Inside the Giants' Super Bowl XXI Rout: Gatorade Buckets, a Fake Punt, and Simms' Record Night

Phil Simms had already thrown what would be his final pass of Super Bowl XXI as the New York Giants offense came onto the field to begin grinding down the clock with a late 20-point lead.

It didn't matter that the offense and the Denver Broncos wound up exchanging inconsequential touchdowns in the Giants' 39-20 victory. It gave the franchise its first Lombardi Trophy and first NFL title since 1956.

Simms had established a record for the highest passer rating in the game's history—his mark of 150.9 still stands—and he was finishing off a one-sided second half en route to being named the Super Bowl MVP.

There was only one question left unanswered for television analyst John Madden with six minutes left in the game: Which of the three Gatorade buckets on the team's bench was going to be dumped on head coach Bill Parcells as part of the team's weekly victory celebration since the middle of the 1984 season?

"There's a third bucket this week," Madden proclaimed, using his telestrator as the CBS camera panned over the trio of receptacles on the Giants' bench.

"There's always been a Mother and Father [bucket]. ... and since the last game, they had a Baby bucket. ... One's going to go to Parcells, one's going to go to another assistant, and one will go to a player."

The Giants, meanwhile, ran six straight plays on the ground. Ottis Anderson's 2-yard TD capped a 44-yard drive for a 39-13 lead before John Elway's late TD pass to Vance Johnson closed the scoring.

The Giants recovered the onside kick, and backup quarterback Jeff Rutledge took over for Simms. The clock rolled under 1:45 as the sideline camera caught linebacker Harry Carson changing into a yellow security jacket and heading for the Baby bucket with which he doused Parcells.

"Well, there are two kinds. There's plain water, and there's the sticky stuff," Madden explained. "The way that's colored, it's sticky!"

And then Carson dumped a second bucket (containing only water) on his head coach.

"He got another one," said play-by-play man Pat Summerall. "They washed out the sticky stuff!"

Added Madden: "A Super Bowl's worth a double bucket. It really is."

The fate of the third bucket was unknown, but most eyes were on Simms throughout the day. He went 22-of-25 for 268 yards with three TDs on passes to Zeke Mowatt (six yards), Mark Bavaro (13 yards), and Phil McConkey (six yards after bouncing off Bavaro).

"I think that that ought to dispel any myth about Phil Simms because he was absolutely magnificent today," Parcells said during the trophy presentation.

The defense did more than its share of excellent work, too. In the second quarter, it forced Denver to come up empty twice inside the New York 20 on drives sandwiched around George Martin's safety against Elway that brought the score to 10-9 at the half in favor of Denver.

The Broncos wasted their first red zone trip after gaining a first down at the 1. Linebackers Lawrence Taylor, Carson, and Carl Banks made consecutive stops, and Rich Karlis missed a 23-yard field goal. After the safety, Denver drove as far as the New York 16, then Karlis missed from 34 yards.

Banks finished the day with a game-high 10 tackles, highlighted by three takedowns on Denver's first possession of the afternoon.

The Giants had moved the ball in the first two quarters yet still trailed. Then they started the second half with four straight scoring drives to produce a commanding 33-10 lead.

On the opening drive of the third quarter, Parcells sparked his team when he called for a fake punt on 4th-and-1 from the Giants' 46.

Rutledge came into the game as the personal protector for punter Sean Landeta, stepped under center, and after a delayed count, plunged for two yards behind first-year right interior offensive lineman Brian Johnston.

"It was about two feet [to go], and it's something [a trick play] we've had all year," Parcells said. "You know, you try to win the game. This is for the world championship, and it's not for faint-hearted people. You gotta take your shot.

"It just paid off. I have a lot of confidence in our guys. When I challenge them with that kind of call, they try to make the play. They made every one of them we tried this year."

The gamble resulted in an eight-play, 63-yard drive, capped by Bavaro's TD catch for a 16-10 edge.

Later in the Giants' surge, Simms executed a 44-yard flea-flicker with running back Joe Morris. It left Phil McConkey upended at the Denver 1, setting up a Morris TD plunge and a 26-10 bulge.

"When we were warming up, I just told everybody, 'I got it today,'" Simms told Irv Cross in the locker room. "I was throwing the ball really well.

"You know, we had a lot to prove, our offense coming in here, because people didn't say anything about us all week, and I think everybody thought our receivers couldn't be a part of this game. And we had something to prove," he continued.

"We talked about it all week. We were going to come out here running, and we were going to see if they could cover us—the receivers and everything. The game plan was terrific. It really was."

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