Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 24, 1994 TAG: 9401240054
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. LENGTH: Long
The Buffalo Bills advanced Sunday to an unprecedented fourth consecutive Super Bowl, beating Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs 30-13. They earned a rematch with the Dallas Cowboys, 38-21 winners over the San Francisco 49ers.
What much of the nation outside of western New York feared - the only team to lose three consecutive Super Bowls, heading to Atlanta to try again - came true because Thurman Thomas was unstoppable.
"All you can ask in life is to have an opportunity," said Bruce Smith, Buffalo's All-Pro defensive end. "We have an opportunity and we're going to take advantage of it."
Added quarterback Jim Kelly, "I think nearing the end of the week, more people were turning toward us and saying, `You guys have accomplished a lot and if you guys get there, we'll be pulling for you.' We don't have to prove anything to anybody. We're champions in our own mind."
The Chiefs, who lost in their first championship game since the 1969 season, and Montana, 4-0 in Super Bowls, were kept off-balance by a defense led by Smith and linebacker Darryl Talley.
The Bills knocked Montana from the game early in the third quarter, while Kansas City's defense kept groping at Thomas, who rushed for 186 yards - 131 by halftime - and three touchdowns.
"We believed in ourselves and the organization," Thomas said. "We hung together as a team.
"Going into the Super Bowl, we know what it takes. We know the mistakes we can eliminate. You have to rank this right up there with when we beat the Raiders in 1990. For this one, a lot of people didn't want us back. But our job is not done yet."
This was the same Thomas who was held to 44 yards rushing on Nov. 28, when the Chiefs battered the Bills 23-7. The NFL's combined yardage leader when Buffalo won the AFC title in 1990, '91 and '92, Thomas went over 1,000 yards rushing in playoff competition with his biggest postseason output.
Buffalo, which has lost the past three Super Bowls by a combined 109-60, has won its four AFC titles by an aggregate score of 120-33.
"We might have fallen to defeat the last three, but that doesn't mean a thing," Kelly said. "To the people who didn't want us, sorry."
Montana struggled throughout the first half, at one point completing only three of 14 passes. He was sidelined when he was hit by three Bills on the third play of the second half - his helmet collided with Jeff Wright's helmet, and then he struck the turf.
The 37-year-old quarterback left the game dazed, the same feeling the Chiefs defense must have had attempting to stop Thomas. Montana finished 9-of-23 for 125 yards.
"My head hurt. Everything went white for a couple of seconds," Montana said.
"Joe suffered a mild concussion and really wasn't functional to come back and play," said Marty Schottenheimer, the Chiefs' coach.
Dave Krieg, Montana's replacement, took the Chiefs 90 yards in 14 plays, including a fourth-down, 19-yard pass to Keith Cash, and Marcus Allen scored from the 1, making it 20-13.
The Bills, showing their championship form - no other team has won four consecutive AFC, NFC or NFL crowns - responded immediately. Thomas had an 11-yard run and a 15-yard reception in a 79-yard drive that stalled inside the Kansas City 1. Steve Christie kicked an 18-yard field goal with 11 minutes, 55 seconds to go.
Thomas scored his third touchdown on a 3-yard run with 5:30 remaining, then was mobbed by his teammates as he carried the ball with him to the bench.
Although Thomas and the Bills dominated the first half, the Chiefs should have been down only 20-13 at halftime. Montana, finally finding his receivers, took them 75 yards in six plays, including a 31-yard completion to Todd McNair, who broke three tackles to reach the 5. Montana then hit Kimble Anders at the goal line, but the ball deflected off Anders' hands to Bills safety Henry Jones.
Instead of being down seven points, the Chiefs headed into the locker room wondering if anything would go right. Not enough did.
"You know that football team has taken a lot of heat from a lot of people," Schottenheimer said. " . . . My hat is off to them."
With temperatures in the low 30s and a light rain falling, the weather was not a factor. This was no Ice Bowl, as in Buffalo's victory over the Los Angeles Raiders on Jan. 15, when a wind-chill of minus-32 made it the coldest game in Bills history.
There also was no sign of the Kansas City defense that ravaged Houston for nine sacks in a 28-20 victory Jan. 16. Instead, the Chiefs' weak performance gave Schottenheimer his third loss in as many AFC championship games; the other two came while coaching Cleveland.
Allen, who joined Kansas City as a free agent and gained 1,002 yards overall, was held to 50 yards rushing and 36 yards receiving, but he scored the Chiefs' only touchdown.
Krieg was 16-of-29 for 198 yards and one interception.
Buffalo got moving on its third possession, covering 47 yards in six plays, including a perfect pass from Kelly to Andre Reed down the left sideline for 28 yards. Thomas scored on a 12-yard run up the middle behind center Kent Hull's crushing block.
The Chiefs, AFC West Division champions for the first time in 22 years, responded with two 31-yard field goals by Nick Lowery, the NFL's career field-goal percentage leader. The first climaxed a 51-yard drive sparked by Allen's 24-yard run. The second came five plays after Russell Copeland fumbled the ensuing kickoff at the Buffalo 24. Fred Jones recovered, but the Chiefs were stopped at the 13.
Inspired by the defense, the Bills' offense kept pounding away. Thomas broke a 33-yard run to the Kansas City 26 and his understudy, Kenneth Davis, went 15 yards on the next play. On third-and-two from the 3, Thomas romped into the end zone untouched after a great block by tight end Pete Metzelaars.
Thomas, who joined Franco Harris, Tony Dorsett and Allen as the only players with more than 1,000 yards rushing in postseason games, continued to dominate on the next drive. He accounted for 28 of the 41 yards during the series, and Christie made a 23-yard field goal to give Buffalo a 17-6 advantage.
Christie added a 25-yarder moments later after the Bills again stopped the Chiefs cold. Montana misfired with Keith Cash wide open on third down, then Thomas carried for 31 yards during a 56-yard drive.
"There's one more river to cross," Kelly said. "There's no pressure on us, nobody expected us to be here, and we're back."
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB