European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 25, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Silver anniversary playground Bills mean business by Bob Oates the los Angeles times Tampa Fla. The Buffalo Bills Are probably the strangest team that Ever made it this far in pro football. Against the new York giants in the super bowl on sunday the Bills will be playing a shot gun formation no huddle game. That is sandlot football. Its the game kids play in the streets and in vacant tots. No other team Ever got to the super bowl doing that. But curiously it May be the wave of the future. Buffaloes Jim Kelly can Call his own plays. Lie can stand Back Down after Down and selecting an open receiver fire quickly before any defensive player can Rush him. Essentially the Buffalo offence is one Long two minute Drill Quot and every nil team runs that. If the american football conference Bills defeat new York with their exciting rapid fire Shotgun attack they Are certain to be emulated next season. Four other clubs already play wide open football a the run and shoot Houston oilers Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons and the pioneering no huddle Cincinnati bengals. The difference Between Buffalo and those four a the reason the Bills Are Here and they arc not a is defense. Unlike their friends in the a Fly a wide open fraternity the Bills have put together a championship defense with a dominant player right end Bruce Smith. Buffalo has put together the Best balanced Chib in football a the Only one with a 1991 pro bowl player in every department quarterback Kelly running Back Thurman Thomas receiver Andre Reed Center Kent Hull defensive players Smith and Shane Conlan and special to earns player Steve Tasker. The Bills Are so Good that most fans remembering their 51-3 dismantling of the los Angeles raiders expect them to rip the giants next. But they wont. Almost certainly they wont Hurt the new York defense the Way they Hurt the Raider defense. If they can to and if they fail to score readily in the first half a buffaloes players May suddenly find the pressure Buffo eating As other conference champions have in this  Bills problem is that this is their first super bowl. Whether they can get their sandlot offence moving is one question obviously. Whether they can handle the pressure could be More  passing Buffalo coaches Marv Levy and Ted Marchibroda have designed a simple but adequate passing Grid for Kelly based on Short crossing patterns involving at least two wide receivers Andre Reed and James Lofton and often three a As Well As underrated tight end Keith Mckeller. Marchibroda a tapes show that at every stage of every Bills game this season at least one receiver has been uncovered or single covered. Said Lofton a i Haven to been double covered since 19s7.�?� a Kelly will aim sunday to quickly find the receiver with the fewest giants around him and throw to trim before being hit by Lawrence Taylor or Leonard Marshall. The Buffalo offence is a composite of Andre Reed James Lofton Keith Mckeller Bills 27, giants 17 by Barry w1lner a sports writer Tampa Fla. Quot it wont be 51-3. Not even close to that. It probably wont be 17-13, either although it Likely will be respectable for the giants. To still the Buffalo Bills in their first super bowl will win  particularly since history tells us that few teams appearing in their first super bowl beat a club that already has been there lets Start with the fact the Bills Sim. Ply Are the a Fly a most talented team. Offensively they have been overwhelming particularly in the playoffs. Defensively they have the right a apr on to shut Down the giants who done to scare anyone with their attack. Also despite being in their first nil championship game the Bills Are Well tested they be overcome self created adversity stemming from internal feuds. Often erasing dissension is tougher than any on Field opponent. Plus the Bills beat the giants 17-13 at the Meadowlands handing the pfc champions their Only Home toss. They did it with Jim Kelly playing less than half the game before hurting his knee. And Kelly Wasny to nearly As efficient guiding the no huddle attack then As. He is now. The Lack of a Cne week break also helps Buffalo. The giants done to have extra time to come up with defensive schemes to shut Down Thurman Thomas the a Fly a total offence Leader or Andre Reed the of cd a most dangerous receiver or James Lofton the Veteran receiver to always has done Well against the giants. New Yorkus strength is its Lineback ing and secondary. It will be tested. Coming out of the Backfield Thomas could not be handled by the raid Erst inc backers sparking the 51-3 rout in the acc title game. The giants have Lawrence Taylor and Pepper Johnson who have the mobility to guard Thomas. But that will take away from the pass Rush which is nothing special anyway. Buffaloes offensive line is playing at Peak efficiency. If Taylor or Johnson a or both a Are in coverage and Kelly recognizes that the Bills will find room to run. If they Rush him Kelly will get the Ball to Thomas or tight end Keith Mckeller. Often. The giants done to figure to pile up a lot of Points although they can score if Buffalo does no to produce a better pass Rush than it has in the playoffs. The Bills need that Rush because the secondary is decent but vulnerable. Buffalo has not been bothered by. Mobile quarterbacks because it has Bruce Smith Darryl Talley and Cornelius Bennett on the outside. Keeping Jeff Hostetler in the pocket but her ried is a priority. As it does every week. New York will seek to run run and run some More Early in the game. The Best Way to get the giants out of that Mode is to build a Quick Lead and no offence is better equipped to do so than the Bills. An Edge in special teams goes to new York. That however also was True with the raiders and Buffalo outplayed los Angeles in that area. The Bills will win because a and Isnit this rare from the acc a they simply Are the better team. Sure the acc is due but these Bills also would do the pfc proud As a representative. Prediction Bills 27, giants 17. The run and shoot spread san Francisco a Quick passing and Cincinnati a no huddle philosophy. Said Marchibroda a we did no to set out deliberately to create a rapid fire offence. What we re doing is just using the two minute Drill All the time a and As you know the reason you have a two minute 9 Rutell Liq Drill is to get the plays off As fast As you can. We just borrowed that  sense which is lightning fast on the carpet at Home will be slowed by Tampa a grass Field. Second the giant defensive team is incomparably efficient. It held the Bills to 17 Points last time. And it shut Down Joe Montana twice. That is defense. 1 there Are two disadvantages. The of Buffalo beat the raiders on sunday with Kelly a passes and draw Plav rum Iii by Thomas. When the game was on the line that Sall there was because in their new style offence the Bills borrowing from the run and shoot coaches a run Only draw plays except in change of Pace situations. A. A a. Athe wily giants though probably wont give up Large chunks of Yards to anybody a draws. They will be ready for the ground attack that was too much for the raiders. In their practice time this week both teams Are focusing in that area a the Bills on new ways to Block for Thomas new York on ways to control him. One Buffalo trouble spot is the difficulty in running out of the Shotgun. A because a run and shoot quarterback is under Center he can hand off for a draw play to either Side of Center. A in the Shotgun formation As a practical matter the running Back can Only go in one direction. If the runner lines up to the right of the quarterback he must run in front of him to take a Handoff for a play to the left a side., a a a a. A a a conversely if he lines up left he can Only go  led the acc in ground gaining this season running for 1,297 Yards behind Hull and the 310-Pounders to his right in the offensive line. Their Challenge. Is that they Arentt As talented As the giants they will be asked to Block. A a defense if buffaloes players Arentt destroyed by the first time super bowl pressure the giant running game May get them. New York will come out running the Ball. The giants want Kelly on the Bench. And they done to fully Trust any passer even their Good new one Jeff Hostetler. So As usual in a giant game it will come Down to whether buffaloes three defensive linemen and four linebackers can. Handle , Anderson. At 33, Anderson is nearly As old As Lofton and. Just As Lively if no longer the run Ning Back he used to be. On aging legs sunday Anderson putting All of his heart and mind into the Job caved in the 49ers, and they play defense better than the Bills. Unhappily for Buffalo its most famous defensive athletes Arentt known for their work against running plays. Former quarterback Dan Fouts a lbs announcer said a a Philadelphia a Reggie White plays the run better than buffaloes Bruce Smith.�?�. For Buffalo much depends on nose tackle Jeff Wright who replaced Fred Smerlas this season. In any Case someone will have to hold off the Veteran blockers in new Yorkus offensive line or for the Bills All is  special teams in the big picture one Clear advantage for the Bills in this super bowl is the skill of their special teams. That reflects the special interest of their Leader Marv Levy who in George Allen s ram organization 25 years ago became the firs full time special teams coach in football. Quot a big play in the kicking game has a More uplifting effect than in any other area a Levy said. A the double thud of a blocked kick is the most Beautiful sound since Glenn  page14 the stars and stripes super bowl special Friday january 25, 1991