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Elway leads Broncos to second straight Super Bowl title
Posted: Sunday January 31, 1999 09:52 PM
MIAMI (CNN/SI) -- The Denver Broncos, who fell short in their pursuit of a perfect season, settled for a near-perfect Super Bowl on Sunday, dominating the Atlanta Falcons for a 34-19 win and their second straight NFL championship. Playing in perhaps his final game, Denver quarterback John Elway earned MVP honors and threw for 336 yards and accounted for two touchdowns, including an 80-yard strike to Rod Smith that matched the second-longest in Super Bowl history. On a night when the Falcons offense needed 58 minutes to find the end zone, the Broncos spent plenty of time there. Broncos fullback Howard Griffith ran in for two short touchdowns, and Elway ran in for a 3-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Denver missed two field goals of their own when Jason Elam went wide right on the opening drive of the second half and wide left after Denver's Darrius Johnson intercepted a Chris Chandler pass. Chandler ended three straight Falcons possessions with interceptions in the second half.
Chandler finally got a touchdown out of the Falcons offense with a 3-yard pass to Terance Mathis with two minutes remaining. Rookie Tim Dwight also returned a kickoff 94 yards for Atlanta's first touchdown. Elway's biggest play came in the second quarter as he threw a deep bomb over the middle and Smith beat veteran cornerback Eugene Robinson for the score and a 14-point lead. The play came immediately after the Falcons missed a 26-yard field goal attempt. Atlanta cut the lead to 11 with a field goal late in the second quarter, but only after a long drive stalled in Denver territory for the fourth time in the half. They had just six points to show for three drives inside the Denver 15-yard line. A fourth drive ended on when the Falcons came up short on fourth-and-1 inside the 30-yard line. The Broncos played the second half without Pro Bowl tight end Shannon Sharpe, who tore ligaments in his left knee on a play that set up Denver's first touchdown.
Elam's 26-yard field goal padded the Denver lead to 10-3 with 9:17 left in the second quarter. Elway had a pass deflected and intercepted by Atlanta's Ronnie Bradford, but the Falcons didn't get any points from the miscue when the Falcons chose to go for it on fourth down rather than kick a mid-range field goal. Later in the quarter, the Falcons attempted a 26-yard field goal, but Morten Andersen's attempt went wide right. Chandler found receiver Terance Mathis on back-to-back plays for gains of 16 and 30 yards, but again the drive stalled inside the Denver 10-yard line -- this time with no points to show for it. Griffith gave the Broncos a 7-3 lead with a 1-yard touchdown. The score was set up when Elway found Sharpe for a 14-yard gain to set up the Broncos on the goal line. Sharpe twisted his left knee on the play and left the game in the second quarter, finishing with two catches for 26 yards. Elway got 41 of those 80 yards on a third-and-7 pass to Smith, who bounced off Falcons defenders to put Denver on the Atlanta 20-yard line. The Falcons had taken a 3-0 on the opening drive, reaching the Denver 8-yard line but settling for a 32-yard Andersen field goal. Atlanta won the coin toss, elected to receive, and drove to the Denver 8-yard line before settling for a field goal. The Falcons came out firing -- Dwight returned the opening kickoff to the 37-yard line, and tailback Jamal Anderson ran for a 13-yard gain on the game's first play from scrimmage. Two plays later, Chandler threw a deep pass down the right sideline, intended for receiver Tony Martin. The pass sailed past Martin incomplete, but Denver's Steve Atwater was called for pass interference, resulting in a 24-yard penalty. Anderson carried four times for 13 yards, but on a third-and-goal from the 8, Denver's Bill Romanowski sacked Chandler to force the Falcons to settle for a field goal.
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