1990 Buffalo Bills season The 1990 Buffalo Bills season was the 31st season for the team in the National Football League . The Buffalo Bills finished the National Football League ' s 1990 season with a record of 13 wins and 3 losses , and finished first in the AFC East division . The Bills were 8 – 0 at home for the second time in their franchise history . On the road , the Bills were 5 – 3 . The Bills qualified for their first Super Bowl appearance . The season was chronicled on October 2 , 2008 for , as one of the five greatest NFL teams to never win the Super Bowl . Regular season . Bruce Smith set a club record with 19 sacks . Smith also had 101 tackles . Playoffs . AFC Championship Game . The Bills shredded the Raiders , limiting quarterback Jay Schroeder to 13 of 31 completions for 150 yards and intercepting him 5 times , while also holding running back Marcus Allen to just 26 yards on 10 carries . The Raiders offense clearly missed running back Bo Jackson , who suffered what would turn out to be a career ending injury the week before in a win against the Cincinnati Bengals . On offense , the Bills amassed 502 total yards , including 202 yards on the ground . Running back Thurman Thomas rushed for 138 and a touchdown while also catching 5 passes for 61 yards , while running back Kenneth Davis tied an AFC playoff record with 3 rushing touchdowns . Buffalo also set an NFL playoff record by scoring 41 points in the first half . Bills quarterback Jim Kelly threw for 300 yards and two touchdown passes to wide receiver James Lofton , who finished the game with 5 receptions for 113 yards . Thomas recorded a 12 - yard touchdown run , while Davis scored from 1 yard , 3 yards , and 1 yard out . Linebacker Darryl Talley returned one of his two interceptions 27 yards for a touchdown . Super Bowl XXV . To counteract the Bills ' no - huddle offense , the Giants ' strategy was to use a power running game utilizing O . J . Anderson , aided by quarterback rollouts , bootlegs , and play - action fakes . As tight end Mark Bavaro later recalled , " [ w ] e came out with three tight ends , fat slobs picking you up and moving you and letting you tackle O . J . , if you could . " This enabled them to take time off the clock and limit Buffalo ' s possessions . The Giants set a Super Bowl record for time of possession with 40 minutes , 33 seconds , including 22 minutes in the second half . On defense , New York wanted to be physical with Buffalo ' s wideouts , and play with extra defensive backs to concentrate on stopping the Bills passing game , while conceding the running game . The contrast in strategies was evident during the first period . After forcing the Bills to punt on the opening drive of the game , the Giants consumed 6 : 15 off the clock by marching 58 yards in 10 plays to score on a 28 - yard field goal from Matt Bahr . In that drive , New York ran five rushing plays and five passing plays . But the Bills struck right back on their ensuing possession with a five - play , 66 - yard drive that took 1 : 23 off the clock , including a tipped 61 - yard completion from quarterback Jim Kelly to receiver James Lofton that set up Scott Norwood ' s 23 - yard field goal to tie the game at 3 – 3 . After forcing the Giants to punt on their ensuing possession , the Bills ' offensive strategy started to work to perfection . Kelly led the Bills on a 12 - play , 80 - yard scoring drive that consumed 4 : 27 and moved the ball so effectively that the team never faced a third down . Kelly completed six consecutive passes ( four to Andre Reed ) for 62 yards , and running back Don Smith capped it off with a one - yard touchdown run to give Buffalo a 10 – 3 lead . Smith ' s 1 - yard touchdown run was his only carry of the game and the last carry of his career . Reed ' s 5 first quarter receptions were a Super Bowl record . After trading punts , the Giants were pinned at their own 7 - yard line . On second down , defensive lineman Bruce Smith sacked quarterback Jeff Hostetler in the end zone for a safety , increasing the Bills ' lead 12 – 3 . On the play , Smith had a chance to force a fumble since Hostetler was holding the football with only his throwing hand . But to his credit , Hostetler held the ball away from Smith , helping to ensure that only 2 points would be surrendered . The Bills started out on their next drive with great field position following the free kick , but were forced to punt after 3 plays . Taking the ball at their own 13 - yard line with 3 : 43 left in the second quarter , the Giants abandoned their long drive strategy and employed a quick strike attack of their own . Hostetler led the Giants 87 yards , scoring on a 14 - yard touchdown pass to wide recieiver Stephen Baker with just 25 seconds left in the half to cut New York ' s deficit to 12 – 10 . The Giants then opened the third quarter and resumed their original game strategy by driving 75 yards in 14 plays to score on Ottis Anderson ' s one - yard touchdown run , taking their first lead of the game at 17 – 12 . The drive consumed a Super Bowl record nine minutes and 29 seconds , and included four successful third down conversions . The highlight was a 14 yard pass to wide receiver Mark Ingram on 3rd down and 13 yards to go . Ingram caught a short pass and broke five Buffalo tackles to get the first down and keep the drive alive . After forcing Buffalo to punt on their ensuing possession , New York drove to the Bills ' 35 - yard line . But on fourth and two , Smith tackled Anderson for a 2 - yard loss . Buffalo then took over and stormed down the field , advancing 63 yards in just four plays and scoring on a 31 - yard burst from running back Thurman Thomas on the first play of the fourth quarter , regaining the lead at 19 – 17 . Thomas ' fourth quarter touchdown run marked 1 , 000 points scored in Super Bowl history ( 1 , 001 with the extra point ) . However , before the Bills ' defenders had a chance to catch their breath , they found themselves back on the field trying to contain another long Giants drive . This one went for 14 plays and 74 yards , half of which came off passes from Hostetler to tight end Mark Bavaro , and took another 7 : 32 off the clock . The Bills managed to halt the drive at their own 3 - yard line when linebacker Cornelius Bennett broke up Hostetler ' s third down pass , but Bahr kicked his second field goal to give New York a 20 – 19 lead . On the Bills ' ensuing possession , they could only advance to their own 41 - yard line before having to punt , enabling the Giants to take more time off the clock . The Bills finally forced New York to punt and took the ball at their own 10 - yard line with 2 : 16 remaining . Kelly then led them down the field with a mix of scrambles , short passes , and Thomas runs . Buffalo drove to the Giants ' 29 - yard line , setting up Norwood for a 47 - yard field goal attempt with eight seconds left . However , his kick barely sailed wide right , sealing New York ' s victory with 4 seconds left . Player stats . Thurman Thomas . Thomas led the NFL in total yards from scrimmage for the second consecutive season . His 1 , 297 yards led the AFC and was second in the NFL to Barry Sanders . Thomas had at least 100 total yards in 10 of the Bills 16 games . After gaining 219 total yards versus the New York Jets , Thomas was named AFC offensive player of the week . " Note : Rush = Rushing Yards ; REC = Receiving Yards "