SUPER BOWL XXV / NEW YORK GIANTS vs. BUFFALO BILLS : Bills’ Momentum Will Be Measured by Giant Defense : Super Bowl: Buffalo scored 95 points in two playoff games, but New York controlled 49ers. Security is tight.

Super Bowl XXV, a silver anniversary special, promises a competitive confluence of Buffalo Bills, New York Giants and the finest in national security forces.

Today’s game at Tampa Stadium will be remembered for its bomb-sniffing dogs, 100 metal detectors, chain-link fences, strip-searches and bags left unattended.

“Security,” the city’s public safety administrator said, “will be both overt and covert.”

With fears of terrorism looming for America’s most-watched sports spectacle, no recorded memories of the game will be taken as souvenirs because cameras, camcorders and other electronic devices are not allowed inside the stadium. No blimps will hover in restricted Tampa airspace, either.

Otherwise, enjoy.

One year, a Super Bowl quarterback made news by dropping his pants in New Orleans.

This was the Super Bowl week during which the Buffalo quarterback stood in front of the media and offered an impassioned plea about the war in the Persian Gulf.

“I say my prayers every night that it will be settled,” Jim Kelly said. “Because I still can’t understand why there can’t be peace in this world. I think it’s stupid, to tell you the truth.”

Super Bowl XXV will be subject to delay or postponement until kickoff, as news on TV warrants. Super Bowl XXV will be different than others. If it goes off without a hitch, the game will offer an interesting contrast of teams and maybe the first legitimate chance for the American Football Conference in seven seasons.

The Buffalo Bills enter the game looking a lot like last year’s San Francisco 49ers, who outscored three opponents by 100 points in consecutive postseason victories. The Bills scored 95 points in two playoff victories, rolling out seven touchdowns and 51 points against the Raiders last week.

“We’re not out to score 50 points every game,” Bill receiver Andre Reed said. “If we don’t score 50 points this week, it’s not a reflection of how explosive our offense can be.”

How comforting.

Kelly is calling his plays in a no-huddle offense, and results have been frightening. The Bills have left two formidable defenses--the Miami Dolphins’ and the Raiders’--in their playoff wake.

Offensive coordinator Ted Marchibroda marvels at Kelly’s play-calling decisions, claiming he seldom would have overruled his quarterback’s call.

“It can be done by any quarterback,” Marchibroda said of the no-huddle. “We’re not brighter than anyone.”

It merely seems that way. Some feared that Kelly would abuse his powers by overloading the offense with passing plays, but that hasn’t been the case.

“You get the feeling he’s throwing a lot of passes,” Marchibroda said, “but he’s thrown (a total of) 52 times the last two games. You get the feeling he’s thrown 45 a game.”

The Bills are rolling. They’re hot.

“The Bills have everything going for them,” Giant linebacker Carl Banks said. “And that makes us nervous. They have so many offensive weapons you have to worry about.”

The Giants, by contrast, have few. They made it to the Super Bowl without benefit of a touchdown in the NFC title game, using five field goals by Matt Bahr to beat the 49ers, 15-13. The team’s starting quarterback, Phil Simms, is on crutches. The team’s promising young runner, Rodney Hampton, has a broken leg.

The Giants are counting on quarterback Jeff Hostetler, a seven-year backup who enters the game with 155 career pass attempts.

They will rely heavily, perhaps too heavily, on the NFL’s No. 2 defense, devised by coordinator Bill Belichik, to slow the league’s most explosive offense.

Belichik spent the week refuting rumors he was listening to head-coaching offers around the league. If he doesn’t have an answer for the no-huddle, maybe he shouldn’t worry.

“These guys put a lot of points on the board, and it’s going to be a hell of a challenge,” he said.

As usual, expect New York Coach Bill Parcells to engage in a game of ball control. If his offense can mount long drives that end in field goals, the Bills won’t have time to score 50 points. Parcells also has Super Bowl experience and linebacker Lawrence Taylor on his side.

Taylor’s job is simply to play the game of his life, wreak general havoc and inspire younger players around him.

“You tell them that there is no show like this,” Taylor said. “You can talk about the NBA finals or the World Series, but it’s nothing like this.”

Parcells has a way of entering a dark room early in the week and emerging with an effective game plan, no matter the opponent. He said before this season began that no other team scared him, then proved it by knocking off the two-time defending Super Bowl champion 49ers.

Parcells has been here before. He was a winner over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXI. He remembers the feeling.

“I think probably the most difficult thing to explain to anyone would be what a great thrill it is to be standing in that tunnel, waiting to come out,” he said. “That’s what I remember about the Rose Bowl in Pasadena--just standing there.”

Super Bowl Notes

Quarterback Jeff Hostetler of the Giants is 6-0 as a starter. . . . Coach Marv Levy of the Bills says the game should be played as scheduled. “I don’t think everything should drag to a halt,” he said. “Franklin Roosevelt in World War II felt it very important that sports continue.” . . . Buffalo quarterback Jim Kelly is glad there wasn’t an extra week between the AFC Championship game and the Super Bowl this season, saying: “I think the extra week would have hurt us more than helped us. We’re ready to go.” Kelly also took a slight jab at the Giants. “There’s only one New York team, that’s Buffalo,” he said. “The Giants are New Jersey.” . . . The last AFC team to win a Super Bowl was the Raiders after the 1983 season. They defeated the Washington Redskins, 38-9, in Super Bowl XVIII, at Tampa. Since then, the winners have been the San Francisco 49ers, the Chicago Bears, the Giants, the Washington Redskins and the 49ers twice more.