Super Bowl Monday_ From the Persian Gulf to the Shores of West Florida - Adam Lazarus [53]
The mid-December injury to Phil Simms—a Super Bowl MVP and the franchise’s starter for virtually an entire decade—had been a terrible blow to the Giants. But there was one glimmer of silver lining in the unintended quarterback swap. Hostetler’s athleticism and mobility added a new dimension to the Giants offense, a dimension never explored during Simms’ long tenure.
“This might be just what the Giants need at this time,” a league insider told Newsday’s Bob Glauber in late December of 1990. “Simms can’t run, and Hostetler can buy time. Teams can’t load up any more because they don’t know what Hostetler is going to do.”
Hostetler’s agility produced more than just rushing yards or the occasional rushing touchdown. When he moved away from the pocket, defensive backs and linebackers were caught between two choices: remain tethered to the receiver, or attempt to tackle the quarterback before he gains positive yardage. In case of the latter, Hostetler’s receivers knew to break off of their routes and improvise. As a result, defenders’ coverage responsibilities—who covers who, who has which zone—became muddled, oftentimes enabling receivers to find an opening.
To start their last-minute, game-deciding drive, Hostetler faked a handoff to Ottis Anderson, escaped the grasp of two 49er linemen, then bolted to his right. Just a few steps from the sideline, he hurled the ball across his body toward Mark Bavaro for a nineteen-yard pickup.
“The pass to Bavaro was supposed to be a drop-back pass,” Hostetler recalled. “But when the rush got heavy, I moved out to the right and the flow went with me. Mark made a great move against the grain to get open.”
Passing on first down had been essential to New York’s crushing playoff victory over the Bears. And against the 49ers, Bavaro’s fifth catch of the day brought the Giants past midfield as the clock ticked to the two-minute warning. But when the action resumed, the Giants returned to the ground. A trademark off-tackle run didn’t fool anyone in Candlestick Park, especially 49ers defensive end Kevin Fagan, who brought O. J. Anderson down for a four-yard loss.
With the line of scrimmage now pushed back to San Francisco’s forty-three-yard line, the Giants needed at least one more first down to even consider attempting the game-winning field goal. And despite possessing all three of his time-outs, Parcells let the clock dwindle. Less than eighty seconds remained by the time New York ran their next play. It was worth the wait.
Faced with a second and fourteen, Hostetler took the snap, retreated into the pocket, then sprinted to his right. From an off-balance position, he fired the ball near the sideline, directly at the stomach of Stephen Baker.
“When they called the play, I said, ‘you know what, this is it. This is gonna be the best route I’m gonna run in my life. This is what I worked all my life for, this one moment right here to get our team to the Super Bowl. I ran that route so hard,” remembered Baker, the Giants’ five-foot, eight-inch receiver. “Oddly enough, we call it a ‘squirrel route’ because they used to say I looked like a little squirrel running so fast down the field. It was a ten-yard out and then I bursted up field for eighteen yards, acting like I’m running deep and then stop on a dime, and Hostetler’s rolling outside to my side and fires it right for the sticks.”
Baker caught the ball and delicately touched both feet down in bounds.
Hostetler’s college coach, Don Nehlen, had seen him make this play hundreds of times: during practices, in the “Backyard Brawl” rivalry matchup against Pitt, and in two bowl games. Still, even Nehlen was amazed as