Sunday, January 20, 1991 AFC: Buffalo Bills 51, Los Angeles Raiders 3 Raiders head coach
Art Shell became the first African-American coach to take his team to a conference championship game, but the results were not in his favor.
Two years after a devastating loss in Cincinnati, the Bills returned to the AFC title game and, this time, shredded the Raiders, 51–3. On Buffalo's opening drive, Kelly completed six consecutive passes for 65 yards, the last a 13-yard touchdown toss to Lofton after he recovered a fumbled snap in shotgun formation. The Raiders responded with Schroeder's two 26-yard completions to
Willie Gault and
Mervyn Fernandez, setting up a 41-yard field goal from
Jeff Jaeger, but Buffalo stormed back to score just four plays after the ensuing kickoff on a 66-yard drive. Following a 41-yard completion from Kelly to Lofton, and an 11-yard scramble by Kelly, Thomas's 12-yard touchdown run gave the Bills a 14–3 lead. After a punt,
Garry Lewis intercepted a pass from Kelly that went through Thomas's hands. But three plays later, Talley intercepted a pass from Schroeder and returned it for a touchdown. The Raiders were forced to punt on their next possession, and
Nate Odomes returned it 18 yards to the Bills 42-yard line. Buffalo then drove 58 yards in 12 plays, scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run by Davis on fourth and goal, which gave the team a 27–3 lead after LA's
Scott Davis blocked the extra point. The Bills had a chance to score again when
Jamie Mueller recovered a fumble from
Jamie Holland on the ensuing kickoff. But this time LA's defense stopped Buffalo on three straight plays and
Scott Norwood missed a 45-yard field goal attempt. Still, Buffalo's dominance would resume after this. Following a Raiders punt, Kelly's completions to Thomas and
Steve Tasker for gains of 15 and 44 yards set up Davis's second touchdown run. Then Odomes intercepted a pass from Schroeder and returned it 9 yards to the Bills 38-yard line. Buffalo drove for 62 yards and took a 41–3 lead just before the end of the half. The key player of the drive was Lofton, who caught a 36-yard pass from Kelly, and then caught an 8-yard scoring pass from him on the next play. The misery would continue for Los Angeles in the second half, as their first three drives ended with interceptions. Meanwhile, Buffalo increased their lead to 48–3 with Davis's third touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter. Later on, Talley intercepted a pass from Schroeder and returned it 31 yards to the Raiders 27-yard line, setting up Norwood's 39-yard field goal to make the final score 51–3. On offense, the Bills amassed 502 total yards, including 202 yards on the ground. Running back
Thurman Thomas rushed for 138 yards and a touchdown while also catching five passes for 61 yards. Running back
Kenneth Davis tied an AFC playoff record with three rushing touchdowns, despite gaining only 21 yards on 10 carries. Buffalo also set an NFL playoff record by scoring 41 points in the first half. Bills quarterback
Jim Kelly threw for 300 yards and two touchdowns to wide receiver
James Lofton, who finished the game with five receptions for 113 yards. Thomas recorded a 12-yard touchdown run, while Davis scored from one yard, three yards, and one yard out. Linebacker
Darryl Talley returned one of his two interceptions 27 yards for a touchdown. Buffalo recorded a total of six interceptions, the third highest total ever in a single NFL game.
Mark Kelso recorded his fourth career postseason interception in the game, a Bills' record. For Los Angeles, quarterback
Jay Schroeder completed only 13 of his 31 passes for 150 yards. Of those 150 yards, 52 came on two 26-yard completions to Mervyn Fernandez and Willie Gault on Los Angeles's first offensive series. His five interceptions tied him with
Dan Pastorini of the Oilers and
Richard Todd of the Jets with what was at the time the most interceptions thrown in a playoff game since the
AFL–NFL merger (eleven years later,
Brett Favre would throw six in a game). That record still stands for either conference championship games or Super Bowls; twelve years after Schroeder threw five interceptions in Buffalo,
Rich Gannon did so for the Raiders against Tampa Bay in
Super Bowl XXXVII. Vince Evans replaced Schroeder in the fourth quarter and completed two of his eight passes for 26 yards but threw L.A.'s sixth interception of the day. Running back
Marcus Allen, seeking to return to Tampa
seven years after winning Super Bowl MVP honors in Tampa Stadium, gained just 26 yards on 10 carries. Former Ram
Greg Bell, himself a year removed from a
blowout loss in the NFC title game in San Francisco, led the Raiders in rushing with 36 yards, despite only carrying the ball 5 times. Coincidentally, as was the case for the Rams a year earlier, the Raiders only scored three points the entire game during the first half of play. So onerous was Jackson's absence that January day that, according to Mike Downey of the
Los Angeles Times, "Buffalo fans batted [...] a Bo Jackson inflatable doll [...] around in the stands. That January day in Buffalo would be the last AFC title game appearance for the Raiders
for ten years. Coincidentally, the Raiders only managed three points in
that game; coincidentally, their
Super Bowl opponent would have been the New York Giants; and, coincidentally, that Super Bowl was also played in Tampa, albeit this time at
Raymond James Stadium. Referee
Jim Tunney retired following this game, concluding a stellar 31-year career in which he was the referee for three Super Bowls (
VI,
XI and
XII). This was the first postseason meeting between the Raiders and Bills. In a mostly defensive battle, 49ers running back
Roger Craig's (playing in what would be his final game in a 49er uniform) fumble with 2:36 left in the game led to Giants kicker
Matt Bahr's 42-yard game-winning field goal as time ran out. Bahr was New York's only scorer, as he made five out of six field goals. Although the Giants outrushed the 49ers, 152 yards to 49, the game was tied 6–6 at halftime. San Francisco opened the game with a 10-play, 44-yard drive, the longest play a 14-yard reception by
John Taylor. Replays showed the ball coming out of his hands as he went to the ground, but the play was ruled a catch and NFL rules at the time did not allow a replay challenge. A few plays later,
Mike Cofer kicked a 47-yard field goal to make the score 3–0. New York struck back by driving 69 yards in 15 plays, including a 21-yard completion from
Jeff Hostetler to
Mark Ingram Sr. on 3rd and 14 (Hostetler's longest completion of the game). Near the end of the drive,
Dave Meggett took the ball on a halfback option, rolled out and delivered a strike to fullback
Maurice Carthon. Carthon dropped the ball in the back of the end zone. It was the closest the Giants would get to scoring a touchdown. Bahr finished the drive with a 35-yard field goal that tied the game with 2:41 left in the first quarter. The second quarter was mostly uneventful, but following a few punts, New York drove 56 yards in 14 plays to take a 6–3 lead on Bahr's 42-yard field goal with one minute left in the half. However, the 49ers offense which had been dominated the entire quarter suddenly sprung to life. First,
Dexter Carter returned the kickoff 27 yards to the 49ers 34-yard line. Then
Joe Montana went to work, completing a 19-yard pass to
Jerry Rice and rushing for a 7-yard gain, and then completing a 5-yard pass to Craig over the next three plays. A personal foul penalty on Giants lineman
Eric Dorsey added 15 yards to Craig's catch and gave the 49ers a first down on the New York 21. On the next play, Montana was sacked for an 8-yard loss by
Leonard Marshall, but he followed this up with two completions to Craig that advanced the ball to the 17, where Cofer kicked a 35-yard field goal that tied the score at 6 going into halftime. New York had to punt on the first possession of the second half, and Taylor returned the ball 31 yards to the 49ers 39-yard line. On the next play, Taylor took in a pass from Montana while in single coverage by
Everson Walls. Walls stepped in front of Taylor, but completely missed the ball, enabling Taylor to catch the pass with no one between him and the end zone, where he proceeded to take off for a 61-yard touchdown catch that gave San Francisco a 13–6 lead. New York responded by driving 50 yards and scoring with a 46-yard field goal by Bahr that made the score 13–9 with 6:06 left in the third quarter. The Giants soon had a chance to score again when
Dave Meggett returned a 49ers punt 18 yards to the New York 45-yard line. Two carries by
Ottis Anderson gained 36 yards and moved the ball into the red zone, but they could go no further and Bahr missed a 37-yard field goal attempt. In the fourth quarter, Giants quarterback
Jeff Hostetler was hit at the knees by 49ers defensive tackle
Jim Burt. Hostetler was injured on the play, but walked off the field without assistance. Giants linebacker
Carl Banks later recalled that the defense was infuriated by the play and looked to strike back. "It was unspoken...that if you hurt one of our guys, we knew who to go after," Banks said. On the 49ers' next drive, Montana called a pass play on third down. With the New York defense covering all of his receivers, Montana was forced to move outside the pocket towards his right to make a play. Giants linebacker
Lawrence Taylor was the first Giant to try to bring Montana down, with defensive end
Leonard Marshall trailing the play, getting up from a crawl after going to the ground from a
Tom Rathman block earlier in the sequence. Montana stepped back out of the path of Taylor's rush, only to move into Marshall's oncoming charge from the blind side. Marshall drilled Montana hard in the back, driving him into the turf and forcing a fumble. The 49ers managed to recover the fumble as the ball skipped past Giants cornerback
Mark Collins and lineman
Steve Wallace corralled the football, enabling the 49ers to punt. Marshall hit Montana so hard that he suffered a bruised sternum, bruised stomach, cracked ribs, and a broken hand. Montana would not play in another regular-season game until December 1992. Hostetler returned for the next drive but the Giants went three-and-out. On the next play, the Giants executed the most important special-teams play of the contest. New York called a fake punt with the ball snapped directly to linebacker
Gary Reasons, the upback in the punt formation, and he ran 30 yards for a first down through an undermanned 49ers defense that had only sent 10 men on to the field. Only a tackle by Taylor, the 49ers punt returner, prevented him from taking it all the way. Hostetler then drove the Giants to the opposing 21-yard line, but could get no further and nearly threw an interception on a third-down pass toward the end zone. Bahr kicked his fourth field goal of the game with 5:47 left to bring the score to 13–12.
Steve Young came in to replace Montana on the next drive, and the 49ers tried to run as much time as they could off the clock. On the second play of the drive
Brent Jones got behind the Giants defense; on his only pass attempt of the afternoon, Young hit Jones for a 25-yard gain. Two plays later, Craig recorded a six-yard gain for the 49ers' first rushing first down of the day. It would also be their last offensive first down of the game. The 49ers called another run on their next play, with Craig called on to run up the middle through a hole created by guard
Guy McIntyre and center
Jesse Sapolu with a double team block on defensive tackle
Erik Howard. However, McIntyre was forced to move off of the block to defend against linebacker
Pepper Johnson, and the hole closed. Sapolu was able to push Howard down to the ground, but did so just as Craig was reaching him. While all this was going on, Taylor was converging on the play from the other side having gotten past tight end
Brent Jones. Howard made contact with the football on his way down, knocking it free from Craig's hands, and Taylor was able to grab it out of the air before it hit the turf. With 2:36 left and with all three timeouts, Hostetler and the Giants began driving again. He hit
Mark Bavaro for 19 yards on the first play and later hit
Stephen Baker for 13 more on a second down to set up a short run by
Ottis Anderson for two yards and a first down. The Giants called two running plays to get the ball to the middle of the field, and with four seconds left Bahr was called on to try to win the game. His kick went through the uprights as time ran out and the Giants won 15–13. As mentioned earlier, the Giants outrushed the 49ers 152 yards to 49. Anderson led all rushers with 67 yards on 20 carries. Hostetler completed 15 of 27 passes for 176 yards, threw no touchdowns, was not intercepted, and had a quarterback rating of 75 for the game. Montana, meanwhile, completed 18 of 26 passes for 190 yards and 1 touchdown for a quarterback rating of 103. Sixty-one of those yards, though, came on said touchdown pass to Taylor. Montana's quarterback rating, minus the touchdown, was 80.3 (17 of 25 for 129 yards). Craig, despite losing a costly fumble, still led the 49ers in rushing: 8 carries for 26 yards. Montana (2 carries for 9 yards) and
Tom Rathman (1 carry for 4 yards) rounded out the 49ers' rushing statistics. After the game, it was speculated that, even if the 49ers had won, Young would have started the Super Bowl because of the severity and scope of the injuries Montana incurred from the hit by Leonard Marshall (see above). The game was featured in the ''NFL's Greatest Games'' as the
End of a Dynasty. This was the fifth postseason meeting between the Giants and 49ers. Both teams split the previous four meetings. ==Super Bowl XXV: New York Giants 20, Buffalo Bills 19==