AFC/NFC Championships Capsules

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Posted: Sunday January 17, 1999 09:24 PM

The Broncos' Terrell Davis rushed for 167 yards, giving him six straight playoff games over 100 AP

The stage is set. The Broncos are in the Super Bowl, as half the world expected since John Elway decided not to retire. The Falcons are there, too, and if you could have somehow expected that before the season, you might taken up the 60-to-1 odds offered then for the Falcons winning in Miami.

Now, Atlanta's odds are a little better -- they're underdogs, but at least they're single-digit underdogs this week.

The Falcons' problem isn't that they're 'dogs again -- it's that they're still birds. The Super Bowl has hardly been a sanctuary for the NFL's feathered franchises -- the Eagles, Seahawks, Cardinals, Ravens and Falcons had combined, in all their histories, for just one Super Bowl trip before this year's high-flying Falcons. And a loss at that.

So they have the "bird trend" to overcome. And it's their first Super Bowl. And it's Elway's last last run at a title. And yes, no domed team had even so much as gotten to the Super Bowl. Wait, there's more.

Falcons fans should know that no NFL team that has won in overtime in the playoffs has won the Super Bowl that year. The Falcons are the 11th team to win a postseason overtime game, and of the other 10, only three made it to the Super Bowl, and all three -- the '71 Dolphins, '86 Broncos and '92 Bills -- lost in the big game.

There are some numbers that benefit the Falcons. The Broncos have the worst Super Bowl winning percentage (.200) of any team with a win, and Elway has a chance to match Fran Tarkenton for most Super Bowl losses by a quarterback. But most importantly, the Falcons beat the Vikings on Sunday, and teams that eliminate the Vikings from the playoffs have gone on to win the Super Bowl TEN times. Viking-killers would be 8-0 in their last eight Super Bowls were it not for those bird-brained '80 Eagles, the only team to eliminate the Vikings and make the Super Bowl without winning it all.

One last obscure Falcons edge -- Atlanta has won before in Miami, while Denver hasn't. The Falcons won a 20-14 game against the Dolphins in 1986 -- the teams are a combined 1-9 in Miami, but that record will improve soon, one way or another.

NFL Championships Capsules Teams Key Stat Key to Victory MVP Falcons 30 (16-2) Vikings 27 (OT) (16-2) Atlanta rookie Tim Dwight had more yards in the second half than Minnesota's Randy Moss, who had just 5 after halftime. Falcons kicker Morten Andersen hit all three of his field goals, while Gary "Mr. Automatic" Anderson had his first miss of the year. Atlanta's Chris Chandler passed for 340 yards -- five short of a season-high -- and three touchdowns without an interception. Stats and re cap Broncos 23 (16-2) Jets 10 (13-5) Denver won despite going 4-for-19 on third down, 1-for-4 on fourth and turning six Jets turnovers into six points. In addition to the six turnovers, the Jets managed 14 yards on 13 carries, the exact same total as Miami did last week. Denver's Terrell Davis had his sixth straight postseason 100-yard game, running for 167 yards and a key late touchdown. S tats and reca p

 

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