The First 50 Super Bowls by Ed Benkin

Author:Ed Benkin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Published: 2017-12-29T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

XXVII

THE NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

It took the Dallas Cowboys just three years to go from laughingstock to Super Bowl contender.

Dallas finished with a 1–15 record in 1989 during Jimmy Johnson’s first year as head coach. In 1992, the Cowboys were off to Pasadena for Super Bowl XXVII. Dallas reached the Super Bowl after knocking off the favored San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game. The Cowboys’ impressive 30–20 victory at Candlestick Park sent one of the league’s youngest teams to pro football’s ultimate game. One of the players who celebrated was second year Defensive Lineman Leon Lett, who was thrilled for some of his more experienced teammates that had lived through the lean years.

“It was a great moment for our team,” said Lett. “You look back on it with the players that were put together. There were veteran players with the infusion of some young players. For the older players who went 1–15, to have that opportunity to play that game in San Francisco was just awesome to be a part of that.”

Another player who savored the moment was Defensive Lineman Tony Casillas, who believes the victory in San Francisco made believers out of many around the league … including themselves.

“We really didn’t realize how good we were,” Casillas said. “Jimmy was really good about making us pay attention to what was in front of us and not what was too far down the road. We had to beat San Francisco. I think we were just kind of this young colt that didn’t realize how fast and how good and how powerful he really was.”

Standing in the way of the Cowboys were the resilient Buffalo Bills, who became only the second team in NFL history to make a third straight Super Bowl appearance. After rolling through the AFC for much of the past two seasons, Buffalo had to go the long way to reach Super Bowl XXVII. The Bills had pulled off the greatest comeback in NFL history in the wild card round against the Houston Oilers. Buffalo followed “The Comeback” with wins in Pittsburgh and Miami before arriving in Pasadena. Some believed the Bills were a team of destiny, but the questions of potentially being a three-time Super Bowl loser were prominent for Buffalo in the days leading up to the game. Cornerback Larry Brown could sense the pressure mounting for the Bills as the week progressed.

“All the pressure was on Buffalo,” said Brown. “We were the youngest team in the league and everyone talked about how Buffalo had been there before and that this was their time. I thought the pressure was more on Buffalo than it was on us and I think that helped us stay relaxed.”

“They always ask which team has the most pressure on them,” Casillas said. “I don’t think we felt any at all. The Bills probably felt more pressure because they hadn’t won yet. They had lost two in a row and they were playing a team they didn’t know a whole lot about.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.