WASHINGTON GOES HOG WILD!
THE HOGS had one last great run in them.
With a high-scoring offense led by game MVP Mark Rypien and his trio of handy wide receivers, and a defense that was one of the league’s best, the Redskins rode a dominant 14-2 season to a Super Bowl XXVI title, a 37- 24 thrashing that would have been more lopsided had it not been for a couple garbage-time touchdowns from Buffalo, which lost in the big game for the second straight year.
This was Washington’s third Super Bowl title in 10 years and it became the fourth franchise to win at least three Super Bowls, joining the Steelers, Raiders and 49ers. All three titles came with Joe Gibbs as coach, though each was won with a different quarterback (Joe Theismann, Doug Williams and Rypien). A sloppy, scoreless first quarter fortunately did not set the tone for the game. Washington got on the board with a field goal two minutes into the second quarter, beginning a run of 17 points in a span of less than six minutes. Washington’s defense disoriented Buffalo’s vaunted K-Gun attack for most of the contest. Bills QB Jim Kelly threw four interceptions, one of which came on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter. Linebacker Kurt Gouveia returned it to the Buffalo 2-yard line, and on the next play, Gerald Riggs scored his second touchdown of the game just 16 seconds into the half. Kelly attempted a Super Bowlrecord 58 passes, completing just 28 for 275 yards.
Thurman Thomas, who foolishly missed the first two plays of the game because he didn’t know where his helmet was, was held to just 13 yards on 10 carries. He did provide a brief glimmer of hope for the Bills in the third quarter when his 1-yard touchdown run cut Washington’s lead to 14 with about six minutes left.
Just two minutes later, however, Rypien ended the drama with his second touchdown pass of the game, a 30-yard strike to Gary Clark at the front right corner of the end zone.
Clark, the team’s leading receiver, had seven catches for 114 yards, besting Art Monk by one yard on the same number of receptions. Rypien finished with 292 yards passing, the Super Bowl win capping a career year in which he had 3,564 yards passing and threw for 28 touchdowns, earned a new three-year, $9 million deal. He had sought a new deal the previous offseason but ultimately gambled on himself, playing on a one-year, $1.25 million pact.
Rypien owed a lot to The Hogs, who kept him upright all season. They allowed a league-low nine sacks in the 1991 season and didn’t surrender one in the Super Bowl.
The game was played at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minn., the first and only time the North Star State hosted the Super Bowl.