Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 30, 1994 TAG: 9401300082
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Baaaad things, man. You'd think Bruce Smith was going to show up in a dress.
The Bills aren't fazed in the least as they face the blizzard of complaints about their expected double-digit loss to the Dallas Cowboys tonight at the Georgia Dome.
They're accustomed to being dumped on. Check Buffalo's winter weather. Why do you think blue is one of the team colors?
After three consecutive Super losses, the Bills have drifted from "wide right" unfortunates with sympathy to the chumpest of champs from the Awful Football Conference, which has lost on nine consecutive Super Sundays.
The message from those armchair quarterbacks calling radio shows - except in Buffalo - is that the Bills already have out-Denvered Denver. That's the city where after a third Super loss in four years, some artists altered road signs to read, "Speed Limit 55, Broncos 10."
Who would you rather have in Super Bowl XXVIII from the AFC? The Montana Chiefs, a team that played six defensive backs against run-oriented Buffalo? How about the Houston Oilers, where Buddy Ryan is the only gusher? The Los Angeles Raiders?
To paraphrase Al Davis, just cringe, baby. The Bills have accomplished what no other NFL team has by winning four consecutive conference titles. They're as underappreciated as their great outside linebacker, Darryl Talley. Do people boo the runner-up in the Miss America pageant?
The Bills have the AFC's best chance at Super success in a decade. This is the best Buffalo team that has reached a Super Bowl. There is more speed on defense and a bigger offensive line. Physically, the Bills can play with the Cowboys, but then Buffalo has a King Kong on its back.
The one-week break between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl - half as long for hype as usual - helps an underdog. Dallas is the better team, but some Cowboys with the potential to dominate a game - Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman and Charles Haley - aren't quite themselves because of injuries.
The AFC has lost the past nine Super Bowls by an average score of 39-16. These things change. From 1973-81, the NFC lost eight of nine Super Bowls. Besides, the Bills can't worry about trying to lug conference hopes around.
When Thurman Thomas and Kenneth Davis carry the ball tonight - something they will have to do 35 to 40 times if the Bills are to win - they'll be toting a franchise's legacy, too. This game is the beginning of the end of a Buffalo dynasty that finds most of its stars past 30.
During the past four seasons, Buffalo is an NFL-best 58-18. The Bills certainly aren't losers, but what occurs tonight on a carpet in Atlanta will determine whether this team is known for defeat or destiny. It could determine whether some among a team built from rubble a decade ago will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
For instance, Terry Bradshaw once was considered anything but a super quarterback, but he guided the great Steelers teams to four Super Bowl victories. He made the Hall of Fame. After four AFC titles, Buffalo quarterback Jim Kelly's shrine chances may hinge on this game.
If the Bills win, they will be considered one of the game's great dynasties, with the Packers of the late '60s, the Dolphins of the early '70s, the Steelers of the late '70s and the Cowboys of coach Tom Landry, who played in 10 NFC finals, won five conference titles and two Super Bowls from 1970-82.
If the Bills win, Super Bowl XXVIII will become one of the most memorable in the game's history.
It was 25 years ago that a 17 1/2-point underdog - another New York team with another quarterback from western Pennsylvania - made this game special. It was the engagement day for two pro football leagues that married 15 months later.
In Miami, Joe Namath talked the New York Jets to a 16-7 upset of the Baltimore Colts. Only then did this bowl become something Super, literally. Super Bowl III was the first with that title, after Green Bay twice won what was called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game.
Namath, who will toss the coin for today's kickoff, predicts a 38-30 Bills victory. The pick here is the Bills, 31-28, although I probably have been buffaloed by my objective notions of how an AFC victory could change what has become Stupor Sunday.
If Buffalo wins, it could do almost as much for the NFL as the two-point conversion.
That, however, is a very big if.
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB