Time Is Running Out for Kelly to Win Super Bowl : AFC: Bills quarterback tries to downplay the matchup against Montana in today’s conference championship in Buffalo.

Jim Kelly, a car-racing enthusiast, wears a leather jacket with Richard Petty’s autograph on the left sleeve. Kelly also owns a Petty car, the facade of which is mounted on a wall in his sports restaurant in Buffalo.

“Richard Petty is the king,” the Bills’ quarterback said, “but my favorite is Dale Earnhardt.”

Why’s that?

“Because he takes chances and likes to have fun,” Kelly said with a devilish grin, knowing he just described himself.

Kelly is proud of his image, but he realizes he still has some polishing to do. Unless he wins a Super Bowl, Kelly will be remembered as a popular, fun-loving quarterback who couldn’t win the Big One. He’s 0 for 3 in the Super Bowl, one victory away from a fourth chance to reverse his football legacy. Fittingly, the man who stands between Kelly and Super Bowl XXVIII is the Richard Petty of the NFL.

Joe Montana, owner of four Super Bowl rings. The King.

Kelly tried to downplay the matchup in today’s American Football Conference Championship Game at Rich Stadium--”This isn’t Jim against Joe”--but he acknowledged that a win over Montana’s Kansas City Chiefs would be an accomplishment to savor years from now.

“More than anything, it could be a factor, say, six years down the road, when I look back and say, ‘Yeah, we played against Montana,’ ” Kelly said. “Yeah, it would be great to beat him and go on to win a Super Bowl, but right now, as I stand here, it really hasn’t entered my mind.”

Don’t believe him. Kelly turns 34 next month, and his football clock is ticking. His ultimate football goals are to win a Super Bowl and make the Hall of Fame. Those close to Kelly believe the Super Bowl failures bother him more than he lets on.

“He’s a fighter, and I’m sure it (ticks) him off,” safety Mark Kelso said, “but the fact of the matter is, this team was going nowhere before Jim Kelly got here. He was the ignition.”

Coach Marv Levy went so far as to say, “Jim Kelly means every bit as much to us as Joe Montana means to Kansas City.”

To support his contention, Levy noted that Kelly has a 25-16 record against the top nine quarterbacks in the league. The top nine, according to Levy: Troy Aikman, Randall Cunningham, John Elway, Boomer Esiason, Montana, Warren Moon, Dan Marino, Phil Simms and Steve Young.

A flowery statistic, for sure, but it’s overshadowed by Kelly’s record in the Super Bowl. Mention that to Levy, and he bristles.

“He didn’t lose the Super Bowls, the Buffalo Bills lost the Super Bowls,” Levy said. “I don’t know if that’s how he looks at it; that’s how I look at it. Nothing bothers the guy. He’s unflappable, so I don’t think that wears on him at all. He just says, ‘Give me another shot.’ ”

If he plays as well as he did last week, Kelly probably will get shot No. 4. Despite brutal weather conditions--the wind-chill factor was 32-below--Kelly passed for 287 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Bills to a 29-23 win over the Los Angeles Raiders.

“I would say that he’s peaked at the right time,” Chiefs Coach Marty Schottenheimer said.

It was a so-so regular season for Kelly. He threw only 18 touchdowns passes, his lowest total since 1988. He attributed the falloff to injuries on the line and poor weather conditions at home. NFL insiders believe Kelly’s performance suffered because of a more conservative offense and the lack of a deep threat.

“My numbers weren’t up there,” he said, “but what counts is wins and losses.”

Kelly is motivated purely by his hunger for a championship. These days, he wears a look of determination, according to teammates.

“You wonder how many more chances Jim is going to get (for a championship),” center Kent Hull said. “I think that’s why he has been so focused this year. I’ve never seen him better.”

The Chiefs feel the same way about Montana, setting the stage for a dynamite quarterback showdown. A battle of opposites, really. Aside from the fact they were raised in the fertile football territory of Western Pennsylvania, Kelly and Montana have little in common.

They don’t even know each other that well. Montana isn’t a member of the Quarterback Club, a marketing wing of NFL Properties whose membership includes Kelly, Esiason, Elway and most of the big-name passers in the league.

“He’s separate from all of us,” Kelly said of Montana. “Joe has always been put off by himself.”

In his own class. Kelly would like a chance to breathe that rarefied air.