Quarterbacks Throw Off Game

TAMPA, Fla. — The footballs sailed majestically through the Tampa night, tight spirals, elegant arcs, things of pristine wonder to behold.

They filled the sky with them, Brad Maynard and Kyle Richardson did, combining for a Super Bowl-record 21 punts Sunday because their quarterbacks were too busy turning a game once graced by Namath, Montana, Bradshaw and Elway into their own private shotput competition.

The question had been asked countless times during the last two weeks: What were Trent Dilfer and Kerry Collins doing as the two starting quarterbacks in the Super Bowl?

The game is long over, Raymond James Stadium has been hosed down and disinfected, and we still don’t have an answer.

Who could say what they were doing when they nervously backpedaled, flitted their eyes from one sideline to the other and cocked their right arms behind their heads while 71,921 onlookers gasped? Using the football to see if the white lines on the field were still wet? Testing to see if the helmets worn by opposing players were truly shock resistant? Making sure all the peripheral staff people next to the bench--trainers, medical crew, water cooler attendants--were paying close attention?

Heads up over there!

Incoming!

Ordinarily, Dilfer and Collins show up on Sundays and do reasonably well at doing precisely what they are told, because they aren’t told to do much. Take the snap. Make a 45-degree pivot. Hand off to a teammate. Put the ball in safer hands.

Unfortunately, circumstances in Super Bowl XXXV dictated that Dilfer and Collins throw the football a combined 64 times.

The Super Bowl, and the New York Giants, may never live it down.

For contributions to the Baltimore Ravens’ 34-7 victory, Ray Lewis was voted most valuable player only because Collins wasn’t.

Who hooked up with Duane Starks for a 49-yard game-breaking touchdown play and a 17-0 Baltimore lead?

Collins.

Who prevented six Giant points just before halftime, with New York wide receiver Ike Hilliard open in the end zone?

Collins.

Collins, so convincing during his hey-I’m-a-changed-man routine during the Giants’ unlikely run to the NFC championship, picked a very bad time to revert to Carolina Kerry, the scatter-armed problem child sent packing twice--first by the Panthers, then the New Orleans Saints--in five months.

Collins tied a Super Bowl record by throwing four interceptions, one an under-thrown long ball intended for Hilliard with the game still in doubt, another right to Starks, the Baltimore left cornerback whose uncontested sprint to the end zone removed all doubt with 3:49 left in the third quarter.

“I sucked today,” Collins said as he stepped to the podium to meet the press, another for-the-masses confessional on the way.

“This is the most disappointing loss I’ve ever been involved with. Not because we lost. Because of the way I played.”

And: “I played terrible.”

And: “Obviously, it started out bad for me. And it didn’t get any better.”

And: “I don’t think any one man is responsible [for the defeat]. But if there’s one man close to being solely responsible, it’s me.”

What must Minnesota Coach Dennis Green be thinking today, other than ordering up a mass waiver request for his entire secondary? Two weeks ago, Collins carved up the Vikings for 381 yards and five touchdowns, put 41 points on the board, had people actually comparing him to Phil Simms, the first Giant quarterback to win the Super Bowl.

In January 1987, Simms completed 22 of 25 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns to beat Denver in a performance since remembered by New Yorkers as “The Perfect Game.” Fourteen years later, Collins came up three loads short of a bookend. He threw 39 times, mainly because Baltimore scored the first 10 points of the game. He completed but 15 passes, setting up the Ravens to score 24 of the game’s next 31 points.

“There were some bad reads on my part,” Collins said. “I missed some guys open. In a game like this, against a defense like that, you can’t afford to play like that.”

Dilfer’s numbers were not sparklers--12 for 25, 153 yards--but he didn’t do any of the things that drove him out of Tampa last year--no fumbles, no interceptions--and he did manage to connect on a touchdown pass to the right team.

That was his 38-yard lob to Brandon Stokley over a badly beaten Jason Sehorn with 6:50 left in the first quarter. Remarkable. Baltimore led, 7-0. New York and Collins still had nearly 52 minutes to play with.

Game over.

Dilfer humbly shuttled all credit to his receiver. “It was up to Stoke to beat Sehorn, and he did,” Dilfer said. “After that, it was just pitch-and-catch.”

Dilfer grinned as he mulled that over a bit.

“Not that pitch-and-catch was that easy for me today.”

Pitch-and-splat, pitch-and-thud, pitch-and-run-for-cover--Dilfer had that down cold. No coach has agonized more in a 27-point championship victory than the Ravens’ Brian Billick, who paced the sideline, rolled his eyes and threw up his hands in a steady samba rhythm in step with every Dilfer under-, over- and where-was-that-throw.

For the record, it should be noted that there have been worse individual passing performances in the Super Bowl. David Woodley completed only four passes in Miami’s 27-17 loss to Washington in Super Bowl XVII. Tony Eason went 0 for 6 before New England Coach Raymond Berry did the merciful thing and pulled him out of the Patriots’ 46-10 loss to Chicago in Super Bowl XX. And Garo Yepremian had a tough time rolling out against the Redskins in Super Bowl VII.

But as ensemble pieces go, the Super Bowl has never seen anything like Collins-Dilfer, who left their mark, if nothing else.

Super Bowl XXXV: When the halftime entertainment was ‘N Sync, and the quarterbacks were not.

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The Not So Great Eight

Kerry Collins’ passing performance in Super Bowl XXXV was arguably the worst since Craig Morton’s in Super Bowl XII. The lowdown on passing performances by starting quarterbacks (minimum 10 attempts) that weren’t super, in order of the year of the game:

No.: III

Year:: 1969

Quarterback: Earl Morrall

Team: Baltimore Colts

PC: 6

PA: 17

Pct.: 35.3

Yds: 71

TD: 0

Int: 0

Rating: 9.3

Result: Lost to N.Y. Jets, 16-7

*

No.: V

Year:: 1971

Quarterback: Craig Morton

Team: Dallas

PC: 12

PA: 26

Pct.: 46.2

Yds: 127

TD: 1

Int: 3

Rating: 34.1

Result: Lost to Baltimore Colts, 16-13

*

No.: VII

Year:: 1973

Quarterback: Bill Kilmer

Team: Washington

PC: 14

PA: 28

Pct.: 50.0

Yds: 104

TD: 0

Int: 3

Rating: 19.6

Result: Lost to Miami, 14-7

*

No.: IX

Year:: 1975

Quarterback: Fran Tarkenton

Team: Minnesota

PC: 11

PA: 26

Pct.: 42.3

Yds: 102

TD: 0

Int: 3

Rating: 14.1

Result: Lost to Pittsburgh, 16-6

*

No.: XII

Year:: 1978

Quarterback: Craig Morton

Team: Denver

PC: 4

PA: 15

Pct.: 26.7

Yds: 39

TD: 0

Int: 4

Rating: 0.0

Result: Lost to Dallas, 27-10

*

No.: XVII

Year:: 1983

Quarterback: David Woodley

Team: Miami

PC: 4

PA: 14

Pct.: 28.6

Yds: 97

TD: 1

Int: 1

Rating: 50.0

Result: Lost to Washington, 27-17

*

No.: XXIV

Year:: 1990

Quarterback: John Elway

Team: Denver

PC: 10

PA: 26

Pct.: 38.5

Yds: 108

TD: 0

Int: 2

Rating: 19.4

Result: Lost to San Francisco, 55-10

*

No.: XXXV

Year:: 2001

Quarterback: Kerry Collins

Team: N.Y. Giants

PC: 15

PA: 39

Pct.: 38.5

Yds: 112

TD: 0

Int: 4

Rating: 7.0

Result: Lost to Baltimore Ravens, 34-7

*

NOTE: The highest passer rating in the Super Bowl was 150.9 by Phil Simms in 1987 (XXI). Trent Dilfer’s rating for Super Bowl XXXV was 80.9.