BILLS WIN 2nd STRAIGHT SUPER BOWL BERTH

January 12, 1992

On a day in which it was more like the first of November instead of the middle of January in Buffalo, the Bills and Denver Broncos locked horns in sunny 42-degree weather. A sellout crowd of 80,272 witnessed a nail-bitter of a game as the Bills edged the Broncos 10-7 in a defensive struggle.

Scott Norwood, who the previous year had missed a 47-yard field goal that would have won Super Bowl XXV, got redemption as he kicked the winning field goal. Norwood, who had spent the past year reliving the missed field goal and what could have been, kicked a 44-yarder with 4:18 remaining in the game.

This game went down to the wire as Buffalo safety Leonard Smith ended the game by making the last second tackle on Vance Johnson.

Jeff Wright tips the ball right to Carlton Bailey, who takes the ball in for the AFC Championship game's only touchdown.

The Bills defense was the main story in this game. Unlike the previous year in which the offense scored 51 points against the Raiders in the Championship game, in this one the D was dominant. John Elway was shut down by the D and even scored the Bills only touchdown when Carlton Bailey caught a tipped Elway pass and proceeded 11 yards to score. With 2nd and 10 from the Bronco 19, Elway dropped back to pass when Jeff Wright jumped just as Elway released it, tipping it twice. Bailey, also in on the blitz, grabbed the ball floating overhead and started towards the end zone. Elway tried to tackle Bailey, but Bailey was able to stumble into pay dirt.

"There was one guy with a shot at me, and it was John Elway," said Bailey. "I wouldn't have been able to come into the locker room Monday and go into our meeting and have the other linebackers say, ‘I can't believe you let a quarterback tackle you.' so the only thing going through my mind was getting into the end zone."

After that touchdown, things really started to heat up. Norwood kicked that 44 yard field goal, and the Broncos started to stage one of they familiar late game drives. They drove 85 yards on just eight plays to score a touchdown by, as Gary Kubiak, who had taken over for Elway after he got a bruised thigh, ran 3 yards on a quarterback draw. And there still was 1:43 remaining in the game.

The Broncos attempted an onside kick and recovered it at the Denver 49. Hold on to your seats fans, this is going to be a wild ride! Kubiak then completed a pass to Steve Sewell for 7 yards, but Kirby Jackson came in on Sewell like a freight train and the collision caused him to fumble. Jackson was Johnny on the Spot by even making the recovery.

"We were in a zone defense and I saw Kubiak getting ready to throw the ball to Sewell and I just broke on the ball," Kirby described the play. "And when I got there, I hit him and stripped the ball from him. I was just lying there on the ground looking up and the ball was right beside me. So I just reached over and got it. Before that play, I was saying to myself, ‘There's not going to be a Drive III against us (reference to two comeback drives in the playoff past with Elway at the wheel). We were talking about that the whole week - that if it comes down to that, we were going to win the game."

The Broncos had their chances to get on the scoreboard, but kicker David Tredwell missed three attempts (two of which went off the goal post). Tredwell, who had also hit an upright during a warmup attempt, said, "you can't do that twice in one day. It was very frustrating, especially in a game like this one. For it to come down to a field goal...It's a pretty tough place to kick. I tip my hat to Scott Norwood being able to kick here 10 weeks out of the year."

Norwood said after the game, "I just tank god I had an opportunity to kick a big field goal for this team. I am truly grateful for that. People can change lie the wind. When things go good, they'll be with you, but I'll tell you, the fans I care about are the ones that stay behind you when things aren't going good. They are the fans I care about, not the front-runners."

With the victory over the Denver Broncos, the Bills advanced to their second straight Super Bowl appearance. Two week later, they would hook up against the Washington Redskins at Minneapolis in Super Bowl XXVI.

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