Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota | January 26th, 1992

Attendance: 63,130

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
Washington Redskins	0	17	14	6	37
Buffalo Bills	0	0	10	14	24

Scoring Summary

Second Quarter:
Washington – Field Goal Lohmiller 34, 1:58
Washington – Byner 10 yard pass from Rypien (Lohmiller kick), 5:06
Washington – Riggs 1 yard run (Lohmiller kick), 7:43

Third Quarter:
Buffalo – Field Goal Norwood 21, 3:01
Buffalo- Thomas 1 yard run (Norwood kick), 9:02
Washington – Clark 30 yard pass from Rypien (Lohmiller kick), 13:36

Fourth Quarter:
Washington – Field Goal Lohmiller 25, 0:06
Washington – Field Goal Lohmiller 39, 3:24
Buffalo – Metzelaars 2 yard pass from Kelly (Norwood kick), 9:01
Buffalo – Beebe 4 yard pass from Kelly (Norwood kick), 11:05

Player Statistics

PASSING

Washington – Rypien 18/33 292 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT

Buffalo – Kelly 28/58 275 yards, 2 TD, 4 INT

RUSHING

Washington – Ervins 13/32, Byner 14/49, Riggs 5/7 2 TDs, Sanders 1/1, Rutledge 1/0, Rypien 6/ -4

Buffalo – Davis 4/17, Kelly 3/16, Thomas 10/17 1 TD, Lofton 1/-3

RECEIVING

Washington – Clark 7/114 1TD, Monk 7/113, Byner 3/24 1 TD, Sanders 1/41

Buffalo – Lofton 7/92, Reed 5/34, Beebe 4/61 1 TD, Davis 4/38, Thomas 4/27, McKeller 2/29, Edwards 1/11, Metzelaars 1/2 1 TD, Kelly 1/-8

INTERCEPTIONS

Washington – B. Edwards 2 / 56 yards, Gouveia 1 / 23 yards, Green 1 / 0 yards

Buffalo – Jackson 1 / 4 yards

FUMBLES

Washington – Rutledge 1 / WAS recovered, Stokes 1 / BUF recovered

Buffalo – Jackson 1 / 4 yards

Setting The Stage

Washington Hammer The Bills

Opportunity Converted

After the ensuing kick-off, Jim Kelly threw an incomplete pass, followed by his second interception of the day to Darrell Green. Washington took the turnover opportunity and ran with it. After picking up a first down from an illegal contact penalty on a deep pass to Monk, Ricky Ervin picked up a yard. Rypien hit Gary Clark across the middle for a 34-yard pick-up and Ervins took it another 14 to the Buffalo 1-yard line.

As he had all season, Gerald Riggs came in to take it in for a 1-yard score.

Riggs’ touchdown ended the second quarter excitement, as the two teams combined for five punts before Mark Rypien knelt at the Washington 33 to end the half; the score Washington 17, Buffalo 0.

Second Half

On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, the Washington pass rush hurried a Jim Kelly throw, and forced his third interception. Washington linebacker, Kurt Gouveia returned the interception 23-yards and the Redskins started at the Buffalo 2-yard line. Once again they called upon Gerald Riggs to bang it home and three seconds later, the Redskins had a commanding 24-0 lead.

Get One Back

Kelly was finally able to get his unit rolling against the smothering Redskins defense on the next possession. He hit 5 passes on the drive to get Buffalo down to Washington’s 3-yard line. All 10 plays on the drive were passing plays, including a 43-yarder to Don Beebe over the middle. The Redskins defense bent but didn’t break, and stuffed the Bills. Scott Norwood came out and finally put Buffalo on the board with a 21-yard field goal, reducing the deficit to 21 points.

Uh-Oh?

The Redskins were unable to answer. Buffalo took over on their own 44-yard line after a Kelly Goodburn punt ricocheted off of punt returner Clifford Hicks and bounced out of bounds. The Redskins defense stiffened, but a 29-yard penalty on cornerback Martin Mayhew in the end zone put the Bills on the 1-yard line. After stuffing Thurman Thomas on first down and Kenneth Davis on second, Thomas was able to find running room on the left side for a score. Washington had seen their 24-point lead shrink to 14 points in just over 6 minutes.

Clark Takes Over

The Redskins started the next drive on their 21-yard line, and Gary Clark decided it was time to put his mark on the game. After receptions of 6, 10 and 14-yards respectively, Clark found the right corner of the end zone on a 30-yard strike from Rypien. Just like that, the 21-point lead was restored.

Fumble

On Buffalo’s next drive, Washington’s defense resumed it’s dominating ways. Alvoid Mays crushed Jim Kelly on the 8-yard line, causing him to fumble. Redskins defensive end Fred Stokes recovered the ball on the Buffalo 14-yard line. Up by 21, with the ball, and heading into the fourth quarter. But the offense stalled after a holding penalty to Raleigh Mckenzie, and Washington had to settle for a 25-yard Lohmiller field goal.

To The House

But Kelly’s woes only continued. A sack, an incomplete pass, followed by a Brad Edwards 35-yard interception return. The Redskins mercifully opted for three straight time killing Ricky Ervins’ runs, before settling for a 39-yard field goal.

Inching Back

Buffalo tried desperately to come back. On the next possession, Pete Metzelaars capped off a 79-yard, 15 play drive with a 2-yard reception from Kelly. Buffalo recovered their onside kick attempt. They then cashed in a 9-play, 50 yard drive with a leaping catch from Don Beebe on a 4-yard pass. The Bills were within two scores at 37-24 with just under four minutes to go, but it was too little, too late.

You Can’t Stop This

The Redskins recovered the second Buffalo onside kick attempt. And even when the whole stadium knew that the Redskins were going to run the ball, the Bills defense couldn’t stop the Hogs and Ricky Ervins from peeling off 29 yards on three consecutive runs. The Bills used two of their timeouts to bring up a third and two with just two and a half minutes to go.

But the Hogs and Ervins lined up and did it again. They moved the chains for the last time, with a two-yard first down run that took the game all the way down to the two-minute warning. With only one timeout left to stop the clock, Rypien knelt 4 straight times to take the clock down to 25 seconds.

It’s Over

Coach Marv Levy went to the bench and brought in quarterback Frank Reich who had made a name for himself with his uncanny ability to put together amazing comebacks. There was no magic on this day however. Reich completed an 11-yard pass to Kenneth Davis before time expired.

The Washington Redskins had reached the pinnacle of their sport for the third time in 10 years, beating the Buffalo Bills 37-24.

– Scott Hurrey

 

Fan Reactions

Danny Carmical – “That entire year had to be among the best year for any long time Redskins Fan. Total Domination amongst the majority of our opponents. Winning the Super Bowl was just icing on the cake. Brad Edwards was my MVP for that Super Bowl.”

Scott Peek – “What a Defense! We came out to hit that day, and hit we did! Jim Kelly was one battered QB after that game.”

Dan Hines – “The Skins absolutely dominated the league that year. I was living in California and went to the Thanksgiving Day weekend game against the Rams. The Skins won to go 12-0 and clinch the division. After the game we celebrated in the end zone with the Skins and the D.C. media. Nothing like going to a Skins road game!! I went to a sports bar on the base to watch the SB and there was a big reserve unit from Buffalo their on temporary duty. I ran my mouth so much before the game that they all asked me to put my money where my mouth was. I did and walked out after the game with a few hundred dollars.”

Did You Know?

Mark Rypien was born in Calgary, Alberta and was the first Canadian born player to ever start an NFL game. Obviously he was also the first Canadian to ever win a Super Bowl as well.

More Information

Washington Post Game Summary

Super Bowl Official Summary