The Buffalo Bills, playing in Super Bowl XXVIII against the Dallas Cowboys, extended a dubious string by losing in the Super Bowl for the fourth consecutive year. To win, the Dallas Cowboys had to rally from a 13-6 halftime deficit. Buffalo had forged its lead on Thurman Thomas's 4 yard touchdown run and a pair of field goals by Steve Christie, including a 54 yard kick, the longest in Super Bowl history. But just 55 seconds into the second half, Thomas was stripped of the ball by Dallas defensive tackle Leon Lett. Safety James Washington recovered and weaved his way 46 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 13-13. After forcing the Bills to punt, the Cowboys began their next possession on their 36-yard line and Smith, the game's most valuable player, took over.

He carried seven times for 61 yards on the ensuing 8 play, 64 yard drive, capping the march with a 15 yard touchdown run to give Dallas the lead for good with eight and three quarters remaining in the third quarter. Early in the fourth quarter, Washington intercepted Jim Kelly's pass and returned it 12 yards to Buffalo's 34. A penalty moved the ball back to the 39, but Smith carried twice for 10 yards and caught a screen pass for nine, and quarterback Troy Aikman completed a 16 yard pass to Alvin Harper to give the Cowboys a first and goal at the 6. Smith took it from there, cracking the end zone on fourth and goal from the 1 to put Dallas ahead 27-13 with less then ten minutes remaining. Eddie Murray's third field goal, from 20 yards with less then three minutes left, ended any doubt about the game's outcome. Emmitt Smith had 30 carries in all, with 19 of his attempts and 92 yards coming after intermission.

Washington, normally a reserve who played most of the game because the Cowboys used five defensive backs to combat the Bills' No-Huddle offense, had 11 tackles and forced another fumble by Thomas in the first quarter. Aikman completed 19 of 27 passes for 207 yards. Buffalo's Kelly completed a Super Bowl-record 31 passes in 50 attempts for 260 yards. Dallas, the first team in NFL history to begin the regular season 0-2 and go on to win the Super Bowl, also became the fifth to win back-to-back titles, following Green Bay, Miami, Pittsburgh (the Steelers did it twice), and San Francisco 49ers. Buffalo became the third team, along with Minnesota and Denver, to lose four Super Bowls. The Cowboys' victory was the tenth in succession for the NFC over the AFC. Emmitt Smith rushed for 132 yards and two second-half touchdowns to power the Cowboys to their second consecutive NFL title. By winning, Dallas Cowboys joined San Francisco 49ers and Pittsburgh Steelers as the only franchises with four Super Bowl victories. Emmitt Smith was Voted Most valuable Player (MVP). The Dallas Cowboys defeated the Buffalo Bills 30-13 in Super Bowl XXVIII to become the fifth team to win back to back Super Bowl titles. The game was viewed by the largest U.S. audience in television history 134.8 million people. The game's 45.5 rating was the highest for a Super Bowl since 1987 and the tenth highest rated Super Bowl ever, January 30.