Smith Doesn’t Plan To Back Down At 9-4, Buffalo Targets Another Super Bowl Trip

Akin to the label of the best golfer never to win a major tournament, the Buffalo Bills are probably the best football team never to win a Super Bowl.

They shanked four consecutive years (1990-93) in the big game and whiffed in the divisional playoffs last season.

Now they’re back and, they say, may be better than ever.

“Our chances are as good as any other team in the NFL,” said defensive end Bruce Smith, who will try to add to his 12.5 sacks and 47 quarterback pressures against Seattle today in the Kingdome.

“I’ve always said to make my career complete there has to be a Super Bowl championship. The reason I’m still in this game is that I’m having a hell of a lot of fun and the personnel on this team is up to par to win a Super Bowl.”

The Bills almost feel as if they’re owed a Super Bowl mulligan.

“The fans in Buffalo, the city of Buffalo, the coaching staff, the janitors, the secretaries … all of us deserve to have a championship,” Smith said. “We’re going to die trying.”

And, like the last six seasons, the current club is setting up its fans for more heartbreak or hoopla.

At 9-4, the Bills are dueling New England for the AFC East title. A first-round playoff bye is up for grabs. Denver (12-1) has already clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

A rebuilt defense furnishes much of the Bills’ reborn optimism. Smith said newcomers such as Chris Spielman (1996) and Bryce Paup (1995), and the emergence of Eastern Washington graduate Kurt Schulz at safety, make the defense an 11-player threat.

“We might have had one or two more guys with more talent, (Darryl) Talley (Cornelius) Bennett, at particular positions (in the past), but our overall talent is tremendous,” Smith said. “(Tackle) Ted Washington, (cornerback) Thomas Smith, Kurt Schulz, they’re doing a tremendous job and making my life a little easier.”

That’s important - because Buffalo’s offense isn’t quite the big-play unit it was in the Super Bowl years. Jim Kelly has recovered from a disastrous start. He had 11 interceptions and two touchdown passes in mid-October, but is now at 15 and 9, respectively. Veterans Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed remain productive.

Schulz, a seventh-round draft pick in 1992, moved into the starting lineup last year and earned second-team All-AFC honors from United Press International. Not bad for a player who was second-team All-Big Sky at Eastern Washington.

Schulz, who signed a four-year, $5.2 million contract last year, also has a team-high four interceptions.

“He’s become very good at diagnosing, keying in,” defensive backs coach Dick Roach said. “He can get to the running plays well and he doesn’t get burned in play-action.”

Smith, meanwhile, appears primed for another four or five seasons. He weighs 263 pounds, 12 less than his high-school weight and 42 pounds below his Virginia Tech days.

He adheres to a strict diet - chicken, fish, pasta, turkey - because it helps his stamina. Buffalo often uses a no-huddle offense, which shortens the resting time for the Bills defense.

“The biggest I played at was 310. I played well, I could still move, but I could only do it for three quarters,” Smith said. “In that fourth quarter, when crunch time came, I didn’t have the energy to make big plays. That’s what has set this year apart. I’m just as fresh in the first quarter.”

That’s reason enough not to dismiss the Bills from Super Bowl contention.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo