Quarter 1
The Bills won the toss and took the ball.

• Don Smith returned the kickoff 20y to the 34 where K Matt Bahr made the tackle.
• Bill Belichick's defense deployed only two down linemen, Leonard Marshall and Erik Howard. The other nine were three linebackers and four defensive backs against the Bills' No-Huddle Offense.
• Calling his own plays without looking to the sideline to speed up the offense, Kelly threw an incompletion, then connected with Andre Reed twice, but he was tackled immediately for gains of just four and five.
• So on fourth-and-one, Rick Tuten punted 46y to slippery scatback Dave Meggett who re­turned to the 31 where Tuten made the tackle.
  

The Giants offense was the diametric opposite of the Bills', taking the play clock down before each snap and running the ball the majority of the time.

• Ottis Anderson gained nothing, but the Bills were penalized 5y for offsides. Runs by Dave Meggett for 4y and Maurice Carthon for three made it first and ten at the 43.
• QB Jeff Hostetler faked a handoff to the left to draw in Bills LLB Cornelius Bennett, then rolled right and threw to wide open TE Howard Cross for 13y to move the chains again.
  Parcells' foresight had put the rollout pass into the Giants arsenal. In the summer, Bill came into the meeting room and told his offensive coaches, "I don't think that Simms is going to make it through theyear. So I want you guys to find out the best way to get the quarterback out of the pocket. Look at college tape, whatever. Spend the whole offseason and find something."
  "We came up with this bootleg," recalled offensive line coach Fred Hoaglin. "We call­ed it a naked, and we used it a lot. Belichick couldn't stop it in training camp." The play proved to be perfect for Hostetler's skill set after Simms was lost for the sea­son.
• A pattern had already been set. The Bills' first three plays used up 54 seconds while the Giants' first three took 93 seconds off the clock.
• Next came the first controversial play of the game. Meggett took a handoff going left but tripped and fell. He immediately got up and continued for a 10y gain as the Bills screamed that he was down. But replay confirmed that Meggett tripped over his own left tackle and was not down by contact.
• After an incompletion to TE Mark Bavaro and a 3y run by Meggett, Hostetler, with great protection, hit WR Mark Ingram on a crossing pattern to the 15.
• Anderson's 3y run and Hostetler's 1y scramble set up another third down for the Giants. This time they didn't convert because Hostet­ler's pass intended for Ingram, who was covered by Clifford Hicks in the back left corner of the end zone, was incom­plete.
• So Bahr booted a 28y field goal to end the typical Giants drive that took 6:15 off the clock. Giants 3 Bills 0 (7:14)

Ottis Anderson follows his blockers.

• The series started innoc­uously when RB Thurman Thomas gained 2y.
• Then lightning struck the Giants as Kelly threw long down the left sideline toward WR James Lofton. CB Perry Williams tipped the underthrown ball, but it popped up into the arms of Lofton at the 15. He continued to the eight where Everson Walls, racing from the opposite side of the field, pushed him out of bounds. That stop saved the Giants four points.
• After an incompletion to the well-covered TE Keith McKeller, Thomas gained three to the five.
• Kelly threw to Thomas at the left sideline, but he was well covered by two Giants and the ball was tipped out of bounds.
• So Scott Norwood tied the game with a 23y field goal. Giants 3 Bills 3 (5:51)

Kelly fades to pass as John Davis (65) and Kent Hull (67) block.

• Anderson's 5y carry and Hostetler's 5y scramble moved the chains.
• After Meggett gained three, Hostetler hit WR Stephen Baker on a buttonhook for 17 to midfield, and Anderson plowed up the middle for three.
• Then Hostetler stepped out of the pocket and threw the ball well over Baker's head on the right sideline.
• CB Kirby Jackson blitzed from the left and hit Hostetler just after he threw incom­plete down the middle.
• So Sean Landeta punted into the end zone.

The Bills moved to two first downs to end the first quarter.

• Thomas started with a 3y run.
• Then Kelly hit Reed twice for 11 and 4y to put the ball on the 38.
• After a false start made it second and 11, Kelly flipped over the middle to Reed, who broke a tackle and gained 20 to the NY 47.
• Then Thomas gained six.
  End quarter 1: Giants 3 Bills 3

Shane Conlan (58) tries to bat down Hostetler's pass. 91 is DT Jeff Wright.

• Kelly dumped the ball to Thomas who got up slowly after gaining 13y and being thrown down by LB Carl Banks.
• Kenneth Davis replaced Thomas and ran for three.
• Kelly then hit Reed on a crossing pattern for 9y and a first down at the 16.
• Buffalo fans breathed a sigh of relief when Thomas came back in and gained three.
• McKeller took a short pass for a gain of five to the eight. A roughing the passer penalty on Marshall on the play made it first and goal at the four.
• The Bills lined up so quickly for the next snap that the Giants had to waste a timeout because they had a substitute running onto the field and another man going off.
• FB Jamie Mueller banged over Lawrence Taylor on the left side to inside the one.
• Donnie Smith did the honors from there behind Mueller over right tackle. Bills 10 Giants 3 (12:30)

• Hostetler tried to pass but had to escape Bruce Smith's rush and ran out of bounds after a 2y gain.
• Anderson ran a delay to the 36. On third-and-six, Hostetler took the shotgun snap and threw the ball away just before being hit in the head by Leon Seals - a move that would merit a 15y penalty today.
• Leonard Smith fair caught Landeta's punt at the Buffalo 27 while Hostetler receiving smelling salts on the sideline.

• Kelly exploited the Giants' use of only two down lineman by handing to Thomas, who roared through a big hole created by LG Jim Ritcher for a gain of 14.
• But instead of continuing to run the ball, Kelly shot a pass to Reed, but FS Myron Guyton arrived with the ball to prevent the catch.
• The Giants gave the Bills 5y by jumping offside before the next snap to make it third and one.
• Kelly threw to Reed running free across the middle at the 45, but he dropped the ball to force a punt. Meggett made a fair catch at the six.
Belichick told his defensive players, "Any player goes for the ball, whether he catches it or not, you lay him out."
After catching five passes in the first quarter, Reed caught only three the rest of the game.
"No other team ever hit me this hard," Reed aid. "You can't even compare this to anything I've ever been through. They bruised up my whole body."

• Hostetler returned, dropped back into the end zone, and flipped to Anderson for a 7y gain.
• Anderson gained three, but the Giants were penalized half the distance to the seven for holding. That loss proved crucial on the next play.
• Hostetler tripped over the foot of Anderson as he pulled away from the center. The quarterback put his free hand on the ground to keep his balance as he tried to escape the rush only to be tackled a second later by Smith in the end zone for a safety. Hostetler was lucky he retained possession as Smith reached for the ball from behind while tackling him.
  Bills 12 Giants 3 (8:27)
  
  Anderson can't stop Smith from sacking Hostetler.
  Anderson on the safety: "Hostetler ran a bootleg action away from myself as I went to the left. Bruce Smith made a hard move on (LT) Jumbo Elliott. Rather than taking my fake all the way out, I shortened my path to help Jumbo with Smith. And Hostetler's right foot hit my right foot, and he started to plunge forward into our end zone. I was spun around when I tripped Hostetler, and Bruce was able to get past me. As Jeff was going down, Bruce grabbed his right wrist, and it looked like he was going to yank the ball free, but Jeff had the smarts to use his other hand to pull the ball back to his chest. So they got only two points for the safety instead of seven points for a touchdown and a fumble recovery."
  Bills special teams coach Bruce DeHaven on the safety: "If he fumbles, and we recover it for a touchdown, they're down enough where they're not going to be able to sit on the ball, and we might beat them, 40-14. I've always thought that play right there could have been the difference between us winning two or three Super Bowls."
  

• After Al Edwards returned the free kick 15y to the Buffalo 30, Kelly fired a pass to Reed who dropped the ball as he was hit by Guyton.
• Then McKeller couldn't bring in Kelly's wide pass.
• The Giants flushed Kelly from the pocket and forced another incompletion to McKeller to make the Bills 0-for-4 on third downs.
• So Landeta punted 47y to the NY 23.

Reyna Thompson tackles Andre Reed as Carl Banks comes up to help.

• Anderson ran twice for a total of 7y before Seals batted down Hostetler's pass.
• So Landeta booted 54y to the 16.

• Kelly called Thomas' number on four straight snaps that gained 32y. First, he zipped through right tackle again, this time for 18y to the 34. After running for four, he took a quick pass from Kelly to the 48 and a second first down. Another short pass and run gained eight more and earned Thomas a brief rest on the sideline.
• Giants fans had to be nervous. If their G-men fell any further behind, they'd have to scrap their ball-control offensive plan.
• Kelly threw deep to Lofton down the left side, but Williams and Walls teamed up to knock the ball away.
  Lofton: "I've got a step and a half on him (Perry Williams). The ball was just slightly underthrown, but Jim put a lot of air under it. Everson Walls comes out and pushes me out of bounds inside the 10y line. Looking back on it, you wonder what I could have done to stay in bounds."
  
• A false start penalty before the next snap set the Bills back to the 49.
• Reed took a pass over the middle but was tackled immediately by Banks at the 44 to end the possession. That stop would later be considered a pivotal moment in the game.
• Tuten punted to the 12 with 3:49 left in the half.

• Hofstetler rolled right and hit Bavaro for a gain of six.
• Anderson started for left guard but diverted to the opening on the right side to the 37.
• Hostetler found Ingram open on the right sideline to the Buffalo 41.
• Meggett looped around the left side to the 24 as the two-minute timeout was called with 1:55 on the clock.
  Anderson: "With Meggett in the game, the defense expected him to run with the ball or catch a pass, because he wasn't in to block. So we decided to stay in a split-back formation and run identical plays. I was the lead blocker on one side, and if I went to the opposite side with the ball, Meggett was the lead blocker. The first time we played Buffalo we didn't do that. I would line up both on the strong and weak sides, and that would confuse them, too."
  

• After an incompletion to Carthon, Hofstetler dumped the ball to him again in the left flat for a gain of just three.
• Giants fans started yelling as their offense let 33 seconds run off the clock before calling timeout.
• On third-and-seven, Hofstetler threw low to TE Cross, who caught the ball on his knees at the 14.
• Bennett batted down Hofstetler's pass, which stopped the clock.
• His next pass was too low down the middle to Baker open in the end zone with 30 seconds left.
• With excellent protection, Hofstetler went to Baker again, this time successfully at the left edge of the end zone a step ahead of Nate Odomes for a touch­down with 25 seconds to spare that completed the 87y, 10-play drive. The difference in the game was the safety.

Stephen Baker catches TD pass past Nate Odomes.