European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 25, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                I 1 a a a a a a a a a. A. A a a a. A a a. Silver anniversary in go. No go d carries go slow giants by Bob Oates the los Angeles times Tampa Fla. A nearly a minute of the third Quarter remained in san Francisco sunday and the new York giants were still trailing 13-9, when coach Bill Par cells directed his offensive team to stand around As the 45-second clock ran Down. In such an interval the Buffalo Bills with quarterback Jim Kelly in fast Forward could have scored a couple of touchdowns. But the giants this season Are the Best and toughest member of the National football leagues conservative Wing. They Are a slow Tempo team a the Stark opposite of the go go Bills. They were confident that eventually they would eliminate the san Francisco 49ers�? and eventually they did 15-13 a and Here they Are in Tampa. A. That a where they la have to consider what they will have to do to outscore a Buffalo team that overwhelmed the los Angeles raiders 51-3. A a we be held our own in shoot outs before a Parcells said referring apparently to a 34-24 loss to san Francisco a year ago. A. A a but this Isnit the same Buffalo team that lost an exhibition against the giants last summer before winning dec. 15 in giants stadium 17-13. A the Bills have really accelerated the Pace in the last few weeks a said Harry Kuhnes the giants assistant general manager who noted that Kelly has converted the american football conference Champion Bills into the fastest striking offensive team the giants have faced. A the giants or anyone else a he said. That a the matchup the pass oriented new look rapid firing Bills is. A typical old line Power oriented pfc Champion most of those who saw the Bills rout the raiders expect a Buffalo reprise in the super bowl. The giants however Are a different kind of bal club a with better linebackers and better Ball control players g a Here a a look at the team that scored the Only upset of the playoffs this Winter surprising the 49ers sunday after drubbing the National football conferences other division Champion the Chicago bears a week earlier a passing As Parcells suggested the giants can compete in a shoot out with Kelly a. If it can to be avoided a because they have Jeff Hostetler at quarterback now. A giants backup for seven years Hostetler 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds is much More Mobile than his predecessor injured Phil Simms. And he is getting to be a More dependable clutch passer a in the third Down crises that kept happening in san Francisco sunday for example when Parcells running backs were stopped on Early Downs. A you can twin consistently these Days without a move Man like Hostetler a said Hank Stram the lbs announcer who coached the Kansas City chiefs to Victory in super bowl in. A the thing that makes this Guy is accuracy and anticipation on pass plays and above All his Quick  one of the two or three Best running quarterbacks in the nil Hostetler an a minus scholar in his West Virginia jays is relatively inexperienced a with Only six nil starts in which he is 6-0 a but has made up for it in the playoffs this month by adding a cerebral dimension. Said giant Center Bart Oates a lawyer in his other life a you can to be an effective nil quarterback unless you have a presence and Jeff has  Leonard Marshall Carl Banks Mark Collins giants 24, Bills 21 by Dave Goldberg a football writer Tampa Fla. A Joe Montana staggered off the Field. Staggered not walked which is the Way he has left the last two playoff games the san Francisco 49ers have played against the new York giants. Pfc football leaves quarterbacks in that state. Pfc football wins super bowls the last six to be exact. Of so Buffalo Isnit Denver to the Relief of the nil Abc and everyone who watches super bowls everywhere. Of so Buffalo averaged 47.5 Points in its two play off wins. Of so the Bills beat the giants 1713 at giants stadium on dec. 15 and scored the first twp times they had the Ball. Of so Jeff Hostetler will be. At quarterback for the giants instead of Phil Simms who was Only 22 of 25 the last time new York was in the super bowl. However. Jeff Hostetler has a career record of 6-0 As a starter something neither Simms nor Jim Kelly nor even Frank Reich can claim. Lie has also shown the ability to keep his Cool in the waning minutes of close games which Are the Only kind the giants  first game is deceptive. It meant Little to the Bills. It meant less to the giants who were in the midst of a run during which they lost three of four a the Only three games they lost this season. Moreover the giants actually outplayed the Bills but were done in by penalties displays and referee Calls and non Calls. More important new York rushed for 157 Yards in that game although 105 came from Rodney Hampton whose broken left leg will keep him out sunday. The combination of Ottis Anderson Dave Meggett arid Lewis Tillman plus an offensive line bolstered by the return of jumbo Elliott should be Able to come close again. That Means Kelly and his perpetual motion offence May not have the Ball Long enough to run up anything close to .47.5 Points. A couple of other things. The giants or at least 22 of them have been to the super bowl before. The Only Guy on the Bills who comes close is kicker Scott Norwood who once played in a Usel title game. Now these Guys Arentt always silent particularly Bruce Smith who took it upon himself before the last giants game to proclaim himself the Best defensive player Ever. A couple of years ago they took the first monday night game they had had in several years and acted like it was a super bowl. Buffalo gets one break. They Only get one week to absorb the hype. But its not easy to spend half a Day to learn a game plan practice and talk to the Media. That a mandatory and the Media sessions Are a mob scene very different than the intimate gatherings during the regular season in Buffalo where the locker room is open for Only an hour on wednesday. The giants have experience with the super Bow l Media circus. In fact they endure something like it on a weekly basis. One More thing. Jeff Hostetler is not Jay Schroeder. Prediction giants 24, Bills 21. The irony is that the giants Only allow  to throw the Ball freely in selected situations a when they re playing catch up or when the other Side lacks the firepower to retaliate with passes. _ # the notion that Hostetler could come a rim inc out throwing and quickly put a Good opponent away a As Kelly did in the Raider game a is foreign to Parcells. Thus the efficient giant receivers a Mark Ingram Stephen Baker and tight end Mark Bavaro a have spent much of their lives As blockers and decoys. It has been a waste. But the giants will waste them again sunday unless their fear of Kelly leads to a shoot out. This is one of the league s dullest running teams now that it has lost Rodney Hampton to injury. At 33, . Anderson is the giants plugged. His alternate Dave Meggett 5-7 and Iso is too Small to be the kind of Hammer Parcells wants. The coach opposed the . Meggett. And Maurice car thou is a Journeyman fullback. Yet the giants run. Well. One reason is that Oates makes the blocking Calls that always seem to open adequate holes.  Pivotal is the blocking of the giant giant at Lett tackle 305-Pound John Elliott known As jumbo. Quot he dominates people said Oates �?o1 Haven t seen anyone stay with  when Elliott was Hurt earlier this season the giants averaged 1. Its Yards Rush my. Since his return the average has risen to 149.9. Against san Francisco s Stout defense. New York backs carried the Ball 36 tunes for 152 Yards. 1 he giants also Lead the league in fourth Down ground yardage. Parcells equities fourth Down running with wide open football. On earlier Downs he is perhaps less daring than any other pro coach. "1 prefer to say that Parcells is patient Quot a said ,Tim Rooney adding that the coaches conservatism will slow the  defense when the 19h it giants won super bowl xxi pushing the Denver Broncos around in Pasadena calif., 39-20, they were essentially a defensive team although Simms completed most of his passes and set a championship game record. A a our years later they still  a defensive team the a Fly a Best a having held is opponents this season to an average of 12.6 Points. On the average in other words the giants win when they can get a touchdown any old Way and two Field goals. In today a High powered football that s extraordinary. Accordingly looking ahead to the super bowl Rooney said a your game plan is to control the game with our do sense its what we do  the Bills however will be striking fast combining three or four receivers in no huddle formations with a Shotgun quarterback Kelly and a dangerous draw play runner Thurman Thomas. A there Are Only two things to do and the raiders did both a said Rooney who scouted the raiders Bills game. A you can use extra defensive backs As linebackers or you can use linebackers to cover their receivers. A when the raiders put in More defensive backs the Bills ran Thomas. When they left their linebackers on the Field Kelly threw the Ball. Its  briefly the raiders also tried one other mechanism a three Man Tine noting it instantly Kelly responded by taking the Bills out of fast Forward and beating the 34 with to formation Power plays. The giants Are a 3-4 defensive team normally a with two particular Strong Points in the defensive line right end Eonard Marshall and nose tackle Erik Howard. One giant question is whether linebacker Lawrence Taylor will be a decisive Factor against the fast go Bills. Even against the 49ers, Taylor was merely standing around instead of attacking Roger Graig w Hen he nabbed the big Fumble. Hie giants keys against Kelly sunday Are More Likely to be Marshall linebacker Carl Banks and cornerback Mark Collins the big men in the machine that has made new York the a Fly a defensive Power. The Bills can twin without out playing those three. Friday january 25, 1991 the stars and stripes super bowl special Pago 15