BILLS THREE-PEAT AS AFC CHAMPS

The Buffalo Bills did it as a wild card team. They did it with the greatest comeback in NFL history when they spotted the Houston Oilers 34 points and then rallied and won it in overtime. And on this bright sunny day in Miami, they won their third straight American Football Conference championship by beating the Dolphins 29-10.

After the Bills miraculous comeback win in the Wild Card game against Houston, they had to defeat the Steelers in Pittsburgh and now had to defeat the Eastern Division champion Miami Dolphins in the Florida heat.

"I've never been prouder in all the years I've coached than to be associated with the men on this team," Bills coach Marv Levy said after the game. "It's been a long road and a hard road. There was a headline (in The Buffalo News) prior to the Houston playoff game that read, ‘Bills Begin Longest Road Today.' I've used that this entire post season. Today it came through Joe Robbie Stadium."

Jim Kelly, who was out with an injured right knee since the last regular season game with Houston, started in a whirlwind of controversy. Frank Reich, who had led the Bills to the Greatest Comeback and a victory over Pittsburgh the week after, took his familiar seat on the bench when Kelly was deemed fit. Kelly didn't have the usual zip on the ball, but decided to stick with the safe screen pass in this one. He completed 17 attempts out of 24 for a modest 177 yards. Jimbo did have a couple of picks, which both resulted in Miami scores.

"This is without a doubt the sweetest victory I've ever been involved with," Jim said. "I want to thank my teammates for hanging in there with me all week. Every time I needed an encouraging word, they were there for me."

With the game scoreless near the mid point of the first quarter, Bruce Smith got in on Dolphin quarterback Dan Marino and force Marino to fumble. Bills linebacker Darryl Talley recovered it and the Bills were able to convert that with a 21-yard Steve Christie field goal. The Dolphins got that one back when Pete Stoyanovich kicked a 51-yard field goal near the end of the first quarter.

The Bills took the kickoff and drove down the field, on a seven play, 64-yard drive that was punctuated by Kelly's 17-yard strike to Thurman Thomas for a touchdown.

Things really started to look bright for the Bills returning to the Super Bowl when Bills defensive end Phil Hansen picked off a Marino pass and got to the Dolphin 24. Steve Christie was true on a 33-yard field goal attempt and the Bills went into the dressing room with a 13-3 lead at the half.

The Bills defense, which had played a huge role in the Miracle Houston comeback, was tough again this day. The Bills blitzed Marino from every angle, giving him little time to operate.

"Everybody stepped it up a notch and kind of shocked them with our tempo," Bills safety Henry Jones said. "Our pass rush was devastating, and that was a big key; we got the turnovers we needed. It was a total team effort."

The Bills held the Dolphins to just 33 yards on the ground. This was not a shocker as the Bills were tops in the AFC during the ‘92 regular season in stopping the run. In the third quarter, the Bills allowed the Dolphins offense to a measly 2 yards!

"I don't think there was any doubt they weren't going to run on us," DE Phil Hansen said. "They had to pass to win the game, and any time you can make a team one-dimensional, you're giving your defense a boost."

The Bills special teams took over on the kickoff starting the second half. Mark Pike stripped the ball from Mike Williams and Carwell Gardner was able to fall on the loose ball on the Miami 24 yard line.

"I had a real kill shot on the guy, and at the last minute he just kind of broke to his left, and I just came across his body and just slapped the ball out," Pike said afterwards. "It was almost the exact same play opening the second half of our game against Miami here last year. Carwell recovered that one, too."

After five plays, the Bills were down to the Miami 2 and Kenneth Davis got the call. He dove toward the corner of the endzone, stretching to his limit. He was just able to get the ball inside the pylon for the touchdown. The Bills were up 20-3.

Steve Christie took over the game from there. He kicked a 21, 31 and 38-yard field goals to tie an NFL playoff record at 5 field goals in a playoff game. His last kick followed a 15-yard touchdown strike from Marino to Mark Duper.

Kelly used the screen pass and his runners to full advantage. Thurman Thomas and Kenneth Davis were the dynamic duo for the Bills. They combined for 157 yards on the ground and 122 yards as receivers. Thomas had 96 yards on the ground and had 5 receptions for 70 yards.

The two of them were Jimbo's favorite targets for his screen pass. The Bills had watched video of the Oilers run-and-shoot offense and decided to take a page out of their playbook with the screen.

"It was probably the single-best play we ran today," Bills center Kent Hull said. "The Dolphins are so aggressive rushing the passer, so we said, ‘Let ‘em rush.' the get that back underneath them, then get some people in front of him and you've got linemen on DBs at that point."

" It's just a variation of a screen we've run all year long, it's just a little quicker," Offensive coordinator Tom Bresnahan chipped in. "The run-and-shoot teams do an excellent job of it. They've hurt everybody they've used it against. We just figured it fit into our offense, so we put it in."

The Bills dressing room was much more sober than after previous AFC championships.

"I think there's more calmness this year," said Jeff Wright, Bills nose tackle. "I don't think we want to celebrate too early. Maybe that's what happened the last two years. Maybe we were so excited to get in that we didn't win it. Most of the guys felt there's another step. We haven't reached our goal yet."

Don Beebe, Bills wide receiver put it in a different perspective when he said, "It's so much more gratifying because of the way we had to do it this year. To have the greatest comeback ever and then to get two wins on the road after everything we've been through and all the injuries, it's just incredible."

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