Super Bowl lineup not set just yet
Posted: Thursday October 29, 1998 11:33 AM
>Bet the farm! It will be the Denver Broncos and the Minnesota Vikings in
Super Bowl XXXIII. Book your travel, get those vacation days in order and
start saving your pennies to buy game tickets.
After all, the Vikings (7-0) are off to their best start since, well, last
year, when they got out the blocks to a 8-2 start. OK, the '75 Vikes reeled
off 10 straight wins with coach Bud Grant, QB Fran Tarkenton, RB Chuck
Foreman, WR John Gilliam, the Purple People Eaters on defense and Fred Cox
doing the square-toed kicking. The '75 Vikes matched a club record with 12
wins.
Back to recent history -- the '97 Vikings lost five straight games and
limped home to finish 9-7 and fourth in the NFC Central. A road wild card
win over the New York
Giants helped offset what was a dismal decline. The Vikings were out of
the playoffs the next week.
The Broncos kicked their heels at the rest of the league way back in '96.
The Broncos cruised to a 12-1 mark before settling in at 13-3 with
home-field advantage set throughout the playoffs. That home-field advantage
didn't last long as the Broncos fell to the Jacksonville Jaguars in
their first-round divisional playoff game 30-27.
I don't bring up the subject of past failures just because I'm a mean guy.
But strange things happen to good teams. You may remember the Buffalo Bills losing four
Super Bowls.
As it turns out, 7-0 starts don't always translate directly to Super Bowls.
The NFL hasn't had a 7-0 team since the 1991 Saints and Redskins. Sure, the
Redskins went 14-2 and won the Super Bowl, but the Saints won just four of
their last six games, losing in the first round of the playoffs.
Both the Vikings and Broncos sport intense, loyalist head coaches in Denny
Green and Mike Shanahan. Defensively, no one has found a way to slow down
-- let alone stop -- these two teams with their high-octane offenses.
Defensively, we're not looking at the fabled Orange Crush or the Purple
People Eaters. But both these teams are well enough equipped on defense to
hold onto the big lead their respective offenses put up. Both teams have
quality kicking games, although I don't think we'll see Jason Elam kicking from 63
yards at sea level.
Avoiding injuries will be critical, of course. Funny thing, the Broncos'
biggest fear was, heaven forbid they lose John Elway. The Vikings'
biggest fear is what happens when starter Brad Johnson is healthy
again?
Randall Cunningham is putting together his best season since 1990, when he
was the league's MVP. Cunningham passed for 3,466 yards with 30 touchdowns
and rushed for almost 1,000 yards. I can't recall one 1998 highlight of
Cunningham or Elway on the run this season. Both quarterbacks can still
move, but they just don't have to on a regular basis. Maybe past their
athletic prime, Cunningham and Elway are blessed with great supporting
casts. The Vikings offensive line is huge and paced by left tackle Todd Steussie and left
guard Randall McDaniel.
The Broncos, under the tutelage of coach Alex Gibbs, major in cut
blocking, a la the 49ers.
Can the Broncos defense stop the Vikings offense with Cris Carter, Jake Reed, Randy Moss and Robert Smith? No! Can the
Vikings defense stop the Broncos with Terrell Davis, Shannon Sharpe (a much
better blocker than given credit for), Ed McCaffrey and Rod Smith? No! Can someone
else stop either team before they get to Super Bowl XXXIII? Maybe not, but
right now, I wouldn't bet the whole farm on it.
James Lofton, who went to three straight Super Bowls with the Buffalo
Bills, is an NFL analyst for CNN/SI. His weekly column appears every
Thursday exclusively on CNNSI.com.
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