Broncos 34 Falcons 19 MIAMI – The party began one play into the fourth quarter and it’s sure to last into this week and beyond.
That’s when the Broncos, showing the talent, resolve and dominance that places them among the elite teams of the ’90s, began to rout the Falcons in Super Bowl XXXIII.
The end result was a 34-19 Broncos’ victory at electric, wired-for-sound Pro Player Stadium and defense of their Super Bowl title won last year when they wrested the Lombardi Trophy from the Packers.
Denver became the first team to repeat as Super Bowl champions since the Cowboys in 1993 and 1994. Overall, the Broncos are the seventh team to defend their Super Bowl title.
A moment after the fourth quarter began, with Denver taking an insurmountable 24-6 lead, the rest of the night became a coronation for John Elway, who was named the Super Bowl MVP for the first time in his career.
Elway, at 38 the oldest quarterback ever to start a Super Bowl, shortly later would make it 31-6 Denver with a two-yard quarterback draw. It was Elway’s fourth career Super Bowl rushing TD, placing him in second place behind only Dallas’ Emmitt Smith, who has five. Elway is tied with Franco Harris and Thurman Thomas.
Though Elway would star in what’s certain to be his final game after 16 seasons and two Super Bowl titles, the Broncos were bolstered by Howard Griffith’s two rushing TDs.
For the Falcons, making their first Super Bowl appearance in the 33-year franchise history, they finished their terrific season dismally despite entering the game having won 22 of their previous 26 games, including 12 in a row.
For Falcons coach Dan Reeves, who had quadruple bypass heart surgery on Dec. 14, it was an unceremonious fourth Super Bowl loss without a win.
The Falcons, already trailing by 11 entering the third quarter, twice averted problems with Broncos kicker Jason Elam missing field-goal attempts as Denver looked to break the game open.
The Broncos took the opening drive of the second half and moved the ball to the Falcons’ 20 before Elam pushed a 38-yard attempt wide right.
The Falcons took advantage by giving the ball back to Denver when Chris Chandler, looking rattled by a Denver blitz, threw an ill-advised pass that was picked off by Broncos cornerback Darrius Johnson, who returned it 28 yards to the Atlanta 42.
Four plays later, with theBroncos again looking to put a hoof to the necks of the Dirty Birds, Elam was wide left on a 48-yarder.
Incredibly, with Denver controlling the game, the Falcons were still hanging around, just one score away from making this one a stress fest for the Broncos.
After Elam’s second miss, the Falcons were on the move again, with Jamal Anderson gaining 13 yards on a run, Chandler hitting Terance Mathis for another 13 and then Anderson rushing for 15 more.
Suddenly, with Atlanta at the Denver 21 and looking to make the game 17-13, Chandler had a pass deflected by Broncos defensive tackle Keith Traylor and intercepted by Darrien Gordon.
Gordon, catching the ball in a full sprint, returned the pick 58 yards to the Falcons’ 24.
A Gordon TD was saved by a Chandler open-field tackle. That, however, merely delayed the inevitable as the Broncos converted the turnover into a second Griffith TD run for an insurmountable 24-6 lead.
Chandler then threw away any chance if an Atlanta miracle when he threw his second INT to Gordon in four minutes. This time, Gordon beat Tony Martin to the ball and returned it 50 yards to the Atlanta 48.
The play gave Gordon a Super Bowl-record 108 return yards.
And, on the first play of Denver’s ensuing drive, Elway hit Terrell Davis for 39 yards to the Falcons’ nine. Two plays later, Elway officially capped his career with a two-yard QB draw for a 31-6 lead.
The blowout was on and the party awaited.
The game started out as so many of these big affairs do, with both teams cautiously trying out their respective stuff, searching for holes in each other’s defense.
The Broncos, however, took control of the first half with a succession of big plays, and they did it by taking advantage of a huge missed field-goal attempt by Falcon kicker Morten Andersen.
Denver went into halftime leading 17-6, and Atlanta went in hanging on for dear life.
The Falcons, using the ball control form that helped them lead the NFL in time of possession, took a 3-0 lead with a 32-yard Andersen FG capping the game’s first drive.
The drive went 10 plays and 48 yards and took 5:25 off the first-quarter clock, and it was keyed by Anderson, who opened the game with a bursting 13-yard run from scrimmage. In all, Anderson ran for 24 yards on that first drive, which was aided by a 25-yard Denver pass-interference penalty on cornerback Ray Crockett.
The Broncos, looking like defending champions who’ve been there and done that, didn’t rattle at the early adversity. Instead, they answered with a one-yard scoring run by Griffith for a 7-3 lead with 3:55 remaining in the first quarter.
On the play, Davis, the NFL’s reigning MVP and 1998 rushing leader, was used brilliantly as a decoy on first-and-goal from the one. As Davis went right, the majority of the Broncos’ defense went with him, and Elway handed off to Griffith, who burst over the goal line with the ball and the lead for Denver.
What appeared as significant as the score at the time was that Bronco tight end Shannon Sharpe injured his left knee making the play that got the ball near the goal line.
Catching an Elway pass that went for 14 yards, Sharpe was just missed by Eugene Robinson and then hit on the left knee by cornerback Ray Buchanan as he went airborne toward the goal line. Sharpe limped off the field, asking out of the lineup.
Griffith scored on the next play.
Coming into the game, Griffith had touched the ball a total of only 21 times all season. It was only the fifth time he’s carried the ball on a run all year.
