Editing Super Bowl XXV (section)

==Game summary==
To counteract the Bills' no-huddle offense, the Giants' used a tough-nosed, conservative plan on both sides of the ball. On offense, the plan was to use a power running game utilizing [[Ottis Anderson]], aided by [[quarterback]] rollouts, bootlegs, and play-action fakes. As tight end [[Mark Bavaro]] later recalled, "We came out with three tight ends, fat slobs picking you up and moving you and letting you tackle O.J. [Anderson], if you could."{{citation needed|date=January 2016}} This enabled them to take time off the clock and limit Buffalo's possessions. The Giants set a Super Bowl record for time of possession with 40 minutes and 33 seconds, including 22 minutes in the second half.

On defense, New York wanted to be physical with Buffalo's wideouts, and play with extra defensive backs to concentrate on stopping the Bills' passing game, while shifting focus away from trying to stop Buffalo's running game. In his book ''The Education of a Coach'', [[David Halberstam]] wrote that one of defensive coordinator [[Bill Belichick]]'s specific plans to combat the Bills involved convincing his defense (who had been the best unit against the run in the NFL that season) that they would win the game if [[Thurman Thomas]] ran for more than 100 yards. Belichick also felt that [[Jim Kelly]] was not as good at reading defenses as some other elite quarterbacks were (for example, [[Joe Montana]]), and that Kelly tended to "freeze" what he was seeing from a series and then use that information on the next one, which meant the Giants could be a step ahead of him all game if they alternated their cover plans from drive to drive.

===First quarter===
The contrast in strategies was evident during the first quarter. After forcing the Bills to punt on their opening drive of the game, the Giants consumed 6:15 off the clock by marching 58 yards in 11 plays to score on a 28-yard field goal from kicker [[Matt Bahr]]. In that drive, New York ran six rushing plays, which included a 10-yard run by running back [[Dave Meggett]], and five passing plays, which included quarterback [[Jeff Hostetler]]'s passes for 13 and 16 yards to tight end [[Howard Cross]] and wide receiver [[Mark Ingram Sr.|Mark Ingram]], respectively. However, Buffalo struck right back on their ensuing possession with a 6-play, 66-yard drive that took 1:23 off the clock, which included a 61-yard pass from quarterback [[Jim Kelly]] that was tipped by Giants cornerback [[Perry Williams (cornerback)|Perry Williams]], but caught by Bills wide receiver [[James Lofton]] to set up 1st-and-goal for Buffalo at the New York 8-yard line. However, the Giants' defense kept the Bills out of the end zone, forcing them to settle for kicker [[Scott Norwood]]'s 23-yard field goal to tie the game, 3–3.

After forcing New York to punt on their ensuing possession, Buffalo's offensive strategy started to work to perfection. Kelly led the Bills on a 12-play, 80-yard scoring drive that consumed 4:27 and moved the ball so effectively that the team never faced a third down. Kelly completed six consecutive passes (four to wide receiver [[Andre Reed]]) for 62 yards, and running back [[Don Smith (running back)|Don Smith]] capped off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to give Buffalo their first lead of the game, 10–3, early in the second quarter. Smith's touchdown was his only carry of the game and the last carry of his career. Reed's five receptions in the first quarter were a Super Bowl record.

===Second quarter===
After the teams traded punts, Bills punter [[Rick Tuten]]'s 43-yard kick pinned the Giants at their own 7-yard line. On second down, after New York center [[Bart Oates]] was flagged for holding, Buffalo defensive end [[Bruce Smith]] sacked Hostetler in the end zone for a safety, increasing the Bills' lead to 12–3. On the play, Smith had a chance to force a fumble, since Hostetler was holding the football with only his throwing hand, but Hostetler held the ball away from Smith, ensuring that only two points would be surrendered.

After the next three possessions ended in punts, the Giants got the ball at their own 13-yard line with 3:43 left in the second quarter. They abandoned their long-drive strategy and employed a quick-strike attack of their own. It worked, as Hostetler led the Giants on a 10-play, 87-yard drive, which featured an 18-yard run by running back [[Ottis Anderson]], a 22-yard reception by Ingram, and a 16-yard run by Meggett. The drive ended with Hostetler's 14-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver [[Stephen Baker (American football)|Stephen Baker]] with just 25 seconds left in the half, cutting New York's deficit to 12–10.

===Third quarter===
The Giants opened the third quarter and resumed their original game strategy by driving 75 yards in 14 plays to score on Anderson's 1-yard touchdown run, giving the Giants a 17–12 lead. The drive consumed a then-Super Bowl record of 9:29 (since surpassed by the Giants themselves in [[Super Bowl XLII]]) and included four successful third down conversions. The highlight of the drive was a 14-yard reception by Ingram on 3rd-and-13, in which he caught a short pass from Hostetler and broke five tackles by the Buffalo defense to get the first down and keep the drive alive. With his touchdown included, Anderson recorded five runs for a total of 37 yards during the drive. By this point, the Bills' offense had gone nearly two hours of real-time (counting the halftime show) since they last possessed the ball.

After forcing the Bills to punt on their ensuing possession, a bad punt by Tuten set the Giants up with good field position at their own 42. They drove to the Buffalo 35-yard line, aided by a 10-yard reception by Cross, a defensive holding penalty on Bills cornerback [[Nate Odomes]], and a 9-yard reception by Ingram. But when New York elected to convert 4th-and-2, Bruce Smith tackled Anderson for a 2-yard loss, giving the ball back to Buffalo on their own 37.

===Fourth quarter===
Immediately after the turnover on downs, the Bills advanced 63 yards in just four plays. Kelly completed a 9-yard pass to running back [[Thurman Thomas]], followed by a pair of passes to running back [[Kenneth Davis (American football)|Kenneth Davis]] for a gain of 23 yards. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Thomas broke three tackles by the Giants' defense and went the distance for a 31-yard touchdown run, putting the Bills back in front with a 19–17 lead. Thomas' touchdown marked 1,000 points scored in Super Bowl history (1,001 with the extra point). However, before the Buffalo defense had a chance to catch their breath, they found themselves back on the field trying to contain another long New York drive. This one went for 14 plays and 74 yards, half of which came off three passes from Hostetler to tight end [[Mark Bavaro]] and took 7:32 off the clock. The Bills managed to halt the drive at their own 3-yard line when linebacker [[Cornelius Bennett]] broke up Hostetler's third down pass, but Bahr kicked a 21-yard field goal to give the Giants the lead again, 20–19. On the Bills' ensuing possession, they could only advance to their own 41-yard line before having to punt, enabling the Giants to take more time off the clock. Buffalo finally forced New York to punt and took the ball at their own 10-yard line after a 38-yard punt by [[Sean Landeta]], getting one more chance for a game-winning drive with 2:16 remaining.

On the Bills' final possession, Kelly led the team down the field with a mix of scrambles, short passes, and a pair of runs by Thomas, of which the last was for a critical 11 yards,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199101200sfo.htm|title=NFC Championship - New York Giants at San Francisco 49ers - January 20th, 1991|website=[[Pro Football Reference]]|access-date=November 14, 2021}}</ref> managing to get the Bills to the Giants 29-yard line, just within field goal range with eight seconds to play. Norwood attempted a 47-yard game-winning field goal from the right [[Hash mark (sports)|hash]] of the 37-yard line, with backup quarterback [[Frank Reich]] the [[Holder (gridiron football)|holder]] and center [[Adam Lingner]] the [[long snapper]]. (At the two-minute warning, ABC put up a graphic that showed Norwood's career history of field goal attempts of 40+ yards on grass fields; he was 1 for 5.) Norwood's kick sailed [[Wide Right (Buffalo Bills)|wide right]], less than a yard outside of the goalpost upright. After Norwood's miss, the Giants ran out the clock to win their second Super Bowl title.

There were many impressive performances in the game by players from both teams. [[Jim Kelly]] completed 18 of 30 passes for 212 yards with no interceptions, while adding another 23 yards on six rushing attempts. [[Jeff Hostetler]] completed 20 of 32 passes for 222 yards and a touchdown, and rushed for 10 yards. [[Dave Meggett]] recorded 129 combined net yards (48 rushing, 18 receiving, 37 on punt returns, 26 on kickoff returns). But the best performances came from both teams' starting running backs. [[Ottis Anderson]] rushed for 102 yards, caught a pass for seven yards, and scored a touchdown. [[Thurman Thomas]] scored a touchdown, rushed for 135 yards, and caught five passes for 55 yards, giving him 190 total yards from scrimmage. Thomas' 135 yards are the most yards rushing for a member of a losing team. This was also only the second Super Bowl to have two 100-yard rushers. In [[Super Bowl III]], [[New York Jets]] fullback [[Matt Snell]] recorded 121 rushing yards while [[Baltimore Colts]] halfback [[Tom Matte]] ran for 116. In lieu of saying the traditional "[[I'm going to Disney World]]", MVP O.J. Anderson said "I'm dedicating this win for our troops", although he was given the option of saying the former.

===Aftermath===
The defensive game plan for the Giants, written by then-[[defensive coordinator]] [[Bill Belichick]], has been included in the [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]]. The Giants' triumph helped Belichick and wide receivers coach [[Tom Coughlin]] make their names and eventually land head-coaching jobs with the [[Cleveland Browns]] and [[Boston College]], respectively. Belichick was head coach of the [[New England Patriots]], while Coughlin went from Boston College to be the first head coach for the [[Jacksonville Jaguars]], and spent 12 seasons as the head coach of the New York Giants before resigning in [[2016 New York Giants season|2016]]. Giants head coach [[Bill Parcells]] retired shortly after winning his second Super Bowl with the Giants. However, he went on to coach three other teams since then: the [[New England Patriots]] (whom he helped bring to [[Super Bowl XXXI]]) from [[1993 New England Patriots season|1993]]–[[1996 New England Patriots season|1996]], the [[New York Jets]] from [[1997 New York Jets season|1997]]–[[1999 New York Jets season|1999]], and the [[Dallas Cowboys]] from [[2003 Dallas Cowboys season|2003]]–[[2006 Dallas Cowboys season|2006]]. Both Coughlin and Belichick have gone on to win Super Bowls as head coaches: Belichick with the Patriots in Super Bowls [[Super Bowl XXXVI|XXXVI]], [[Super Bowl XXXVIII|XXXVIII]], [[Super Bowl XXXIX|XXXIX]], [[Super Bowl XLIX|XLIX]], [[Super Bowl LI|LI]], and [[Super Bowl LIII|LIII]]; Coughlin with the Giants in Super Bowls [[Super Bowl XLII|XLII]] and [[Super Bowl XLVI|XLVI]], coincidentally both against Belichick's Patriots.

It was the first Super Bowl (and NFL Playoff game) in which neither team committed a turnover.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/blog/indexcffb.html?p=8837 |title=Super Bowl XXV: Correcting the Narrative |last=Stuart |first=Chase |website=Pro Football Reference |access-date=November 17, 2017}}</ref> The only other Super Bowl to date without a turnover is [[Super Bowl XXXIV]], in which the [[1999 St. Louis Rams season|St. Louis Rams]] defeated the [[1999 Tennessee Titans season|Tennessee Titans]] 23–16. Because of Thomas's high production, some sports writers, such as ''Sports Illustrated''{{'}}s [[Paul Lionel Zimmerman|Paul Zimmerman]], felt that he should have won the game MVP even though his team lost, just as [[Chuck Howley]] had done in [[Super Bowl V]].<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Zimmerman|first=Paul|author-link=Paul Lionel Zimmerman|title=HIGH AND MIGHTY|url=https://www.si.com/vault/1991/02/04/123547/high-and-mighty-in-one-of-the-best-played-super-bowls-in-xxv-years-the-new-york-giants-used-their-power-game-to-wear-down-the-buffalo-bills-who-fought-back-but-fell-one-point-short|magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]]|date=February 4, 1991|access-date=January 6, 2016}}</ref>

Jim Kelly was the fourth starting quarterback to lose their Super Bowl debut and eventually make it back, after [[Craig Morton]], whose Cowboys lost [[Super Bowl V]] to the Baltimore Colts but then got their redemption the next year in [[Super Bowl VI]] against the Dolphins, Bob Griese, who was the starting QB for the Dolphins in said loss but went on to get their redemption in [[Super Bowl VII]] the next year and then defend their title [[Super Bowl VIII|a year later]], and [[John Elway]], whose Broncos lost [[Super Bowl XXI]] but reached [[Super Bowl XXII]] the next year only to lose again. They eventually triumphed by winning back to back Super Bowls in [[Super Bowl XXXII|XXXII]] and [[Super Bowl XXXIII|XXXIII]]. Kelly was the final starting quarterback to lose his Super Bowl debut and return until [[Jalen Hurts]], whose Eagles reached [[Super Bowl LVII]] in 2023 but fell short against the Kansas City Chiefs, and then in 2025 reached [[Super Bowl LIX]] two years later with the two teams meeting again and the Eagles coming out on top.

===Box score===
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|titlestyle=text-align:center; {{NFLPrimaryStyle|NFL|border=2}};
|title=Super Bowl XXV: New York Giants 20, Buffalo Bills 19
|Road=Bills (AFC)
|R1=3
|R2=9
|R3=0
|R4=7
|Home='''Giants (NFC)'''
|H1=3
|H2=7
|H3=7
|H4=3
|stadium=[[Tampa Stadium]], [[Tampa, Florida]]
|date=January 27, 1991
|time=6:19 p.m. [[Eastern Time Zone|EST]]
|weather={{convert|71|°F|°C}}, clear<ref>{{cite web|title=Super Bowl Game-Time Temperatures|url=http://www.profootballhof.com/news/super-bowl-game-time-temperatures/|publisher=[[Pro Football Hall of Fame]]|access-date=March 10, 2018}}</ref>
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