Super Bowl Monday_ From the Persian Gulf to the Shores of West Florida - Adam Lazarus [30]
“There was an important lesson that we did learn as a result of that loss and of that hectic fourth quarter on the scarred grass of grimy old Cleveland Stadium,” Levy wrote. “As we walked off the field immediately after the game, however, we were all too distraught to reflect upon any educational benefits that could be derived from that unhappy ending. Many months later it would hit us, and when it did take hold, it would be a revelation that helped inspire a decision that would lead to energizing the Buffalo sports scene as never before.”
That revelation resurfaced sometime the following summer, and by opening day of the 1990 season, Levy slowly implemented the K-Gun strategy as the standard offense. Executing the no-huddle during the first series of the season opener against Indianapolis, Kelly ran ten plays (nine-for-nine on pass attempts) that covered seventy-six yards. After that opening drive, the Bills put away their new toy.
“We used it sparingly in the ball games. But the guys liked it,” Marchibroda said. “Then we finally went to it exclusively 100 percent against Philadelphia. We were playing Philadelphia [in 1990] and we thought we needed an element of surprise to beat them, because they had a strong defense. So we went with the no-huddle exclusively in that ball game and as a result we scored twenty-four points in the first quarter. As a result, we got hooked.”[2]
Operating without a huddle meant that the quarterback selected the plays, a facet of the game now regarded as a relic from a previous era. But apart from calling his own plays—a dream for any quarterback—Jim Kelly delighted in the new game plan: using the K-Gun a year earlier against Houston and Cleveland, he combined for nine touchdowns and 768 yards passing. The rest of the offense shared Kelly’s enthusiasm.
“Everybody liked it,” Ted Marchibroda said. “Jim really liked it and he was made for it. But the other thing was that the guys that really liked it were the offensive linemen. Because they could see the defensive linemen tiring. And it gave them a definite edge.”
The additional and now standard use of the no-huddle instantly generated results against the Eagles. Requiring just two plays (and forty-five seconds), the K-Gun posted a lightning-quick touchdown. By the end of the first quarter, Buffalo held a 24-0 lead. And although the Bills needed a pair of second-half field goals by kicker Scott Norwood to solidify a 30-23 win, the K-Gun had arrived.
“It was a miserable day for football,” reported the New York Times, “with a cold and steady rain leaving a light coating of ice on the roads outside Giants Stadium and chilling players and spectators inside.”
The stage for a December 15, 1990, showdown between the 11-2 Giants and 11-2 Bills bothered those spectators much more than it did the men on the field. Standing on the sidelines beneath cold drizzling rain, Marv Levy told an assistant: “I don’t care, whatever, just go play. Whatever it is. You’re supposed to play in whatever kind of weather. That’s the way this game is meant to be played: outside.”
Giants fans discouraged by the weather—more than thirty thousand already-sold tickets went unused—missed a promising start. New York took the opening kickoff and marched downfield. A forty-one-yard run along the sideline by Rodney Hampton, combined with a series of short ground gains neutralized the nasty elements. On the eleventh play of the drive, Simms handed