Super Bowl XXVII

Has anyone heard of the word competition before? Well, judging from the score of Super Bowl XXVII, viewers were in search for some of it. Well, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on January 31, 1993, in front of 98,374 people, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Buffalo Bills 52-17. No, no. "Beat" is not the word. They embarrassed them.

The Buffalo Bills were the first to score. But suddenly, things started falling apart for this franchise, when it became obvious by the end of the first quarter, that the Dallas Cowboys were going to run away with the game.

First off, the Cowboy's safety, James Washington, intercepted the Bill's quarterback, Jim Kelly's, pass and returned it to near mid-field. After a few plays, the Cowboys' quarterback, Troy Aikman, quickly threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jay Novacek.

Then, in the Bill's next play from scrimmage, Jim Kelly was sacked by the Cowboys' defensive lineman, Charles Haley. Kelly then proceeded fumbled the ball at his own 2-yard line, after which the Cowoys' Jimmie Jones picked it up and ran it in two yards for a touchdown. All the Bills could do was watch as the Cowboys were beginning to take the game away.

Dallas then, later in the first half, scored just as quickly, as Aikman threw 19 and 18 yard touchdown passes to receiver Michael Irvin 18 seconds apart. The second of the two scores was set up when Bills running back Thurman Thomas fumbled the ball at his own 19 yard line. The Cowboys now had a 28-10 point lead at halftime.

Jim Kelly had left the game midway through the second quarter due to an injury. Backup quarterback Frank Reich came in, and threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to receiver Don Beebe on the final play of the third quarter to trim the deficit to 14 points, at 31-17.

But the Cowboys put the game away by scoring three times in a span of 2:33 of the fourth quarter. Not much excitement there, unless you're a Cowboys fan.

MVP honors went to the Cowboys quarterback, Troy Aikman who completed 22 out of his 33 passes for 273 yards and four touchdowns. Cowboys running back, Emmitt Smith rushed for 108 yards. The victory was the ninth straight year in which the NFC defeated the AFC. This was Dallas' third Super Bowl victory.

Some history was made in this game as well. Dallas went into the history books as the only team to appear in six Super Bowls. The Bills also went into the history books, although they didn't want to go in for this reason. They turned the ball over a record nine times (four on interceptions, five on fumbles) which the Cowboys converted into 35 points. The Bills also became the first team to lose three straight Super Bowls.

Maybe luck will be nicer to Buffalo the following year. Nah...It'll be just as bad.