Bills Throw a New Guy at Dolphins : AFC: Reich goes back to the bench as Kelly makes his first playoff appearance of the season against Miami.

Before we even discuss today’s AFC championship game at Joe Robbie Stadium between the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins, let’s get one thing straight.

There is no quarterback controversy on the Bills.

Jim Kelly is the starter. Frank Reich is the backup. Period.

Says who?

Says Buffalo Coach Marv Levy, who refuses to debate what he sees as a non-issue.

“There hasn’t been any decision to weigh,” an annoyed Levy said Friday. “The decision was made a long time ago. Everybody wants me to make a decision I’ve already made.”

That such a discussion should even be taking place on the eve of the AFC title game was inconceivable only two weeks ago. Kelly, one of the NFL’s premier quarterbacks, has led his team to the Super Bowl in each of the last two seasons. Reich has spent all eight of his pro seasons as a backup.

But when Kelly sprained his right knee in the Bills’ regular-season finale, Reich was suddenly a starter.

And what a starter he was.

In Buffalo’s playoff opener, Reich engineered the greatest comeback in league history, throwing four second-half touchdown passes to lead the Bills back from a 35-3, third-quarter deficit to a 41-38 overtime victory over the Houston Oilers.

Last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the playoffs, Reich was merely solid, throwing two touchdown passes and completing eight of 10 in the second half of a 24-3 Buffalo victory.

Friday’s Miami Herald had a headline that read: “Start Kelly? It’s Reich or It’s Wrong.”

But Levy will have none of it. Kelly worked out Wednesday. He was declared fit. He was declared the starter.

Levy wouldn’t even permit Kelly to attend an interview session Friday, saying that his quarterback was through dealing with questions on the controversy.

“He’s answered them, answered them, answered them, answered them,” Levy said. “It’s time for him to be concentrating on the football game.”

One person who will be on the other side of the field today isn’t so sure Levy has made the right choice.

“That was a surprise to me,” Miami linebacker Bryan Cox said of the decision to start Kelly. “Kelly has a bigger ego. He likes to think he can throw the ball into double coverage. Reich shows more patience.”

Kelly isn’t the only quarterback in this game with a question mark hanging over his head.

Dan Marino, his Miami counterpart, finished the season as the second-rated quarterback in the AFC. But despite the usual sparkling numbers (59.6% completion rate, 4,116 yards passing, 24 touchdown passes along with 16 interceptions), Marino struggled with some unusual numbers. At a low point, the Dolphin offense went eight quarters without a touchdown and had only two in 16 quarters. Marino was also sacked a career-high 28 times this season.

But he looked as good as ever in throwing three touchdown passes last week to lead Miami to a 31-0 victory over the San Diego Chargers in the Dolphins’ playoff opener.

So, assuming both starting quarterbacks are indeed back in peak form, what would be key to today’s game, pitting the 13-5 Bills against the 12-5 Dolphins in a matchup that appears dead even?

Home-field advantage?

Hardly. The clubs have met twice this season. Miami defeated the Bills, 37-10, at Buffalo, then lost to them, 26-20, at Miami.

Motivation?

Not likely. The Bills have some unfinished business. They have made it to each of the last two Super Bowls, but have yet to make it to the winners’ circle.

Two years ago, Buffalo came as close to a Super Bowl victory as Scott Norwood’s game-ending field-goal attempt. Unfortunately for the Bills, Norwood’s 47-yard kick barely missed going through the uprights, giving the New York Giants a 20-19 victory.

Last season, it wasn’t close, the Washington Redskins defeating Buffalo, 37-24.

So the Bills are aching for one more shot.

The Dolphins went to the 1985 Super Bowl behind their hot young quarterback, Marino, but lost to the San Francisco 49ers, 38-16.

No matter. At the time, it seemed there would be many more such trips ahead with Marino at the controls.

But it never quite worked out that way. Miami hasn’t been back since.

“I figured we’d be right back,” Marino said Friday. “I’ve learned that it’s not that easy. I respect what it takes more now.”

Running game?

Buffalo would appear to have the edge here with Thurman Thomas, second in the AFC in rushing yards with 1,487 this season, and first in the NFL in total yards from scrimmage with 2,113.

Miami didn’t have a 1,000-yard rusher, team leader Mark Higgs finishing with 915 yards.

But Higgs won’t be on the field today, his season over because of knee surgery. That would seem a cause for alarm. At least it would have been before last Sunday, when Bobby Humphrey and little-known, second-year man Aaron Craver brought back the Dolphin running game. Humphrey rushed for 71 yards against the Chargers. Craver ran for 72, averaging nine yards in his eight carries, including a 25-yard touchdown run.

Thomas has been bothered by a hip pointer that forced him out of the first playoff game in the third quarter. Last week, he was held to 54 yards rushing by Pittsburgh, but teammate Kenneth Davis rushed for 104 yards against the Steelers.

So there’s no clear edge here between the two clubs.

Other matchups?

Both teams have powerful offenses. Buffalo was ranked first in the AFC in offense, Miami third. Buffalo was seventh defensively, Miami tied for fifth.

Both defenses have been outstanding of late. After Houston took a 35-3 lead in their playoff game, the Bills have settled down dramatically, giving up only two field goals over the last six quarters plus the overtime.

And the Dolphins intercepted four passes against San Diego.

So what is the answer? What is the real key to today’s game?

“Take away, keep away,” Levy said without pause. Miami Coach Don Shula concurred.

During their victory over the Bills earlier this season, the Dolphins intercepted four passes, Louis Oliver returning one 103 yards for a touchdown. In all, Buffalo had five turnovers, Miami one.

During the rematch, the Bills, trailing 17-13 at the half, took advantage of an interception and a fumble to score 13 consecutive points during the third quarter to pull away.

So there you have it. If Kelly and Marino are both on target, if Thomas and Humphrey and Craver can all find daylight, if both defenses are able to keep the game from getting out of hand, it will come down to what it always seems to come down to in close matchups in big games: a break.

It might be a tipped pass or a stripped ball. Or it might be a missed signal or a blown coverage.

But if both sides play to form, it figures to be close. Real close.

AFC Championships

*1960 Houston 24, Los Angeles 16 *1961 Houston 10, San Diego 3 *1962 Dallas 20, Houston 17 OT *1963 San Diego 51, Boston 10 *1964 Buffalo 20, San Diego 7 *1965 Buffalo 23, San Diego 0 *1966 Kansas City 31, Buffalo 7 *1967 Oakland 40, Houston 7 *1968 New York 27, Oakland 23 *1969 Kansas City 17, Oakland 7 *1970 Baltimore 27, Oakland 17 *1971 Miami 21, Baltimore 0 *1972 Miami 21, Pittsburgh 17 *1973 Miami 27, Oakland 10 *1974 Pittsburgh 24, Oakland 13 *1975 Pittsburgh 16, Oakland 10 *1976 Oakland 24, Pittsburgh 7 *1977 Denver 20, Oakland 17 *1978 Pittsburgh 34, Houston 5 *1979 Pittsburgh 27, Houston 13 *1980 Oakland 34, San Diego 27 *1981 Cincinnati 27, San Diego 7 *1982 Miami 14, New York 0 *1983 Raiders 30, Seattle 14 *1984 Miami 45, Pittsburgh 28 *1985 New England 31, Miami 14 *1986 Denver 23, Cleveland 20, OT *1987 Denver 38, Cleveland 33 *1988 Cincinnati 21, Buffalo 10 *1989 Denver 37, Cleveland 21 *1990 Buffalo 51, Raiders 3 *1991 Buffalo 10, Denver 7

Note: List includes AFL championship games from 1960 to 1969.