thePro Bowl in hissecond season. Defensive endPhil Hansen played his entire eleven-year career in Buffalo, joining the team'sWall of Fame in2011.
Pro Football Reference argues that the 1991 Bills[3] gained the second-easiest schedule of any NFL team since1971, with onlythe 1999 St. Louis Rams who played only one team with a winning record in the regular season getting an easier set of games.Football Outsiders also argues that the 1991 Bills had the second-easiest schedule between 1989 and 2013 after the 1999 Rams.[4] The Bills played five games against opponents 4–12 or worse, and a quarter of their games were against teams finishing 3–13 or worse,[note 1] whilst their only opponents with winning records were theNFC Central Lions and Bears, andAFC West Chiefs and Raiders.
Mark Duper 3-yard pass from Dan Marino (Charlie Baumann kick)
Bills 35–31
Despite three touchdownsDan Marino could not hold offJim Kelly as the Bills erased a 17–7 Dolphins lead to win 35–31. The two teams combined for 331 rushing yards.
Jim Kelly erupted to six touchdowns as the Bills crushed the Steelers 52–34. Kelly threw for 363 yards, overshadowing the 194 rushing yards the Bills produced.[5]
The Bills faced stiffer competition in their first road game of the year. The Jets clawed to a 10–3 lead late in the second; a pass-interference penalty set up a seven-yardAndre Reed touchdown catch. The Jets led 20–16 lead in the fourth quarter untilThurman Thomas caught a 15-yard score. The Jets raced downfield in the final seconds but missed a 51-yard field goal attempt, falling 23–20 to the Bills.
Returning for the first time sinceSuper Bowl XXV,Scott Norwood missed one field goal attempt wide right from 36 yards. The Bucs behindChris Chandler tied the game in the fourth. In the final minutes an apparent Bills fumble was nullified, andKeith McKeller caught the winning 29-yard touchdown for the 17–10 final.
Harvey Williams andChristian Okoye combined for 225 rushing yards in leading a 33–6 massacre of the Bills; by themselves the two Chiefs backs put up more offense than the entire Bills offensive unit (211 total yards).Steve DeBerg added 150 passing yards and a touchdown as Buffalo's win streak crashed to a halt.
The Bills rebounded by hammering the winless Colts 42–6. The Colts failed to exceed six points for the sixth time in the season so far; they put up just 240 yards of offense vs. 276 rushing yards and four scores byThurman Thomas,Kenneth Davis, andCarwell Gardner.
TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, and Dan Dierdorf
The Bills hosted winless Cincinnati in their second Monday Night appearance in three weeks.Jim Kelly overcame three interceptions to toss five touchdowns (tying aMonday Night Football record), winning 35–16.
The Bills struggled to a 22–17 win asJim Kelly was picked off twice andLeonard Russell rushed for 106 yards and two scores.Jason Staurovsky missed two first-half field goal attempts amid periodic heavy winds atRich Stadium. The Patriots got the ball back in the final 50 seconds after Kelly's second pick, butHugh Millen was himself intercepted at the Bills 20.
The Pack made a game of it asMike Tomczak tossed for 317 yards and two touchdowns but was intercepted twice.Sterling Sharpe caught a 58-yard touchdown but was also blown up for a 15–yard loss on a rushing attempt.
Game weather: 75 °F (24 °C), wind 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn)
Referee: Howard Roe
TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, and Dan Dierdorf
The Dolphins fumbled three times andDan Marino was intercepted twice as the Bills rolled to 262 rushing yards and threeJim Kelly touchdowns, winning 41–27.
TV announcers (NBC): Jim Donovan and Beasley Reece
The Patriots pulled off one of the bigger upsets of the 1991 season as they picked offJim Kelly four times whileHugh Millen threw a 50-yard score toIrving Fryar and ran in the winning score in a 16–13 win.
Amid a burgeoning feud with team ownerAl Davis,Marcus Allen put up 95 all-purpose yards on 19 combined touches (16 of them rushes) and a touchdown as the Raiders led 27–14 after three quarters.Scott Norwood had a nightmarish day as he missed a PAT and three FGs but the Bills rallied to tie the game and in overtime Norwood connected on the winning 42-yarder, and a 30–27 Bills win.
Jim Kelly andFrank Reich managed just thirteen completions, but four of them were touchdowns as the Bills romped 35–7.Jeff George was benched after completing just 83 yards andMark Herrmann was even worse, throwing three interceptions. The win secured the #1 playoff seed for the Bills.
With the #1 AFC seed confirmed, the Bills startedFrank Reich against the Lions, still fighting for a playoff bye withthe Bears to play the49ers on Monday Night.Barry Sanders rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown, and his burgeoning legend as impossible to bring down showed whenCornelius Bennett appeared to bring him down for a ten-yard loss in the first quarter but Sanders escaped for a one-yard gain. Reich's touchdown toSteve Tasker forced overtime but the Lions won on a 21-yard field goal, 17–14 the final; with San Francisco's 52–14 massacre of the Bears, the Lions secured a playoff bye.
The Bills became the eighth team to go scoreless in the first half,[note 2] while the Redskins scored 17 points in the second quarter.
The Redskins then increased their lead 24–0 just 16 seconds into the second half after linebackerKurt Gouveia intercepted Kelly's pass on the first play of the third quarter and returned it 23 yards to the Bills’ 2-yard line. One play later, Riggs scored his second touchdown of the game. The Redskins' 24–0 lead midway through the 3rd quarter was the largest shutout lead in Super Bowl history at the time; TheSan Francisco 49ers had led theCincinnati Bengals 20–0 at halftime inSuper Bowl XVI. TheSeattle Seahawks led theDenver Broncos 36-0 right before the final play of the third quarter ofSuper Bowl XLVIII.
The Bills finally got some momentum going with their next few drives. First, they drove 77 yards to the Redskins 3 yard-line, aided by a 43-yard completion from Kelly to receiverDon Beebe. Washington kept Buffalo out of the end zone, but kickerScott Norwood kicked a 21-yard field goal to cut their deficit to 24–3. Then aided by a 29-yard pass interference penalty on Redskins cornerbackMartin Mayhew in the end zone, the Bills finally scored a touchdown on their next drive with a 1-yard run by Thomas to make the score 24–10.
The two teams combined for the most points in a 3rd quarter in a Super Bowl history (24 total points: 14 for Washington and 10 for Buffalo) and the most combined in a second half (44 total points: 24 for Buffalo and 20 for Washington).
But Buffalo's hopes of a comeback faded when Washington advanced 79 yards in 11 plays on their ensuing drive, scoring on Clark's 30-yard touchdown reception to give the Redskins a 31–10 lead with 1:24 left in the third period. Then 3 plays after receiving the ensuing kickoff, Kelly fumbled the ball while being sacked by defensive backAlvoid Mays, and it was recovered by defensive endFred Stokes. After the turnover, Washington drove to the Bills 7-yard line and increased their lead to 34–10 with Lohmiller's 25-yard field goal on the second play of the fourth quarter.
Then on the Bills ensuing drive, Kelly was sacked for a 9-yard loss by Stokes, threw an incomplete pass, and then threw his second interception of the game to Edwards, who returned it 35 yards to Buffalo's 33-yard line. Five plays later, Lohmiller kicked his second field goal with 11:36 left in the game to increase Washington's lead to 37–10. With the game almost completely out of reach, the Bills managed to respond with a 15-play, 79-yard drive to cut the score to 37–17 on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Kelly to Metzelaars. Then, after recovering an onside kick, the Bills drove 50 yards and scored another touchdown with Beebe's 4-yard reception to make the score 37–24. But the Bills’ second onside kick attempt was unsuccessful and the Redskins were able to run out the clock. From there, the Bills attempted one final pass play before time expired.
Kelly, completed 28 of a Super Bowl-record 58 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns, but was sacked four times, intercepted four times, and lost one fumble. Thomas ran for only 13 yards on 10 carries and was limited to 27 yards on four receptions.James Lofton was the top receiver for the Bills with 7 catches for 92 yards. But Reed was limited to just 5 catches for 31 yards. Clark had seven catches for 114 yards and a touchdown and Monk added seven for 113 yards. (Clark and Monk became the third pair of teammates to each have 100 yards receiving in a Super Bowl; they joined the Steelers’John Stallworth andLynn Swann who did it inSuper Bowl XIII and the Bengals’Cris Collinsworth andDan Ross who did it inSuper Bowl XVI).
^The 2014 Houston Texans playedfive games against opponents finishing 3–13 or worse. However, as the 2014AFC South played a strongAFC North that went 26–13–1 in non-division games, the overall win record of the 2014 Texans’ opponents in extraneous games was 91–100 vis-à-vis 79–97 for the 1991 Bills.
