The Bills advanced to their third consecutive Super Bowl after posting an 11–5 regular season record, but entered the playoffs as a wild card after losing tiebreakers.

Jackson's performance started the league's trend of signing top acts to appear during the Super Bowl to attract more viewers and interest.

[18] Arizona civil rights activist Art Mobley was sent to the meeting to lobby against Phoenix winning the vote, attempting to build awareness to the MLK Day controversy.

The Bills also had one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, led by Pro Bowlers Will Wolford, Jim Ritcher, and Howard Ballard, along with center Kent Hull.

The secondary was aided by the emergence of second-year safety Henry Jones, who tied for the NFL lead with 8 interceptions, returning them for 263 yards and 2 touchdowns.

However, the Bills' quest for a third consecutive Super Bowl suffered a major setback when they lost the final game of the season to the Houston Oilers.

The loss caused the Bills to finish with an 11–5 record, losing out on the AFC East title to the Miami Dolphins based on tie-breaking rules, making them a wild card team for the playoffs.

Then Jerry Jones bought the team on February 25, 1989, and in a controversial move, promptly fired Landry, the only coach Dallas had in 29 years as an NFL franchise.

Compounding this issue was the departure of the two men that brought previous success to Dallas: founding president Tex Schramm and famed personnel man Gil Brandt.

Jones and Johnson picked UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman, who would eventually go on to be selected to the Pro Bowl six times in his NFL career.

Three plays later, Aikman threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Kelvin Martin to clinch the victory (the extra point was blocked).

The Bills' offense could only score a single field goal, while their defense played even worse, as Oilers quarterback Warren Moon passed for 222 yards and 4 touchdowns, and Houston jumped to a 28–3 halftime lead.

But Buffalo's defense dominated the Dolphins' offense, intercepting quarterback Dan Marino twice, recovering three fumbles, and limiting Miami to just 33 rushing yards.

This marked the first time since the AFL–NFL merger that the two Super Bowl teams each won their conference championship on the road, with Dallas winning in San Francisco and Buffalo in Miami.

[43] Bob Costas hosted all the events with analyst Mike Ditka, who joined NBC almost immediately after he was fired as head coach of the Chicago Bears earlier in January.

Other contributors included former Boston Globe sportswriter Will McDonough (assigned to Buffalo's locker room); former Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders tight end Todd Christensen; The Tonight Show host Jay Leno; Cris Collinsworth (participating in an NFL Experience piece with Christensen as well as reporting from the Dallas locker room); former Los Angeles Lakers basketball player Magic Johnson (then working as a commentator for the NBA on NBC; Johnson was assigned to an interview with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith and wide receiver Michael Irvin); Paul Maguire; Gayle Gardner; Jim Lampley (who would replace Costas as host of NFL Live for the following season); and Dateline NBC correspondent Deborah Roberts (producing a special report on the Michael Jackson halftime show).

Television producers spotted rocker Jon Bon Jovi in the crowd and were prepared to have him perform the anthem, until Brooks was finally coaxed back into the stadium.

The coin toss ceremony featured a future infamous celebrity, former Bills running back O. J. Simpson, who was working for NBC Sports at the time.

Radio City Productions, who would produce the halftime show, attempted to court Michael Jackson to serve as the headline act by meeting with him and his manager Sandy Gallin.

After three failed negotiations, one having asked the NFL for a fee of $1 million, Jackson's management agreed to allow him to perform at Super Bowl XXVII.

[44][45][46] Although the league does not pay appearance fees for Super Bowl halftime performers, the NFL and Frito-Lay agreed to donate $100,000 to the Heal the World Foundation—a charity that was founded by Jackson, as well as commercial time to air an appeal for the foundation's Heal L.A. campaign, which aimed to provide health care, drug education, and mentorship for Los Angeles youth, particularly children affected by the aftermath of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

The Bills subsequently advanced to midfield with the aid of a roughing the passer penalty on Cowboys defensive tackle Leon Lett and a 21-yard pass from quarterback Jim Kelly to wide receiver Andre Reed.

Six plays later, aided by a 20-yard reception by wide receiver Michael Irvin on 3rd-and-16, the Cowboys tied the game on Aikman's 23-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jay Novacek.

However, the Dallas defense immediately tightened up as Buffalo failed to score on three rushing attempts, with linebacker Ken Norton Jr. meeting Davis in a hole inside the 1-yard line on third down and driving him backwards.

On the first play of the Bills' ensuing drive, Thomas caught a swing pass from Reich, but fumbled the ball while being tackled by Lett, and Jones recovered it at the Buffalo 18-yard line.

Irvin also became the second player, after Washington Redskins wide receiver Ricky Sanders in Super Bowl XXII, to catch two touchdowns in a single quarter.

However, on 3rd-and-goal at the Buffalo 2-yard line, Aikman's pass to Novacek in the end zone was overthrown, forcing Dallas to settle for kicker Lin Elliott's 20-yard field goal, increasing their lead to 31–10.

After an 11-yard run by Smith, Aikman threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to wide Alvin Harper, giving Dallas a 38–17 lead, and essentially putting the game away.

After the game, in an otherwise dejected Buffalo locker room, Bills owner Ralph Wilson went straight to Beebe and thanked him for his hustle and perseverance.

Aikman, Irvin and Norton also provided commentary for the 1992 Cowboys' installment of America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions, narrated by Alec Baldwin.