Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 26, 1992 TAG: 9201260137
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk sports columnist
DATELINE: MINNEAPOLIS LENGTH: Medium
A MATCHUP DESTINED FROM THE BEGINNING
IT WILL BE the best against the best for the National Football League championship. In the regular season, Washington's 14-2 record was best in the NFL, and Buffalo led the AFC at 13-3. \The second-smallest crowd in Super Bowl history will watch the XXVIth renewal of the NFL's exercise in extravagance today.
Tickets for the Metrodome madness have a face value of $150, but Saturday they were going for $2,000. Because of the stadium's 63,000 capacity, only Super Bowl I, played in front of 61,946 at the Los Angeles Coliseum, has had fewer spectators.
Don't think for a Super second, however, that the diminished capacity at the Metrodome reflects a gargantuan, if unsurprising, matchup that comes in from the cold to a 72-degree temperature.
The Washington Redskins will make their fourth Super Bowl appearance in 10 years against the Buffalo Bills, who defended their AFC championship that put them in this game a year ago. The Redskins are seven-point favorites, although some observers don't see much difference in the teams.
The 6:18 p.m. kickoff features the two highest-scoring teams in the NFL. The Bills lead the league in total offense. The Redskins are first in turnover ratio at plus-26 and have allowed an NFL-low nine sacks. Washington (16-2) and Buffalo (15-3) have been headed for this winter wonderland since summertime.
Buffalo is concerned about the Redskins stretching the field with "The Posse" pass catchers, then running Earnest Byner through the gaps. Redskins coach Joe Gibbs has fretted all week about his team's ability to stop the Bills' no-huddle offense.
"They are very talented," Gibbs said. "You're talking about Pro Bowl players. You're talking about the league's most valuable player [Thurman Thomas] at running back. You're talking about a great quarterback [Jim Kelly]. So, on offense, what you have is a problem.
"The thing people don't understand is that this team [Buffalo] led the league in rushing. That gives you a real problem. Do you defend the pass or the run? You have to give them some different looks and take some shots."
The Redskins, who have taken situational substitutions to new NFL heights, could be left betwixt and between by the no-huddle, which averages a play every 18 seconds.
"I'm not sure how much we're going to be able to substitute and mix things," Gibbs said. "The tempo of their offense may not allow us to do that. The key may be how we play their three-wide receiver set."
Quarterback Mark Rypien's health is not a worry for Washington. He sprained his right ankle at the end of Thursday's practice, but he worked out Friday and Redskins trainer Bubba Tyer said Rypien "won't even know it happened" by game time.
The Bills have won 30 of their past 37 games, but they're trying to become the first AFC champion to win a Super Bowl since the Los Angeles Raiders ripped the Redskins 38-9 in Super Bowl XVIII.
A missed field-goal attempt by Scott Norwood at the finish of last year's game kept the Bills from the AFC's breakthrough victory against the New York Giants. Levy sounds as if he thinks the Redskins are better than last year's Giants.
"I wish I could say there was one thing that most concerns me about the Redskins," the Bills' coach said. "That's sort of a left-handed answer, but it's truthful, the fact that we can't identify one thing.
"They have magnificent balance between the run and the pass, the offense-defense-kicking game. They take the ball away. They have a strong-legged field-goal kicker [Chip Lohmiller], a great punt return man [Brian Mitchell]. There isn't one area. They're here because they're a solid team."
The Bills are here because they survived 10-7 against Denver in the AFC championship game, thanks to a late turnover by the Broncos and two David Treadwell field-goal clankers off the right upright.
"Our defense is going to face a lot of pressure," Levy said. "Our defense has to fight to the degree where we play respectably, and we have to move the ball and score against a very strong defensive team.
"I don't foresee us winning a 10-7 game, although I didn't expect that the last game, either, to tell the truth."
As for the smaller crowd, that will not affect any of the coaches or the players. The electricity of the game will not be any less.
"No matter how many people are there, the whole world will be watching," Redskins receiver Gary Clark said. "This is the Super Bowl. You don't have to say any more."