Ground Report

SUPER BOWL MVP THUMBNAILS

Following is a review of the memorable performances
of each Pete Rozelle Trophy Most Valuable
Player Award from Super Bowl XXI to Super
Bowl XXX:

SUPER BOWL XXI: QB PHIL SIMMS, New
York Giants – Simms’ near-perfect 22-for-25 passing
performance helped New York pull away from
the Denver Broncos for a 39-20 victory. With the
Giants trailing 10-9 at the half, Simms was a perfect
10-for-10 in the second half, orchestrating five
scoring drives in the process. Tight end Mark
Bavaro and wide receiver Phil McConkey were
both on the receiving ends of textbook touchdown
tosses from the accurate Simms. No other Super
Bowl quarterback comes close to matching
Simms’ 88.0 completion percentage, with Montana’s
75.9 percent completion rate against Denver
in Super Bowl XXIV ranking second all time.

SUPER BOWL XXII: QB DOUG WILLIAMS,
Washington Redskins – Throwing four touchdown
passes in an electric second quarter, Williams led
Washington to its second Super Bowl victory.
Williams accrued 340 yards via the pass – a Super
Bowl record at the time. Trailing 10-0 after one
quarter of play, the Redskins’ offense erupted for
35 straight points en route to a 42-10 victory.
Williams sparked the offensive onslaught with an
80-yard passing score to wideout Ricky Sanders
less than a minute into the second quarter.
Williams’ performance was so impressive, it surpassed
the dynamic rushing effort by Washington
running back Timmy Smith, who ran for 204 yards
and two touchdowns.

SUPER BOWL XXIII: WR JERRY RICE, San
Francisco 49ers – San Francisco became the first
NFC team to win three Super Bowls in this epic
come-from-behind win (20-16) over the Bengals.
Rice was unstoppable, reeling in 11 catches for a
Super Bowl-best 215 yards. Though Joe Montana
racked up more than 300 yards passing and directed
the most memorable touchdown drive in
Super Bowl history (92 yards in 11 plays), Rice’s
dominant performance was the difference in this
game. In addition to being the owner of every significant
receiving record in NFL regular season
history, Rice still holds five Super Bowl records, including
most career receiving yardage and touchdowns.

SUPER BOWL XXIV: QB JOE MONTANA,
San Francisco 49ers – Montana augmented an already
impressive Super Bowl résumé by winning
his third MVP award in the game. In the most lopsided
Super Bowl win ever, San Francisco beat the
Broncos, 55-10. Montana’s five touchdown passes
set a single-game Super Bowl standard at the time
and put him ahead of Terry Bradshaw for the most
career touchdown passes of any Super Bowl performer.
Montana (22 of 29, 297 yards) still sits atop
the Super Bowl record book in the passing categories
of rating (127.8), career completions (83),
career yards (1,142) and touchdowns (11).

SUPER BOWL XXV: RB OTTIS ANDERSON,
New York Giants – Head coach Bill Parcells secured
his second Super Bowl championship in
this 20-19 victory, which will be forever remembered
because of Buffalo kicker Scott Norwood’s
potential game-winning field goal that sailed wide
right. Just as they had done all season, the Giants
employed a ball- control strategy that was spearheaded
by Anderson’s gutsy performance. Running
primarily between the tackles, Anderson carried
the ball 21 times for 102 yards. The Giants
held on to the ball for a record 40:33 of the game,
keeping the potent Buffalo offense from finding its
rhythm. Anderson scored his lone touchdown of
the day to cap a 14-play drive that spanned nearly
10 minutes of the third quarter.

SUPER BOWL XXVI: QB MARK RYPIEN,
Washington Redskins – Rypien and his Redskins
handed the Bills their second Super Bowl loss (37-
24), leading by as much as 37-10. Passing for 292
yards and two touchdowns, Rypien tallied more
yards in his 33 attempts than did the Bills’ Jim Kelly,
who threw 58 times in the game. Rypien’s 35-
yard touchdown pass to Gary Clark in the second
half provided some much-needed breathing room
for Washington.

SUPER BOWL XXVII: QB TROY AIKMAN,
Dallas Cowboys – This 52-17 win over Buffalo
marked the resurgence of Dallas’ Super Bowl
dominance, and turned out to be the first of three
Cowboys Super Bowl wins to come in the next
four years. Aikman hooked up with wide receiver
Michael Irvin twice for scores, with wideout Alvin
Harper and tight end Jay Novacek also finding
paydirt via the pass. Aikman’s performance was
spectacular. He completed 22 of 30 passes for
273 yards to go along with his four touchdowns.

SUPER BOWL XXVIII: RB EMMITT SMITH,
Dallas Cowboys – With Dallas trailing at halftime, it
was Smith’s two second- half scoring runs that
propelled the Cowboys to victory (30-13) for the
second consecutive year over the rival Bills.
Smith’s first score gave Dallas the lead for good,
as he carried the ball seven times on an eight-play
scoring drive punctuated by a 15-yard touchdown
scamper. Carrying the ball 30 times for 132 yards,
Smith’s workmanlike effort helped stifle the Bills.

SUPER BOWL XXIX: QB STEVE YOUNG,
San Francisco 49ers – Stepping out of the shadow
of the man he replaced (Joe Montana), Young
torched San Diego’s defense for 325 yards passing
to go along with his Super Bowl record six
touchdown tosses. Jerry Rice caught three of the
six scoring strikes from the left-handed Young,
who also led the 49ers in rushing with 49 yards.
Young and the 49ers jumped out to an early 14-0
lead following passing touchdowns to Rice and
running back Ricky Watters. Fittingly, Young surpassed
Montana’s single-game Super Bowl record
for touchdown passes in the 49-26 victory.

SUPER BOWL XXX: CB LARRY BROWN,
Dallas Cowboys – Brown intercepted two passes
thrown by Steelers quarterback Neil O’Donnell in
the Cowboys’ record-tying fifth Super Bowl triumph.
Both interceptions stymied viable Pittsburgh
drives, setting up short rushing touchdowns
by Emmitt Smith. Brown’s opportunistic interceptions
helped Dallas overcome a deficit of 13-7 as
well as preserve a 20-17 advantage in this eventual
27-17 Cowboys victory.

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