European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 28, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday january 28, 1993 sports the stars and stripes Page 29shula says api itt Emmett Smith s running can slow Bruce Smith s pass Rush. In starters a Robert Jones at Middle linebacker and Kevin Smith at the left Corner. Thev Are a pair of first round draft choices and part of a Young unit that led the league in total defense. Impressive to me is the fact that they permitted the fewest Rushing Yards. And Dallas does t have one defensive player going to the pro bowl. Will they adjust a special teams year in and year out the Bills Bruce Dehaven has been footballs Best special teams coach. Lew is an old special teams coach himself and he has always made that aspect of the game important to his team. The Bills Are also blessed with special teams wizard Steve Tasker who almost always manages to come up with a game turning play. The cowboys special teams Hustle they Are Good in every area. They also have Kelvin Martin who returned two punts for touchdowns this season and broke a 59-Yard Kickoff return. The cowboys did no to permit any returns for a touchdown. The Bills opponents were unable to return any punt longer than 17  the x Factor the Bills Are hungry. And they done to want to be 0-3 in the super bowl. The cowboys will have a Young defense reacting to a hurry up offence. There a also another Ever present Factor that takes on so much importance in these games turnovers. You be heard coaches talk about them before. The reason we do is that they have such an Impact on the game. They become critical in a championship because you re facing a Quality team in the first place. You done to want to give any Edge. Give your opponents a turnover and they re Likely to take advantage of it. That a Why they re Here. By Lisa Harris los Angeles up a year ago at super bowl Media Day no one was under the Microscope More than the Buffalo Bills kicker. There was Scott Norwood the Goat of super bowl xxv enduring endless questions about How he would react if super bowl xxvi should come Down to a last Field goal. Norwood is gone now and no one on the Buffalo Bills should feel less pressured at super bowl xxvii than the kicker Steve Christie was not there for Buffalo s two super bowl losses and he is coming off an acc championship game in which he tied an nil playoff record by kicking five Field goals. He also figures he has already withstood his heaviest pressure a replacing Norwood. The Guy whose Field goal went wide right on the last play of the super bowl two years ago. The Guy who missed three Field goals and an extra Point in one game last year. Then again that was also the same Scott Norwood whose presence in the Community was so Strong that thousands of Buffalo fans chanted a we love Scott at a Consolation rally after super bowl xxv. A a in a prefer to say they were reserved towards me Quot Christie said of his initial reception by the Bills. A that was True a says Steve Tasker the Bills pro bowl kick returner. A kickers always feel maybe not ostracized but separate anyway but he picked up on the  Christie was signed As a plan b free agent from Tampa Bay in february and Norwood was released in Early june. The Buffalo players did not exactly Welcome such a move nor did Christie. He said that when he joined Tampa Bay out of William amp Mary he Drew Confidence battling Veteran Donald Ign Buike for the Job. No such Battle awaited him in Buffalo just one for acceptance. A a they re a very close knit Bunch of Guys a Christie said of his new teammates a and they were tight with my predecessor Scott Norwood. Here i was some new Guy coming in to try and take their friends Job. Lets just say that no one seemed especially glad to see  Bill owner Ralph Wilson agreed to spend $2.3 million Over four years on Christie making the unprotected plan b free agent the leagues highest paid kicker. It was a blow the buccaneers did not expect. Christie grew up across the Border from Buffalo in Oakville Ontario. He says the Bills were the Only team that could have convinced him to leave Tampa Bay. A a in a 75 Miles from where i grew up a he said. So close in fact that after his Rookie year Christie and some Hometown friends drove to Buffalo for the 1990 acc championship game and watched the Bills rip the los Angeles and mgt in Bills kicker Steve Christie celebrates his historic of game Winner against Houston. Raiders 51-3. A i thought about How they were playing i Wasny to Quot he recalled. A that s what stuck. What stuck with the Bills Tasker says was the Power of Christie a leg. A that leg strength of his is like a Security Blanket for the whole team a Tasker said. A the times he a missed have never been at a crucial  during the season Christie made 24 of 30 on Field goals Many in the Tricky Buffalo winds. His 80 percent Success rate set a team record. In the playoffs Christie hit 5 of 6, a Steve Christie is the one big difference Between our football team this year and the ones we took to the super bowl the past two years Quot coach Marv Levy said. Super bowl xxvii from turning into one super bowl in a decade. The raiders would have lost by four touchdowns minimum Buffalo jokes no Way. Of the Bills did get clobbered in the super bowl last year. But before you dismiss it As a total wipe out consider this Nightmare the Denver Broncos. Again. Yes Grid Ghoulie it would have happened last year had there been no Buffalo. The Bills beat the Broncos by just a Trey in the acc title game. Had the Broncos shown up again we could have sued the nil for abandonment. The game could have been blacked out nationally and no one would have cared. Anyway the Bills saved us. Now they re Back for a third try and yes its getting a Little tiresome. Sure it could be another Blowout these Bills did lose to the new York jets and the Indianapolis Colts not exactly a super exact. But they have Talent and anyway remember the alternatives. A the Pittsburgh Steeles lost to the Chicago bears by 24 Points in december. A the Houston oilers  hold a 32-Point Lead. A the dolphins would be a 5-11 team in the pfc last. A the san Diego chargers  score on the dolphins in the playoffs. A the Kansas City chiefs Are a Halfway House for aging quarterbacks. A the rest of the acc should drop scholarship football. The Bills Are the Little Pearl in the mud. They might not win. Probably wont. But they might keep it close and considering the super bowls remarkably Dull history we must score All victories moral or otherwise