Super Bowl XXVI, 1992: Washington 37 Buffalo 24

Super Bowl XXVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1991 season. The Redskins defeated the Bills by a score of 37–24, becoming the fourth team after the Pittsburgh Steelers, the now Las Vegas Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers to win three Super Bowls. The Bills became the third team, after the Minnesota Vikings (Super Bowls VIII and IX) and the Denver Broncos (Super Bowls XXI and XXII) to lose back-to-back Super Bowls. The game was played on January 26, 1992, at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the first time the city played host to a Super Bowl.

Both teams finished the regular season with the best record in their respective conference. The Redskins posted a 14–2 regular season record, and led the league during the regular season with 485 points. Washington head coach Joe Gibbs entered the game seeking his third Super Bowl victory with the team, but with his third starting Super Bowl quarterback, Mark Rypien. The Bills finished the regular season with a 13–3 record and advanced to their second consecutive Super Bowl, largely through the play of quarterback Jim Kelly and their "K-Gun" no-huddle offense. However, their defense ranked second to last in the league in total yards allowed.

Super Bowl XXVI was dominated by Washington. Early in the second quarter, the Redskins jumped out to a 17–0 lead from which the Bills could not recover. Washington also sacked Kelly four times and intercepted him four times. Rypien, who completed 18 of 33 passes for 292 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, was named Super Bowl MVP.

The telecast of the game on CBS was seen by an estimated 79.6 million viewers. This was the first time that a major television network successfully scheduled Super Bowl counterprogramming: Fox aired a special live football-themed episode of its popular sketch comedy show In Living Color during the halftime show.

Game summary
First quarter
Both teams entered the game as the two highest scoring teams in the league, but after the end of the first quarter, both of them would be scoreless.

The miscues began right from the start. First, the opening kickoff had to be redone because Bills kicker Brad Daluiso kicked the ball before referee Jerry Markbreit signaled to begin play. Then after Washington was forced to punt, Bills running back Thurman Thomas missed the first two plays of Buffalo's first drive because he misplaced his helmet.

After an exchange of punts to start the game, Washington drove 89 yards and appeared to score a touchdown on a third-down pass from quarterback Mark Rypien to wide receiver Art Monk (who had already caught three passes for 67 yards on the drive). But instant replay ruled that Monk's foot was out of bounds when he caught the ball (the first time a touchdown was overruled by instant replay in a Super Bowl). The Redskins tried to salvage the drive with a field goal attempt, but holder Jeff Rutledge fumbled the snap.

On Buffalo's first play after the botched field goal attempt, Bills quarterback Jim Kelly gave Washington another chance to score by throwing an interception to Redskins safety Brad Edwards, who returned it 21 yards to the Bills 12-yard line. But Rypien promptly gave it back to the Bills by throwing an interception to Kirby Jackson on the third play of the Redskins' next drive.

Second quarter
In the second quarter, the Redskins began to take over the game. First, a 41-yard completion from Rypien to wide receiver Ricky Sanders and a 19-yard run by Earnest Byner set up Chip Lohmiller's 34-yard field goal to give Washington a 3–0 lead. The Redskins' defense then forced Buffalo to a three-and-out on the ensuing possession, and punter Chris Mohr's 23-yard punt sailed out of bounds at the Washington 49-yard line. The Redskins then drove 51 yards in 5 plays capped by Byner's 10-yard touchdown reception. Then, on the Bills next drive, Washington defensive back Darrell Green intercepted a pass from Kelly at the Redskins 45-yard line. Three plays later, Rypien completed a 34-yard pass to wide receiver Gary Clark to the Buffalo 15-yard line. A 14-yard run by Ricky Ervins then set up fullback Gerald Riggs' 1-yard touchdown run to expand the Redskins' lead to 17–0.

The Bills had a chance to drive for a score late in the second quarter. With 1:46 left in the half, Bills special teams expert Steve Tasker downed Mohr's 48-yard punt at the Redskins 1-yard line. Washington gained zero net yards during the possession, and Buffalo got the ball back after Cliff Hicks returned Kelly Goodburn's 42-yard punt 2 yards to the Redskins 41-yard line. From there, Kelly completed a 21-yard pass to tight end Keith McKeller to the 20-yard line. But after an incomplete pass and an 8-yard sack by linebacker Wilber Marshall, Edwards broke up a third-down pass intended for Andre Reed in which Edwards hit Reed before the ball got to him; however, no flag for pass interference was thrown. In disgust, Reed threw his helmet to the ground, drawing a mandatory 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that took the Bills out of field goal range and forced them to punt. As the teams ran off the field at halftime, Marv Levy confronted field judge Ed Merrifield, who Levy thought missed the pass interference call and then threw the unsportsmanlike conduct flag against Reed.

The Bills became the ninth team to go scoreless in the 1st half of a Super Bowl, after the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III; the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowls IV, VIII, IX, and XI; the Redskins in Super Bowl VII, the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII; and the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XVI. All eight of the previous teams ended up losing the game.

Third quarter
The Redskins then increased their lead to 24–0 just 16 seconds into the second half after linebacker Kurt Gouveia intercepted Kelly's pass on the first play of the third quarter and returned it 23 yards to the Bills' 2-yard line. The blitz that forced Kelly's rushed throw and led to the turnover had been drawn up by the Redskins' defensive coaches on the pregame bus ride to the Metrodome, as they came up with an idea to use their superior speed rushers against the powerful but not-that-mobile interior Bills' offensive line. One play later, Riggs scored his second touchdown of the game. The Redskins' 24–0 lead midway through the 3rd quarter tied the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl VIII for the largest shutout lead in Super Bowl history. It was broken by the Seattle Seahawks' 36–0 lead in Super Bowl XLVIII.

The Bills finally got some momentum going with their next few drives. First, they drove 77 yards to the Redskins 3-yard line, aided by a 43-yard completion from Kelly to receiver Don Beebe. Washington kept Buffalo out of the end zone, but Scott Norwood kicked a 21-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 24–3. Then, aided by a 29-yard pass interference penalty on Redskins cornerback Martin Mayhew in the end zone, the Bills drove 56 yards in 6 plays and finally scored a touchdown on their next drive with a 1-yard run by Thomas to make the score 24–10.

However, Buffalo's hopes of a comeback faded when Washington advanced 79 yards in 11 plays on the ensuing drive, scoring on Clark's 30-yard touchdown reception to give the Redskins a 31–10 lead with 1:24 left in the third quarter. Three plays after receiving the ensuing kickoff, Kelly fumbled the ball while being sacked by cornerback Alvoid Mays, and it was recovered by defensive end Fred Stokes.

Fourth quarter
After the turnover, Washington drove to the Bills 7-yard line and increased their lead to 34–10 with Lohmiller's 25-yard field goal on the second play of the fourth quarter.

On the Bills' ensuing drive, Kelly was sacked for a 9-yard loss by Stokes, threw an incomplete pass, and then threw his second interception of the game to Edwards, who returned it 35 yards to Buffalo's 33-yard line. Five plays later, Lohmiller kicked his third field goal with 11:36 left in the game to increase Washington's lead to 37–10. With the game almost completely out of reach, the Bills managed to respond with a 15-play, 79-yard drive to cut the score to 37–17 on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Kelly to tight end Pete Metzelaars. Then, after recovering an onside kick, the Bills drove 50 yards and scored another touchdown with Beebe's 4-yard reception to make the score 37–24, but by then, there was only 3:55 left in the game. Buffalo's second onside kick attempt was unsuccessful, and the Redskins were able to run the clock down to 25 seconds. From there, the Bills attempted one final pass play before time expired.

Kelly completed 28 of a Super Bowl–record 58 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns, but was sacked four times, intercepted four times, and lost a fumble. Thomas ran for only 13 yards on 10 carries and was limited to 27 yards on four receptions. James Lofton was the top receiver for the Bills with 7 catches for 92 yards, but Reed was limited to just 5 catches for 31 yards. Clark had seven catches for 114 yards and a touchdown and Monk added seven for 113 yards (Clark and Monk became the third pair of teammates to each have 100 yards receiving in a Super Bowl; they joined the Steelers' John Stallworth and Lynn Swann, who did it in Super Bowl XIII and the Bengals' Cris Collinsworth and Dan Ross, who did it in Super Bowl XVI).

Ervins was the top rusher of the game with 72 yards. Byner recorded 49 rushing yards, and 3 receptions for 24 yards and a touchdown. On defense, Edwards recorded four tackles, broke up five passes, and returned two interceptions for 56 yards. The Redskins amassed 417 yards of total offense while limiting the explosive Bills to 283, with just 43 rushing yards.

The two teams combined for the most points in a 3rd quarter in Super Bowl history (24 total points: 14 for Washington and 10 for Buffalo) and the most combined in a second half (44 total points: 24 for Buffalo and 20 for Washington).

With the win, the Redskins became the first team, and Joe Gibbs the first coach, to win a Super Bowl with three different quarterbacks. Two other teams have since duplicated this feat: the New York Giants (Phil Simms in Super Bowl XXI, Jeff Hostetler in Super Bowl XXV, and Eli Manning in Super Bowls XLII and XLVI) and the Green Bay Packers (Bart Starr in the first two Super Bowls, Brett Favre in Super Bowl XXXI, and Aaron Rodgers in Super Bowl XLV).

This was the last major professional championship won by a D.C.-based team until the Capitals won the Stanley Cup in 2018. This was also the last game for Washington guard Russ Grimm.

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