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Super Bowl XXXIII Top Performers
Posted: Monday February 01, 1999 12:50 AM
As good as John Elway's performance was on Sunday in the Broncos' 34-19 win over the Falcons, it could have been better. Sure, no one's complaining, but humor us for a paragraph or two. With 1:40 left in the game, facing a fourth-and-3 situation on the Falcons' 30-yard line, Elway ended a streak of three straight Terrell Davis runs by lofting a pass toward receiver Rod Smith. The pass, good or bad, couldn't really change the outcome of the game, but when it fell incomplete, Elway grimaced and punched the air, as if he were trailing by 15 points and not leading by that safe margin. Maybe he just wanted to end his career with a completion. Had Elway connected on that pass for just a 22-yard gain, he would have passed Joe Montana to set two Super Bowl records -- he would have had 358 yards, breaking Montana's single-game record, and he would have had 1,150 career yards, breaking Montana's record there. Instead, the pass fell harmlessly to the ground, and Elway had to settle for 336 on the game and 1,128 on his career, good for second and third place, respectively, in the Super Bowl record books. All the more reason to come back for another, right? Top Passing PerformanceThese awards are pretty easy this week. After digging deep into the postgame stats, we honor Elway, who set a personal Super Bowl high (that doesn't mean much for most people) with 336 yards. Elway's 80-yard touchdown pass to Rod Smith matches the second-longest in Super Bowl history, and he became the first quarterback to run and pass for touchdowns in two Super Bowls. Brett Favre, Joe Montana and Ken Anderson each did it once. Top Ground GainerIt's hard for Terrell Davis to be overshadowed, but Elway did just that on Sunday. Davis very quietly rushed for 102 yards, becoming only the second tailback to reach the century mark against the Falcons in their last 27 games. Davis let fullback Howard Griffith handle two short touchdown runs, and let Elway have the hoopla after taking most of the spotlight in last year's Super Bowl victory. Atlanta's Jamal Anderson had six fewer yards on seven less carries -- just 18 carries, matching his second-lowest workload of the year. Losing Effort AwardThis can't really go to Chandler -- he threw for three interceptions. Chandler's top two receivers, Tony Martin and Terance Mathis, combined for 12 catches and 164 yards, but we have to give the bridesmaid honors to Jamal Anderson, who managed to average 5 yards a carry against a Broncos defense that had held back-to-back opponents to 14 yards on 13 carries. The Falcons had to pass plenty after trailing 17-3 in the second quarter, but he still got in 18 carries, matching Davis and showing again that he can play with the best in the league. He's likely looking at a healthy contraction extension in the off-season, so next year, if he's leading his conference in rushing again, he'll probably be paid like it as well. And there's always Hawaii next week ...
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