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Mile High favorites Broncos trying to ignore point spread against Dolphins
Posted: Friday January 08, 1999 02:57 PM
DENVER (AP) -- Mike Shanahan can't figure why the Denver Broncos are so heavily favored over the Miami Dolphins Saturday, but he's not worrying about it. The Broncos say they ignore point spreads. Jimmy Johnson knows the reasons the Broncos are two-touchdown favorites over his Dolphins even though Miami beat the Broncos 31-21 only 19 days ago at Miami. "Everything that would concern a team from Miami is there," Johnson said. "I don't think the Dolphins have won a road playoff game since 1972. We don't play well in cold weather. This year we haven't played well on the road. We're physically not in good shape. We're playing in a place that is a tremendous home field advantage and that is Mile High Stadium. So anything you can think of doesn't make for a positive towards us." The Dolphins (11-6) will show up at Mile High Stadium Saturday, banged up from their 24-17 win over Buffalo in the wild-card round but happy to still be alive for the AFC berth in the Super Bowl, to be played Jan. 31 at Miami. For the Broncos, who finished the regular season 14-2, this is their first playoff game, and they're wary because two years ago they lost at this stage as a huge favorite over Jacksonville. They then won the NFL title the hard way last season, winning at home as a wild-card team, winning two more games on the road, then beating Green Bay 31-24 in the Super Bowl. They were two-touchdown underdogs to the Packers in that game, which is why Shanahan disregards this week's odds. "The Dolphins can use that as incentive," he said. "We don't pay any attention to it." The sideshow to this one is the second meeting in three weeks between John Elway and Dan Marino, who had met only once previously in 16 seasons since being the stars of the quarterback class of 1983. If the Broncos lose, it could be Elway's final game -- he almost retired after last season. "It's not something that concerns me now," said Elway, who won't lack for money -- a mile-long strip two miles from the Broncos' training facility is lined with a collection of car dealerships bearing his name that he sold last year to Wayne Huizenga, the Dolphins' owner. What does concern the Broncos is what happened at Miami Dec. 21, when Elway had his worst game of the season, Marino had his best, and Terrell Davis, the Broncos' 2,000-yard rusher, was limited to 29 yards in 16 carries. But since then, the Dolphins have lost two starting defensive linemen -- Jason Taylor and Tim Bowens. Several others, including leading receiver O.J. McDuffie and tight end Troy Drayton, were hurt against Buffalo last week. McDuffie probably will play, Drayton probably won't. "I think it was a question of us coming out flat and them coming out at their best," Denver fullback Howard Griffith said of that game, which took place a week after the Broncos' quest for an unbeaten season was ended by the New York Giants. "They stopped the run and they had success covering our receivers one-on-one." After that game, Shannon Sharpe, the Broncos' tight end, said Denver was 10-to-14 points better, but hadn't played that way. He reiterated that statement this week, something that made for bulletin-board material in Miami. The other Broncos wondered why they're such big favorites. The oddsmakers listened to Sharpe.
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