For the NFL fan, it has been a long time since early February when the Seattle Seahawks routed the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII, but that changes this weekend in the traditional season opening Hall of Fame Classic which this year will see the New York Giants take on the Buffalo Bills.
In the intervening period, the NFL has tried to fill the void with free agency and the NFL Draft, or the Jonny Manziel show as it will be looked upon in future years, but it is seeing two teams out on the gridiron again that will get the NFL fan excited. It is fitting that the Hall of Fame game this year features the Giants and the Bills as both teams have a player elected into this year’s Hall of Fame class. Buffalo fans will be very pleased to see wide receiver Andre Reed join his Super Bowl era teammates Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, and Bruce Smith in the Hall, whilst Giants fans will see Michael Strahan possibly the second greatest Giant of all time (assuming of course that Lawrence Taylor is the clear number one).
However, when it comes to Giants and Bills in the Hall of Fame Classic then there can only really be one thing that belongs in the Hall, and that is a copy of Super Bowl XXV. This has gone down as (and will continue to be remembered as) one of the best Super Bowls in history. And the game that saw the city of Buffalo collectively come to hate the phrase “wide right” as kicker Scott Norwood saw his last second field goal attempt drift wide allowing the Giants to hold on to their one point lead and land Bill Parcells his second Lombardi trophy.
This was of course the start of Buffalo’s four successive Super Bowl appearances as their K Gun offense seemed all but unstoppable (outside of the Super Bowl) but if the Bills make that kick and win this game, you have to ask yourself would that then be the difference maker in the next three Super Bowls? Another question to ask here is, without Jim Kelly and the success of the K Gun would Peyton Manning been allowed to do what he has done by head coaches in his time in the league? However, Super Bowl XXV was more than a game of football. Operation Desert Storm had just started in Iraq and many people were uncertain if such a large public event was a good idea against the backdrop of the world’s events at the time. Indeed, players on both teams had relatives involved in the conflict. Watching the game back you will see Giants players wearing yellow armbands in support of the troops.
From a football perspective, many would have said that the Giants shouldn’t have been there at all, after starting the season 11-0 the Giants lost QB Phil Simms (MVP of their previous Super Bowl win and now TV analyst) to a season-ending injury meaning Jeff Hostetler took over at QB, and in the NFC Championship game they had to go to Candlestick Park to take on the 49ers looking for their “three-peat” with Joe Montana in his prime. There should only have been one winner, but Leonard Marshall knocked Montana out of the game, and Roger Craig fumbled to Taylor giving the Giants their chance to kick a field goal to win.
This was the last Super Bowl to be played the week following the Championship games so there wasn’t a great amount of time for fancy tricks in the gameplan. Giants coaches knew the Bills would come out high octane, and as a counter, the defensive coordinator came up with a gameplan that involved daring the Bills to run the ball, and was more than happy to give up over 100 yards to Thurman Thomas. Who could come up with such a plan you may ask? The answer: Bill Belichick (you may have heard of him and his achievements as a head coach in New England).
On offense, the Giants went old school, time possession, with an almost eight minute drive to end the second quarter and then a nine minute drive to open the third, the Giants, along with the extended half-time show, were able to keep the ball away from the Bills for huge chunks of time. Despite coming out virtually cold in the second half, Buffalo was still in this game and it all came down to a last second field goal, which for the second week in a row went in the favour of New York.
Back to 2014, and while the chances of a game like that are very small, we will be excited to see Strahan and Reed get inducted into the Hall, and to see how Sammy Watkins will look following the hype in the draft. Also, how will Eli Manning look in the Giants new offense? All of these questions will be answered this weekend, but as an army of football fans we can be content in that between now and next February, FOOTBALL IS BACK. Let’s all batten down the hatches and get ready for another classic season and good luck to all 32 teams attempting to get to Arizona in February. And to the two teams that make it, may you serve up a game every bit as good as Super Bowl XXV.
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