Troy Aikman passed for four touchdowns, Emmitt Smith rushed for 108 yards, and the Cowboys converted nine turnovers into 35 points while coasting to the victory.
Dallas's win was its third in its record sixth Super Bowl appearance; the Bills became the first team to drop three in succession.
Buffalo led 7-0 until the first two of its record number of turnovers helped the Cowboys take the lead for good late in the opening quarter.
First, Dallas safety James Washington intercepted Jim Kelly's pass and returned it 13 yards to the Bills' 47, setting up Aikman's 23-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jay Novacek with 1:36 remaining in the period. On the next play from scrimmage, Kelly was sacked by Charles Haley and fumbled at the Bills' 2-yard line where the Cowboys' Jimmie Jones picked up the loose ball and ran two yards for a touchdown.
Dallas, which recovered five fumbles and intercepted four passes, struck just as quickly late in the first half, when Aikman tossed 19- and 18-yard touchdown passes to Michael Irvin 18 seconds apart to give the Cowboys a 28-10 lead at intermission. The second score was set up when Bills running back Thurman Thomas lost a fumble at his 19-yard line.
Buffalo scored for the last time when backup quarterback Frank Reich, playing because Kelly was injured while attempting to pass midway through the second quarter, threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Don Beebe on the final play of the third period to trim the deficit to 31-17.
But Dallas put the game out of reach by scoring three times in a span of 2:33 of the fourth quarter.
Aikman, the game's most valuable player, completed 22 of 30 passes for 273 yards.
The victory was the ninth in succession for the NFC over the AFC.
SCORING
Buffalo 7 3 7 0 -- 17
Dallas 14 14 3 21 -- 52
BUF- T. Thomas 2 run (Christie kick),
5:00 1st
DAL- Novacek 23 pass from Aikman (Elliott kick),
13:24 1st
DAL- J. Jones 2 def. fumble rec. (Elliott kick),
13:39 1st
BUF- FG Christie 21, 11:36 2nd
DAL- Irvin 19 pass from Aikman (Elliott kick),
13:06 2nd
DAL- Irvin 18 pass from Aikman (Elliott kick),
13:24 2nd
DAL- FG Elliott 20, 6:39 3rd
BUF- Beebe 40 pass from Reich (Christie kick),
15:00 3rd
DAL- Harper 45 pass from Aikman (Elliott kick),
4:56 4th
DAL- E. Smith 10 run (Elliott kick), 6:48 4th
DAL- Norton 9 def. fumble rec. (Elliott kick),
7:29 4th
TEAM STATISTICS Buff. Dal.
Total First Downs 22 20
Rushing 7 9
Passing 11 11
Penalty 4 0
Total Net Yardage 362 408
Total Offensive Plays 71 60
Avg Gain per Offensive Play 5.1 6.8
Rushes 29 29
Yards Gained Rushing (Net) 108 137
Average Yards per Rush 3.7 4.7
Passes Attempted 38 30
Passes Completed 22 22
Had Intercepted 4 0
Tackled Attempting to Pass 4 1
Yards Lost Attempting to Pass 22 2
Yards Gained Passing (Net) 254 271
Punts 3 4
Average Distance 45.3 32.8
Punt Returns 1 3
Punt Return Yardage 0 35
Kickoff Returns 4 4
Kickoff Return Yardage 90 79
Interception Return Yardage 0 35
Fumbles 8 4
Own Fumbles Recovered 3 2
Opponent Fumbles Recovered 2 5
Penalties 4 8
Yards Penalized 30 53
Total Points Scored 17 52
Touchdowns 2 7
Rushing 1 1
Passing 1 4
Returns 0 2
Extra Points 2 7
Field Goals 1 1
Field Goals Attempted 1 1
Safeties 0 0
Third-Down Efficiency 5/11 5/11
Fourth-Down Efficiency 0/2 0/1
Time of Possession 28:48 31:12
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Buffalo No. Yds. LG TD
K. Davis 15 86 14 0
T. Thomas 11 19 9 1
Gardner 1 3 3 0
Reich 2 0 0 0
Dallas No. Yds. LG TD
E. Smith 22 108 38 1
Aikman 3 28 19 0
Gainer 2 1 1 0
Beuerlein 1 0 0 0
Johnston 1 0 0 0
Passing
Buffalo Att. Comp. Yds. TD Int.
Reich 31 18 194 1 2
Kelly 7 4 82 0 2
Dallas Att. Comp. Yds. TD Int.
Aikman 30 22 273 4 0
Receiving
Buffalo No. Yds. LG TD
Reed 8 152 40 0
T. Thomas 4 10 7 0
K. Davis 3 16 13 0
Beebe 2 50 40t 1
Tasker 2 30 16 0
Metzelaars 2 12 7 0
McKeller 1 6 6 0
Dallas No. Yds. LG TD
Novacek 7 72 23t 1
Irvin 6 114 25 2
E. Smith 6 27 18 0
Johnston 2 15 8 0
Harper 1 45 45t 1
Interceptions
Buffalo No. Yds. LG TD
None -- -- -- --
Dallas No. Yds. LG TD
Everett 2 22 22 0
Washington 1 13 13 0
Brown 1 0 0 0
Punting
Buffalo No. Avg. LG Blk.
Mohr 3 45.3 48 0
Dallas No. Avg. LG Blk.
Saxon 3 43.7 57 1
Punt Returns
Buffalo No. FC Yds. LG TD
Hicks 1 1 0 0 0
Dallas No. FC Yds. LG TD
Martin 3 0 35 30 0
Kickoff Returns
Buffalo No. Yds. LG TD
Lamb 2 49 33 0
K. Davis 1 21 21 0
Hicks 1 20 20 0
Dallas No. Yds. LG TD
Martin 4 79 22 0
Buffalo Bills Dallas Cowboys
== Offense ==
Hull, Kent C Stepnoski, Mark C
Parker, Glenn G Gesek, John G
Ritcher, Jim G Newton, Nate G
Ballard, Howard T Tuinei, Mark T
Wolford, Will T Williams, Erik T
Metzelaars, Pete TE Novacek, Jay TE
Beebe, Don WR Harper, Alvin WR
Lofton, James WR Irvin, Michael WR
Reed, Andre WR Smith, Emmitt RB
Thomas, Thurman RB Johnston, Daryl FB
Kelly, Jim QB Aikman, Troy QB
== Defense ==
Wright, Jeff NT Casillas, Tony DT
Hansen, Phil DE Maryland, Russell DT
Smith, Bruce DE Haley, Charles DE
Patton, Marvcus OLB Tolbert, Tony DE
Talley, Darryl OLB Norton, Ken OLB
Bennett, Cornelius ILB Smith, Vinson OLB
Conlan, Shane ILB Jones, Robert MLB
Odomes, Nate CB Brown, Larry CB
Williams, James CB Smith, Kevin CB
Kelso, Mark FS Washington, James FS
Jones, Henry SS Everett, Thomas SS
== Substitute ==
Awalt, Rob Agee, Tommie
Bailey, Carlton Beuerlein, Steve
Christie, Steve Cornish, Frank
Darby, Matt Edwards, Dixon
Davis, John Elliott, Lin
Davis, Kenneth Gainer, Derrick
Fina, John Gant, Kenneth
Frerotte, Mitch Gogan, Kevin
Gardner, Carwell Hellestrae, Dale
Goganious, Keith Hennings, Chad
Hale, Chris Holmes, Clayton
Hicks, Cliff Holt, Issiac
Jackson, Kirby Horton, Ray
Lamb, Brad Jeffcoat, Jim
Lingner, Adam Jones, Jimmie
Lodish, Mike Lett, Leon
Maddox, Mark Martin, Kelvin
McKeller, Keith Myles, Godfrey
Mohr, Chris Pruitt, Mickey
Pike, Mark Saxon, Mike
Reich, Frank Smith, Jimmy L.
Tasker, Steve Tennell, Derek
Woodson, Darren
== Did Not Play ==
Willis, Keith