A billboard outside Bills Stadium was pretty clear: “We’re back. Take care of it, America.”
In one of the strongest performances in conference finals history, the Buffalo dominated the Kansas City Chiefs 30-13 to capture their fourth straight trip to the Super Bowl. Nor the magic tricks that for years Joe Montana used to surprise the NFL, they were able to derail Buffalo’s intentions to reach its fourth big game in consecutive years, something unprecedented within the league.
Buffalo lost to New York, Washington and Dallas in its previous three appearances in the Vince Lombardi Trophy game.
“We’re not going to the Super Bowl just to go,” defensive end Bruce Smith said. “We have some unfinished business. The ultimate goal is to win the Super Bowl. We haven’t done a good job the last few years. If we’re going to win, we’re going to have to establish ourselves the way we do.”“said Smith who had a sack during the match.
Bruce Smith added a sack during the 1993 AFC Championship Game
In the Bills’ convincing victory, the weather was not a major factor. The game played out in a light fog with near-freezing temperatures, and Buffalo completely dominated the Chiefs.
The corridor Thurman Thomas He had 186 rushing yards and three touchdowns in 33 snaps. The Bills’ offensive line opened up holes that Thomas would later call “just incredible.”
The line did not allow a sack to Jim Kelly throughout the day.
The Bills’ defense completely shut down the Chiefs’ offense, limiting Marcus Allen for 50 yards on 18 carries and taking Montana out of the game early in the third quarter with a minor concussion.
It also didn’t help that the Chiefs’ receivers dropped eight passes, including one to fullback Kimble Anders that was intercepted by the cornerback. Henry Jones, in the end zone near the end of the first half. Had he made the catch, Anders would have scored and the Chiefs could have cut the score to 20-13 at the half. Instead, they went to the locker room 20-6. That was the turning point.
Joe Montana, on the other hand, had a rough day. The 37-year-old big man struggled in the first half, at one point completing just three of 14 passes.
Montana’s last game ended in a painful fog. He was picked off by Smith and defensive end Phil Hansen and intern Jeff Wright hit him out of the game with 13 minutes, 27 seconds left in the third quarter, and Montana went to the bench with a dazed expression on his face. “I had a headache, it was all for a couple of seconds,” Montana said later. There would be no return of “Montana Magic.”
The @BuffaloBills dominated the Chiefs in the 1993 AFC Championship Game in a 30-13 win, as Thurman Thomas led the way with three rushing touchdowns.
Buffalo and Kansas City are set for another showdown with a chance to go to the Super Bowl on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/UHLL3Zzh4H
— NFL on CBS ???? (@NFLonCBS) January 22, 2021
As the final seconds of the game clock expired, the Rich Stadium public address system played “Georgia On My Mind”, in allusion to the next Super Bowl to be played in Atlanta. For three years, Super Bowl Sunday has been plagued by the Bills, and now it’s the fourth time.
