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“We came in there with those five linebackers and five defensive backs, we had so many lightweight people in there,” Walls remembered.

It was a perfect call. L. T. was upfield, Pepper had gotten walled off, and here I am, it’s a cover two. So my first steps are backwards: I gotta cover James [Lofton] coming down the seam, I gotta cover Andre [Reed] trying to go down the sideline. I have to work on getting my depth so I don’t get outflanked.

As soon as Thurman got the ball, it was like he and I were looking right at each other. Once he made the move up the field, then that’s when I made an aggressive step forward. But the thing that helped me was, when Thurman and I got real close to each other, we got within five yards, instead of me taking another step forward, I actually took a step backward and allowed him to commit. . . . It was much easier for me to read where he was going, and once he made his move, I just cut his legs out from under him. And we had to line up for another play, but I knew at that time that it was a huge play.

With everyone trying to blame me for this and trying to remember me in history for something I did when I was just turning twenty-two years old, I went into that game thinking, “They are not going to blame me for this.”

Walls’ game-saving tackle limited Thomas’ fantastic run to twenty-two yards. The Bills hurried to the line and ran another play—a short, across-the-field completion to Andre Reed (his eighth catch). The clock continued to roll—a minute remained.

On the two passing plays that began the drive, the Giants’ three-man rush forced Kelly to scramble in order to avoid a sack. But on Reed’s short gain, New York’s front line could not put any pressure on the quarterback. And on the next play, Kelly again was untouched and not harassed as he looked for a receiver.

Although Hostetler was regarded as the mobile, western Pennsylvania quarterback on the field that day, Kelly employed a few nifty moves and darted through the line, picking up eight more yards. Repeated double (even triple) teams had begun to wear out the Giants’ front line.

“I was gonna pass out,” said Erik Howard, who, after Kelly’s scramble, took off his helmet at midfield and signaled to the sideline that he needed a replacement. “That was the most tired I ever was after a football game. I felt like my heart was gonna explode.”

Past the fifty-yard line, Kelly signaled for a time-out with forty-eight seconds left and went to the sidelines to consult with offensive coordinator Ted Marchibroda. Across the field, Marchibroda’s former $25-a-week assistant, Bill Belichick, shouted out substitutions and alerts to his assistants and players. And like his current head coach, Belichick didn’t panic despite several significant Bills gains. The Giants stuck to their game plan. On the play following the time-out, two down linemen, along with Lawrence Taylor, rushed the quarterback, while eight others dropped into coverage.

Again, there was no penetration by the Giants, and again, Kelly could not find a man open downfield. After a few seconds of waiting, he dumped the ball off to tight end Keith McKeller, who made a shoestring catch at the forty-yard line.

Officials wanted to make sure that the ball did not hit the ground prior to McKeller’s bringing the ball up into his chest, so instant replay was called upon to verify the catch. Within a minute of review, referee Jerry Seeman announced the play stood. The twenty-two players on the field appreciated the extra seconds to catch their breath.

Seeman wound the clock and twenty-six seconds remained when Kelly began the next play, another shotgun draw to Thurman Thomas. It was the same exact play that gained twenty-two yards (and nearly went for a touchdown) earlier on the drive. However, instead of cutting back, away from his blockers, this time Thomas flowed to the right side. As he approached the line of scrimmage, two Giants stood hip to hip, ready to make the tackle: Lawrence Taylor and