What If: Super Bowl 31: Dallas Cowboys vs. Buffalo Bills

[Suburbia]

January 1997, Super Bowl 31 in New Orleans. The defending Super Bowl champions Dallas Cowboys versus the team of the 1990s without a ring, the aging Buffalo Bills. Who'd win?

Cowboys Starters
Player   Pos
Troy Aikman   QB
Emmitt Smith   RB
Daryl Johnston   FB
Kevin Williams   WR
Michael Irvin   WR
Eric Bjornson   TE
Mark Tuinei   LT
Nate Newton   LG
Ray Donaldson   C
Larry Allen   RG
Erik Williams   RT
Tony Tolbert   LDE
Chad Hennings   LDT
Tony Casillas   DT
Shante Carver   RDE
Randall Godfrey   LLB
Fred Strickland   MLB
Darrin Smith   RLB
Kevin Smith   LCB
Deion Sanders   RCB
Darren Woodson   SS
George Teague   FS



Bills Starters
Player   Pos
Jim Kelly   QB
Thurman Thomas   RB
Quinn Early   WR
Steve Tasker   WR
Andre Reed   WR
Lonnie Johnson   TE
John Fina   LT
Ruben Brown   LG
Kent Hull   C
Jerry Ostroski   RG
Glenn Parker   RT
Phil Hansen   LDE
Ted Washington   NT
Bruce Smith   RDE
Bryce Paup   LOLB
Chris Spielman   LILB
Damien Covington   RILB
Sam Rogers   ROLB
Jeff Burris   LCB
Thomas Smith   RCB
Matt Stevens   SS
Kurt Schulz   FS

[bagelman]

I simulated it on whatifsports.com

Cowboys down 10-6 after 3rd. Cowboys score 2 TDs to 1 over the 4th quarter. Bills get one with 1:07 to go, but Cowboys get another with :34 to go and win 27-24.

[Suburbia]

I simulated it on whatifsports.com

Cowboys down 10-6 after 3rd. Cowboys score 2 TDs to 1 over the 4th quarter. Bills get one with 1:07 to go, but Cowboys get another with :34 to go and win 27-24.

What a horrible way for Jim Kelly to ride into the sunset. The football Atlanta Braves. Sad. 5 Super Bowls and no victory to show for it.

[bagelman]

I simulated it on whatifsports.com

Cowboys down 10-6 after 3rd. Cowboys score 2 TDs to 1 over the 4th quarter. Bills get one with 1:07 to go, but Cowboys get another with :34 to go and win 27-24.

What a horrible way for Jim Kelly to ride into the sunset. The football Atlanta Braves. Sad. 5 Super Bowls and no victory to show for it.

Agreed. I would really prefer the Bills to win.

Rosters may not be correct for that simulation so hopefully it's simply wrong.

[here2view]

Cowboys, the NFC won something like 14 straight Super Bowls against the AFC during that era.

[Suburbia]

I simulated it on whatifsports.com

Cowboys down 10-6 after 3rd. Cowboys score 2 TDs to 1 over the 4th quarter. Bills get one with 1:07 to go, but Cowboys get another with :34 to go and win 27-24.

What a horrible way for Jim Kelly to ride into the sunset. The football Atlanta Braves. Sad. 5 Super Bowls and no victory to show for it.

Agreed. I would really prefer the Bills to win.

Rosters may not be correct for that simulation so hopefully it's simply wrong.

The '96 Cowboys was probably the last dance for the franchise as their personal and social problems would cause distractions for the team. The '96 Bills could have ended the AFC's 12-year losing streak....they intensified the AFC's losses in the early 1990s...