Super Bowl Monday_ From the Persian Gulf to the Shores of West Florida - Adam Lazarus [85]
Although there was no panic on the Giants’ sideline, in the huddle, Jeff Hostetler alerted his teammates of the urgency.
“I told them it was time to stop screwing around,” he said. “I told them that we were about to blow this thing for ourselves.”
The Giants responded to their leader. After a nice gain on first down, Ottis Anderson burst through a crease in the Buffalo front to pick up eighteen. Then Hostetler slung a dart downfield along the right sideline, over a leaping cornerback, into the hands of Mark Ingram, who touched both feet down before falling out-of-bounds. An outside run by Meggett picked up seventeen yards. On three consecutive snaps, the Giants had gained more yards (fifty-seven) than they had on their previous four series combined.
Meggett’s burst brought about the two-minute warning. Nearing Buffalo’s red zone, the Giants could now think about putting points on the board. But no receivers opened up downfield on first or second down, and in order to keep the drive alive, the Giants would need to convert a third and seven from the twenty-one.
With the clock reading 1:13, Parcells signaled for a time-out: he wanted to discuss the play options with his quarterback and offensive coordinator. Moments later, Hostetler returned to the field, broke the huddle, took the snap, and surveyed the field. After all that discussion, the second-string tight end was not the man Parcells, Hostetler, or Ron Erhardt were hoping to get the ball too. Nevertheless, Howard Cross came up with a huge play. On his knees, the second-year University of Alabama product caught the ball in the flats, a yard shy of the flagstick, then rolled sideways for an additional yard to gain the critical first down.
Cornelius Bennett batted down Hostetler’s next pass, leaving the Giants with thirty-six seconds to gain the fourteen yards needed for a touchdown.
Throughout the first half, both quarterbacks struggled to make accurate passes. In addition to badly overthrowing Reed on the game’s opening play from scrimmage, Kelly had already twice underthrown Lofton on deep passes, including the sixty-one-yard tipped ball completion early in the game. Hostetler—still in a haze from several crushing blows—accumulated his share of subpar tosses as well. During the Giants’ lone scoring drive, he too had underthrown his receiver on a critical play: not leading Mark Ingram enough on a third-down throw into the end zone meant New York had to settle for a Matt Bahr field-goal attempt. Earlier in that drive, he also overthrew Mark Bavaro by several feet as the veteran tight end was wide open near the goal line.
On this drive late in the second period, he remained inconsistent. The twenty-two-yard strike to Ingram along the sideline hummed and was placed brilliantly. But his next throw was far out of reach for Maurice Carton. Even the critical third-down completion to Howard Cross had been errant.
“Hostetler has just been off in throwing the ball,” Dan Dierdorf remarked to the ABC viewing audience. “That might have been a touchdown if he threw it and led Cross.”
Despite several regrettable throws, the Giants kept turning to Hostetler. Even after another, seemingly devastating misfire.
From the fourteen-yard line, Hostetler took the snap and stood tall in the pocket. Leon Seals bearing down on him, Hostetler tossed the ball toward the center of the end zone. There, Stephen Baker had cut underneath safety Mark Kelso. A throw anywhere near the sure-handed receiver would result in six points. The ball hit the ground two feet in front of Baker, who dove forward to try and snag the pass.
“I was mad at myself because I knew I had underthrown him,” Hostetler wrote. “I lost him momentarily behind the line and threw where I thought he would be. I was wrong.”
“When he threw that first one in the dirt, I said, ‘that’s it, I’m not gonna get another chance to score,