Quote:  The forced fumble on Roger Craig with less than 5 minutes in the NFC Championship game probably was the deciding factor.  i believe NT Erik Howard made the play.   It was probably Craig's worst moment in his stellar NFL career,

 

  The coaching was amongst the best ever.   That was on display in the Super Bowl a week later.   The Giants 1990 Defense was very talented but probably not on the 1986 level.   Yet,  the strategy to control the clock on Offense with Ottis ' OJ;  Anderson,  to keep Jim Kelly and the ultra high powered K-Gun Offense off the field,  was probably the # 1 difference in that game.    I respect Marv Levy greatly.   But the Bills probably got outcoached in the Super Bowl.

I think those Buffalo teams-in addition to the 1980s Denver teams- contributed to my bias against the 3-4/preference for a 4-3.

 

Prior to the Bills ascent to the Super Bowl, they had a great NT in Fred Smerlas.  But when they were good enough to be a Super Bowl team, they had Jeff Wright, who wasn't as big, powerful or as talented as Smerlas.  Combined with Bruce Smith's weight loss, the Bills would prove to be physically outmatched in each of those four Super Bowls.  Their defensive front seven was unable to hold up against the bigger, more physical run blocking NFC east teams.  In each of those Super Bowls, the Giants, Skins, and Cowboys ran the ball down their throats.  The same held true when Denver made the Super Bowl during that era.  Watching those teams suffer so greatly during that time made me convinced the 3-4 was a size dependent scheme. 

 

I agree completely with your analysis about that 1990 Giants defense not being as good as that 1986 defense.

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