Super Bowl XXVI (Bills vs. Redskins): An Ultimate Recount of the Game

Today we have Super Bowl XXVI, which was held on January 26, 1992, at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis between the second-time AFC champion Buffalo Bills and the record-tying fifth-time NFC champion Washington Redskins. If you’re looking for the full story of this 1991 season, pick up my Nifty Nineties book and you’ll learn more than you ever wanted to know about that year and the rest of the nineties.

As always, we have a pop quiz, and then homework at the end of the episode. The pop quiz question for today is this: who are the other two teams that Washington tied for most Super Bowl appearances (five) at the time of this Super Bowl? The answer will come near the end of the podcast.

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Prelude to Super Bowl XXVI

The Buffalo Bills, under head coach Marv Levy, breezed through their schedule in 1991. They won their first five games, and ten out of their first eleven. Most of the wins were convincing ones. The Bills scored at least 30 points nine times.

In the divisional round of the playoffs, they crushed the Kansas City Chiefs 37-14. But after that game, their offense shut down. They made it to the Super Bowl with a 10-7 AFC Championship win over Denver, with a pick-six by linebacker Carlton Bailey providing their only touchdown of the game. There was cause for concern going to Minnesota for their second straight Super Bowl.

Quarterback Jim Kelly had a banner year in 1991, throwing for 3,844 yards and 33 touchdowns, and completing 64.1 percent of his passes. Running back Thurman Thomas rushed for 1,407 yards and seven touchdowns, while also catching 62 passes for 631 yards.

He was named NFL MVP, beating out his quarterback Kelly by a substantial margin in the MVP voting. He was boosted by his fellow mate in the backfield, Kenneth Davis, who rushed for 624 yards himself. Receivers Andre Reed and James Lofton both went over 1,000 yards receiving and totaled 18 touchdowns.

The Bills were an absolute juggernaut on offense, but they still had a strong defense, including linebacker Cornelius Bennett with nine sacks, defensive tackle Jeff Wright with six, and defensive back Nate Odomes and linebacker Darryl Talley with five interceptions each.

Meanwhile, over in the NFC, led by head coach Joe Gibbs, the Washington Redskins rolled right through their schedule as well. They won their first 11 games and ended up 14-2, with their two losses by a combined five points and the second one being a meaningless Week 17 game against Philadelphia. The ‘Skins then had no problems in the playoffs, beating Atlanta 24-7 and crushing Detroit 41-10 in the NFC Championship Game to advance to their fifth Super Bowl.

Quarterback Mark Rypien may have only finished fourth in the MVP voting, but he won the award in my book. He threw for 3,564 yards and 28 touchdowns, with only 11 interceptions and a passer rating of 97.9. His team’s passing attack was rivaled only by Buffalo’s.

Receiver Gary Clark caught 70 passes for 1,340 yards and ten touchdowns, while Art Monk had one more catch than him and also went for over 1,000 yards. Meanwhile, in the backfield, the ‘Skins had running back Earnest Byner going for 1,048 yards and five touchdowns, Ricky Ervins going for another 680, and Gerald Riggs scoring 11 times.

Super Bowl XXVI: First Quarter

The coin was tossed by Steelers head coach Chuck Noll, having just finished his career at Pittsburgh with four Super Bowl rings. The Redskins won the toss and naturally chose to receive. When the Bills kicked off, referee Jerry Markbreit was not ready, and the kickoff that went for a touchback had to be re-kicked. Fortunately for Buffalo, the second kickoff also went for a touchback!

Also not ready for the start of the game? Thurman Thomas. He lost his helmet on the sideline and ended up missing his team’s first two offensive plays. That’s why you’ll see that Kenneth Davis was the official starting running back of this game and not Thomas, even though Thomas was the league MVP.

The Redskins and Bills both started this game slowly, especially for having such explosive offenses. Each team went three-and-out on their first possession. Washington got the ball back at their own 11, where Rypien rolled to his left and fired to Monk, who was pushed out as he tried to make the catch at the 23, and the first down was given to him.

Rypien went right back to Monk on the next play for 18 yards. Byner burst for nine more, and he got the first down on the next carry. Rypien then went to Monk two more times, collecting 50 yards on the two passes. Riggs was the short-distance specialist, and he came in and was stopped at the 2 after two runs.

On third down, Rypien rolled to his right, fired to Monk, and the receiver brought it in for what was apparently the game’s first touchdown. Uh-uh, said Markbreit. The play was reversed on instant replay, as Monk had one foot in and the other comes down out of bounds.

The ‘Skins settled for a field goal attempt, but even that failed. Holder Jeff Rutledge fumbled the try, and he was tackled for a loss. Buffalo got a pair of first downs on Kelly passes, a 12-yarder to Reed and a 19-yarder to Lofton. But the Bills were stopped and had to punt.

Super Bowl XXVI: Second Quarter

As the second quarter began, Byner ran for a first down past the 40. Rypien then hit receiver Ricky Sanders – the third member of the “Posse” – on the long bomb for a 42-yard gain. A holding penalty on the next play stopped Washington from being able to get the ball into the end zone, but this time kicker Chip Lohmiller got a good hold and made the 34-yard field goal to put the Redskins up 3-0.

The Bills went three-and-out, and punter Chris Mohr got off only a 23-yard punt, giving Washington the ball at the 49. Rypien immediately went to Clark for a first down at the Buffalo 35. Byner ran for six more, then Rypien beat the blitz for an eight-yard gain. On the next play, the Bills were called for roughing the passer. That set up a ten-yard touchdown pass from Rypien to Byner over the left side two plays later, and the ‘Skins led, 10-0.

Kelly threw a long pass that was intercepted by defensive back Darrell Green, such an obviously bad pass that CBS announcer Pat Summerall called the interception while the ball was still in midair. The Redskins would waste little time getting the ball down into the end zone. First, an illegal contact penalty on Buffalo, then a Rypien pass to Clark for a first down at the 15. Next, Ervins ran for a 14-yard gain off the left side, setting up Riggs for a one-yard plunge up the middle to make it 17-0.

If it wasn’t obvious from the previous possession, Kelly and the Bills proved that they were absolutely rattled. They punted three more times before the half, only getting into field goal range once, on the final of those punts. Kelly had gotten the Bills down to the 20 thanks to a 21-yard pass to tight end Keith McKeller.

But on a third-down incompletion, Reed got mad and threw his helmet, drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct flag. The 15-yard penalty pushed the Bills out of field goal range, and Mohr topped off this incredibly terrible first half with a cherry on top by punting the ball only ten yards. Rypien happily ran out the clock, and the Redskins ended the half with a 17-point lead.

Super Bowl XXVI: Third Quarter

Kelly started the second half off by throwing an interception right to linebacker Kurt Gouveia, who returned the pick to the 2. Riggs immediately scored from there, going into the end zone standing up, and the Redskins pushed the lead out to 24-0.

It would have been easy for the Bills to fold there, but give them credit, they hung in there a little longer. Kelly threw a pass to Reed for a first down, then followed with a third-down conversion to Lofton for another first down at the 45. He then went for the long ball to receiver Don Beebe, who caught the pass for a first down at the 11.

Kelly threw another pass to Thomas to get down to the 4, but his next two passes fell incomplete. Kicker Scott Norwood, who was still with the team after last year’s bitter ending, made a 21-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 24-3.

Byner got one first down for the Redskins before they had to punt. The Bills then got back into the game, starting with an 11-yard pass from Kelly to Lofton. Next, Kelly threw to Beebe for nine more yards. Redskins defensive back Martin Mayhew got flagged on a long pass for pass interference, setting up the Bills down near the goal line. Thomas managed to get across on third down from one yard out, and suddenly the Bills were only down by two touchdowns.

This was the key drive; if the Bills could stop the Redskins here, they’d have all the momentum and a chance at really putting the pressure on Washington. But Rypien was calm and cool on this next drive, starting with a pair of passes to Clark to get a first down at the 38.

Ervins ran for six more, and Rypien hit Clark for a first down at the Buffalo 43. Ervins picked up another eight on first down, allowing Riggs to get the first down on a third-down carry. Three plays later, the Redskins faced third-and-ten from the Bills 30. Rypien fired down the right sideline for Clark, throwing the perfect deep ball, with enough touch to get it right into Clark’s hands.

Rypien ran down the field with a hilarious celebration, but he didn’t need any style points. Instead, his team had gotten seven points, and now they led, 31-10.

Super Bowl XXVI: Fourth Quarter

Defensive back Alvoid Mays forced a fumble off Kelly, and defensive end Fred Stokes picked it up for the Redskins. It looked like the ‘Skins were about to get another touchdown, as Byner ran it down to the 5, but his gain got called back on a holding penalty. Rypien got most of those yards back on a 17-yard pass to Monk, but the Redskins settled for a 25-yard field goal from Lohmiller to make it a four-possession game.

Next, things continued to pile up on Kelly, as this time he threw a long ball that Summerall once again called an interception in midair. This one was picked off by defensive back Brad Edwards. He returned the pick to the Buffalo 34. Ervins ran for a first down to the 20, setting up Lohmiller for a 39-yard field goal that made it 37-10 and officially put this game to bed.

There was a lot more of the fourth quarter to be played, where the Bills managed to make the game look close to the uninitiated viewer. That would include me; I was too young to see Super Bowl XXVI live, so when I read about it in books, I thought that this was a rather exciting game, given that it ended up 37-24.

That was all a lie, though. It wasn’t exciting at all. Instead, it was Kelly leading the Bills down for two garbage touchdowns while the Redskins had completely stopped playing because they were getting ready for those t-shirts that were already in their locker room. Kelly threw touchdown passes to tight end Pete Metzelaars and Beebe, but did it really matter? The Redskins had won Super Bowl XXVI, 37-24, for their third Super Bowl championship in franchise history.

Super Bowl XXVI: Aftermath and Awards

This fifth Super Bowl by Washington tied the NFL record for most Super Bowl appearances. Who were the other two who held this record before them? The answer to the pop quiz question is Dallas and Miami. Dallas went to half the Super Bowls in the seventies, winning two of them and losing another three. Miami went to three straight Super Bowls in the seventies, winning the latter two of them, then went to two in three years in the eighties and lost both.

Rypien was named Super Bowl MVP for his 292-yard, two-touchdown performance. However, even though this was Rypien’s year, I think there should have been serious consideration for Clark to be named MVP. Clark caught seven passes for 114 yards and a touchdown. Of course, you could split hairs between him and Monk, as Monk had seven catches for 113 yards and a touchdown that didn’t count. So, the MVP award should be shared amongst Rypien, Clark, and Monk.

How about the least valuable player? This one’s a tie between Kelly and Thomas. Kelly threw 58 pass attempts in this game, setting a Super Bowl record. Yet he only completed 28 of those and threw four interceptions.

He ended up with 275 yards and two touchdowns, but that all came once the game was decided and the Redskins weren’t even trying anymore. Meanwhile, Thomas forgot his helmet on the sideline and also forgot that he was MVP of the whole league. He ran for just 13 yards on ten carries, scoring one touchdown. He also caught four passes for 27 yards. Hardly the numbers that an MVP should have in the biggest game of the year.

If I were to give an MVP to the losing team, it would have to go to Beebe. He caught four passes for 61 yards and a touchdown. Nothing special, but the best that came from the losing Bills.

The best player you don’t remember is Kurt Gouveia, a linebacker who intercepted Kelly’s first pass of the second half and set the Redskins up to go up by 24. He also picked up two tackles, as Washington’s defense completely shut down Kelly and the high-flying Bills.

The biggest play of this game was Rypien’s 30-yard touchdown pass to Clark when the Bills had come back to make it a two-touchdown game. Rypien ended all their hopes by hitting Clark for the score, with a perfectly thrown ball deep down the right sideline.

As for the biggest play, you don’t remember, how about Reed’s unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for throwing his helmet at the end of the first half? By costing his team those 15 yards, he also cost them a shot at a field goal that would have at least put them on the board before halftime.

Homework

Okay, for this week’s homework, it’s a little different. This time I’m going to recommend something that I already mentioned. Hail to the Redskins by Adam Lazarus covers the entire Redskins dynasty, all four Super Bowl appearances by Gibbs, and the three championships.

I’ve already recommended it for a past Redskins Super Bowl, but I must do so again because it’s good enough to read twice.

You can also listen to the Adam Lazarus interview on The Football History Dude podcast for more perspective, as well.

If you thought the blundering Bills with their six fumbles (one lost) and four interceptions were going away, think again. Next time, we will have the worst of the Bills’ Super Bowls. And we will have the beginning of a brand-new dynasty. That’s right, it’s time for Jimmy Johnson! How ‘bout them Cowboys?

If you want to read up on it early, go to my website at tommyaphillips.com and pick up Nifty Nineties to read all about this decade in the NFL. Until then, this is Tommy A. Phillips. So long!

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Lombardi Memories is a show that takes you back in time, into January or February, to the greatest one-day spectacle in all of sports. This is the every-other-Tuesday podcast that looks back at each and every one of the 50-plus Super Bowls and tells the story of who won and why. Tommy A. Phillips is your host on this Super Journey. He’s an author of multiple NFL books. You can purchase below.