Super Bowl XXI - Game Summary

Game Summary

On the Broncos' first play after receiving the opening kickoff, quarterback John Elway faked a handoff, then spun around and ran in the opposite direction for a 10-yard gain to the Denver 34-yard line. Then on third down, his 24-yard completion to receiver Mark Jackson advanced the ball to the New York 39-yard line. However, the Giants' defense tighened up and halted the drive at the 30-yard line, forcing Denver to settle for Rich Karlis's 48-yard field goal to give them a 3-0 lead.

The Giants then took the ensuing kickoff and stormed right back on a 9-play, 78-yard drive. First quarterback Phil Simms completed a 17-yard pass to receiver Lionel Manuel. Then, running back Joe Morris ran for 11 yards to the Denver 41-yard line. The Giants then marched to the Denver 6-yard line with Simms' 18-yard pass to receiver Stacy Robinson, and then a 17-yard completion to tight end Mark Bavaro two plays later. Finally, Simms threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end Zeke Mowatt, giving the Giants a 7-3 lead.

Denver kick returner Ken Bell gave his team great field position by returning the ensuing kickoff 28 yards to the Broncos 42-yard line. Then, Elway completed 3 consecutive passes: a 14-yard completion to running back Sammy Winder, an 11-yard completion to tight end Orson Mobley, and a 9-yard screen pass to Winder. On Winder's play, the Giants were flagged for two 15-yard penalties. The first was a personal foul called on Harry Carson, who was penalized for hitting Winder out of bounds. The second penalty was an unsportsmanlike conduct foul on Lawrence Taylor, who picked up the first penalty marker and threw it. The penalties moved the ball to the Giants' six-yard line, and three plays later Elway scored on a 4-yard touchdown run to give the Broncos a 10–7 lead.

On Denver's first drive of the second quarter, Elway dropped back to pass from his own 18-yard line on third down. The Giants' pass rush forced him to scramble out of the pocket, but it gave him time to find receiver Vance Johnson, who was wide open, for a 54-yard completion. Several plays later, the Broncos drove to a first down at the New York's 1-yard line, but Giants defense made a key defensive stand. First, Elway tried a run-pass option, but linebacker Lawrence Taylor broke through the line and tackled him for a 1-yard loss. Then, fullback Gerald Willhite tried to run through the middle, but linebacker Harry Carson tackled him for no gain. On third down, Elway pitched the ball to Winder, who tried to score on a run to the outside, but linebacker Carl Banks tackled him for a 4-yard loss. In total, the Broncos had run 3 plays from the 1-yard line and lost 5 yards. Then Karlis, whose earlier 48-yard kick had tied Jan Stenerud's Super Bowl record for longest kick made in the Super Bowl, was sent out to try a 23-yard field goal and missed it, setting another, this time infamous, mark of having the shortest missed field goal in Super Bowl history.

The first use of instant replay in a Super Bowl game came with approximately three minutes to play in the half. With Denver deep in its own end of the field, Bronco tight end Clarence Kay caught a pass from Elway for a gain of 25 yards. However, the officials conferred and ruled that Kay did not have control of the ball as he had gone down immediately after catching it, therefore negating the play. After the ruling, the officials conferred again as Art McNally, the director of officiating, paged the umpire to signal they would take a look at the play. As referee Jerry Markbreit waited for their decision, CBS showed several replays of the play that were inconclusive. After several minutes Markbreit announced the ruling on the field was confirmed. This proved crucial, as on the next play Giants defensive tackle George Martin sacked Elway in the end zone, recording a safety and cutting the Denver lead to 10-9. To make matters more complicated, CBS' production staff found a reverse angle of the Kay catch that was unavailable to the replay booth and it clearly showed the reception made by Kay. CBS broadcast this replay toward the end of the half.

With less than a minute remaining in the half, Elway completed 31-yard pass to receiver Steve Watson and an 11-yard pass to Willhite, giving the Broncos a first down at the Giants 20-yard line. But the Giants defense forced 3 consecutive incompletions, leaving a 34-yard attempt for Karlis. Karlis, who had made 11 of 12 field goals from under 40 yards during the season, missed again, ending another Denver drive with nothing to show for it. Karlis later admitted his two misses in the first half were devastating to the Broncos. "Both times I didn't get my hips all the way through the kicks. I was steering the ball, and I know better than that. I felt the team unravel after that. I really hurt them."

In the second half, the Giants dominated the Broncos, outscoring them 30-10 with four touchdowns and a field goal on their first five possessions.

The Giants took the opening kickoff in the third quarter, but faced fourth down and one yard after their first 3 plays. New York sent their punt formation out onto the field, with backup quarterback Jeff Rutledge as an extra blocker. Parcells had entertained the possibility of running a fake punt and later said that if the Broncos were not going to pick up on Rutledge being used as a decoy for a potential fake, he would take advantage. As he had thought, Denver paid no attention to Rutledge and he moved under center while punter Sean Landeta split out as a receiver. Rutledge then took the snap from center and ran a quarterback sneak to the New York 48-yard line for a first down. On the next play, Simms completed a 12-yard pass to Morris, and then followed it up with a 23-yard completion to running back Lee Rouson. Two plays later, Simms finished the drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Bavaro to give the Giants a 16-10 lead. The Broncos were forced to punt on their next drive, and receiver Phil McConkey returned the punt 25 yards to Denver's 36-yard line. The Broncos managed to keep the Giants out of the endzone, but New York kicker Raul Allegre kicked a 21-yard field goal to increase their lead to 19-10.

Denver was again forced to punt on their ensuing possession. Afterwards, Simms completed a 17-yard pass to Manuel at the Broncos 45-yard line. On the next play the Giants executed a flea flicker play for a long gain. Simms handed off to Morris, but before he crossed the line of scrimmage Morris pitched the ball back to Simms. He found McConkey with the ensuing pass, who was wide open at the Broncos 20-yard line and began sprinting toward the end zone. After eluding one tackler he was upended just before he reached the goal line, throwing his hands up in mock frustration after being stopped at the one-yard line. Morris then scored on a 1-yard touchdown run on the next play, increasing New York's lead to 26-10.

Elway barely avoided a turnover by recovering his own fumble on the last play of the third quarter, but on the first play of the fourth quarter, he threw an interception to Giants defensive back Elvis Patterson. After that, Simms completed a 36-yard pass to Robinson. Two plays later from Denver's 6-yard line, Simms threw a pass to Bavaro in the endzone. The pass bounced off Bavro's fingertips, but fell right into the hands of McConkey for a touchdown, extending the lead to 33-10.

The Broncos finally managed to get a good drive going on their next possession, advancing the ball 74 yards in 13 plays. Elway completed 5 of 6 passes for 46 yards and rushed for 14, while Karlis finished the drive with a 33-yard field goal, making the score 33-13. But New York recovered his ensuing onside kick attempt and stormed right back for more points. Rouson ran twice for 21 yards and then Simms ran for a 22-yard gain. On the next play, Ottis Anderson scored on a 2-yard touchdown run, giving the Giants a 39-13 lead after Allegre missed the extra point.

Denver finally scored a touchdown when Elway found Johnson on a 47-yard bomb later on, which was the 100th recorded Super Bowl touchdown. However, by that point the game had become so far out of reach that it did not do much good. Elway would eventually be replaced by Gary Kubiak, who took a sack to end the game, and the Giants were victorious in a 39-20 rout of the Broncos.

As the final seconds of the game ticked away Harry Carson, continuing the recent trend started by the Giants, gave head coach Bill Parcells a Gatorade shower, going as far as to take off his jersey and pads and sneak behind Parcells with a Rose Bowl security team shirt on. Thanks in large part to this particular Gatorade dunking, a tradition of sorts was formed that continues to this day. In addition Brad Benson and Bart Oates drenched Simms with a cooler of ice water; "I think it was very appropriate to cool the guy down," Oates explained, "as hot as he was in the game."

Morris was the top rusher of the game, gaining 67 yards, and added another 20 yards on 4 receptions. Robinson was the Giants top receiver with 3 catches for 62 yards. Bavaro caught 4 passes for 51 yards and a touchdown. McConkey caught 2 passes for 50 yards and a touchdown, and returned a punt for 25 yards. Defensively; while the Broncos managed to bottle up Lawrence Taylor, Carl Banks had 14 tackles, 10 of which were unassisted and four of those for negative yardage, while Leonard Marshall had two sacks and forced a fumble. Elway finished the game with 22 out of 37 pass completions for 304 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception. He also was the Broncos' leading rusher in the game, with 27 rushing yards and a touchdown on 6 carries. Denver's Vance Johnson was the top receiver of the game, with 5 receptions for 121 yards, an average of 24.2 yards per catch, and a touchdown.

The Giants' victory in Super Bowl XXI marked the second time in four months that the New York metropolitan area had won a championship in a major professional sport; three months before, the New York Mets had won the 1986 World Series.