Super Bowl Monday_ From the Persian Gulf to the Shores of West Florida - Adam Lazarus [83]
No matter how good Thurman Thomas was, the Bills were not going to run him on every down. And by flooding the field with quick defenders very capable in pass coverage, the Giants could limit Jim Kelly’s options when the Bills did try and stay balanced by throwing the football.
Following a pair of rushes, Kelly returned to the air. On the run to avoid pressure, he tossed the ball to Reed who was unable to hang on after being decked midair by Myron Guyton. Punishing Buffalo receivers was another part of the Giants’ strategy in defending the pass game. The strategy had a prolonged impact. On the next play, a third and one near midfield, Kelly again targeted Reed on a short pass over the middle. No defender was within three yards of him, and Kelly’s pass was precise. Still, Reed dropped the ball: he must have noticed Pepper Johnson, the Giant linebacker in position to pound Reed had he hauled in the football.
“In the tapes of other games,” said Carl Banks, “they had guys catch the ball and run through the defense for large gains. We backed up in our zones, changed the coverages and rushes, and when receivers caught the ball, we wanted to punish them. They have the kind of offense that is going to make some plays. We knew that, but we wanted them to understand that we were going to hammer them when they caught it.”
The Giants defense had held, but the Bills were about to add to their lead.
A good punt by Rick Tuten pinned the Giants back at their own six-yard line. Despite the noticeable wear and tear on their quarterback, Parcells and his offensive staff remained confident in Hostetler. Play-action on first down (Hostetler was actually standing three yards deep in his own end zone as he scanned the field) gained seven yards, which was lost on second down, the result of a holding penalty.
On the next snap, Hostetler again receded into the backfield with the intention of putting the ball in the air.
“I remember the play, it was ‘258,’ it was a straight drop back and rollout to the right and what Ottis [Anderson] saw was that they had a blitz coming. And Ottis was trying to step up quick underneath me to pick up his guy,” Hostetler said years later. “Well, in doing that, he stepped in and caught my foot as I’m dropping back.”
Hostetler stumbled toward the ground, then regained balance and began to straighten up, hoping to either escape his own end zone or simply throw the ball away.
“[All] of a sudden I felt this big paw in my ear trying to strip the ball,” he said.
That paw belonged to Bruce Smith, who locked hold of Hostetler’s right wrist, then swiped at the ball with the other hand. Knowing that the difference between a safety and a touchdown would be his ability to maintain possession—by now there was no chance of escaping the swarm of Bills—Hostetler pulled the football into his stomach, smothering it like a grease fire.
“If I lost the ball there and they recover, we’re probably finished, because that puts them up [17-3] at that point in the game, and I don’t think we can recover from that. But holding on to it, and just giving them the safety, it turned out to be a huge, huge play for us. For me it was like in the backyard with my two older brothers again: getting beat up and trying to hold on to the football.”
“That was a huge play, and it could have been an even bigger play,” Smith said years later. “But he just had a strong grip, a strong hold on the ball, and was able to hold onto it, and we ended up getting a safety and two points out of it but the ultimate would have been to get the strip and get the touchdown.”
Smith—who was flagged for an excessive celebration penalty—and the Bills’ sideline showed little angst. In addition to two points, the Bills also received possession of the football by way of a free kick from New York.
“[Parcells] said it multiple times that week,” recalled Bob Mrosko, the Giants tight end from Penn State,
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