Super Bowl XXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1992 season. The Cowboys defeated the Bills by the score of 52–17, winning their third Super Bowl in team history, and their first one in fifteen years. The Bills became the first team to lose three consecutive Super Bowls, and just the second team to play in three straight (the Miami Dolphins played in Super Bowls VI-VIII, winning VII and VIII). The game was played on January 31, 1993 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, the seventh and most recent Super Bowl that the Greater Los Angeles Area has hosted.
The Bills advanced to their third consecutive Super Bowl after posting an 11-5 regular season record, but entered the playoffs as a wild card after losing tiebreakers. The Cowboys were making their sixth Super Bowl appearance after posting a 13-3 regular season record.
Dallas forced a Super Bowl record nine turnovers —four interceptions and five lost fumbles— en route to their win over Buffalo. Thirty-five of the Cowboys' points came off of those turnovers, including three first half touchdowns. Bills backup quarterback Frank Reich, who replaced injured starter Jim Kelly in the second quarter, threw a 40-yard touchdown on the final play of the third quarter to cut the lead to 31-17, but Dallas scored three more touchdowns in the fourth quarter. In the game's most memorable play, another Cowboys touchdown could have been scored on defensive lineman Leon Lett's fumble return, but he was stripped of the ball by Buffalo wide receiver Don Beebe as Lett started to showboat just before crossing the Buffalo goal line, and the football rolled into the Buffalo endzone and out of bounds for a touchback. Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman was named Super Bowl MVP, completing 22 of 30 passes for 273 yards and four touchdowns, while also rushing for 28 yards.
Michael Jackson performed during the entire halftime show, starting the NFL's trend of signing top acts to appear during the Super Bowl to attract more viewers and interest.
Read more about Super Bowl XXVII: Television and Entertainment, Game Summary, Starting Lineups, Officials
Famous quotes containing the word bowl:
“Three wise men of Gotham
Went to sea in a bowl;
If the bowl had been stronger,
My story would have been longer.”
—Mother Goose (fl. 17th18th century. Three wise men of Gotham (l. 14)