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DENVER (Ticker) -- The cast of characters included John Elway,
Terrell Davis
and
Bill Romanowski
for the
Denver Broncos
and
Chris Chandler
,
Jamal Anderson
or
Jessie Tuggle
for the
Atlanta Falcons
when the teams met in Super Bowl XXXIII.
Both are now first-place teams in their respective divisions heading into Sunday's game.
Atlanta has a two-game lead over New Orleans in the NFC South while Denver is 1 1/2 games ahead of San Diego in the AFC West.
But both are also coming off humbling defeats.
The Falcons were steamrolled by the
Kansas City Chiefs
, 56-10, last week and the Broncos lost to the
Cincinnati Bengals
, 23-10 on Monday night.
Atlanta has to be concerned with quarterback
Michael Vick
, who continues to struggle in the new West Coast scheme under new coordinator Greg Knapp. Vick has passed for more than 200 yards just once - 218 in a 21-20 win over San Diego on October 17. He has passed for just four touchdowns with six interceptions and his quarterback rating of 72.6 ranks 12th among NFC quarterbacks.
The NFL's fastest quarterback has rushed for 348 yards on 53 carries, but has also fumbled eight times, losing three.
In the loss at Kansas City, Vick completed just 7-of-21 passes for 119 yards with two interceptions.
And Atlanta's defense, which was ranked No. 1 in the league against the run, was pushed around by the Chiefs, yielding eight rushing touchdowns and 271 yards on the ground.
Denver will go after the Falcons with
Reuben Droughns
, who has rushed for 479 yards in his last three games. On Monday, Droughns gained 110 yards on 24 carries in the loss to Cincinnati.
Receiver
Rod Smith
, center
Tom Nalen
, kicker
Jason Elam
and defensive end
Trevor Pryce
are among the Broncos still remaining from the team that beat the Falcons, 34-19 in Super Bowl XXXIII in January 1999.
The Broncos also rolled to a 42-14 rout of the Falcons in September 2000.
Matchup to watch: Falcons tight end
Alge Crumpler
matches up against strong safety
Kenoy Kennedy
.
Series: Denver leads, 7-3
Next week: Atlanta has a bye Denver hosts Houston on November 7
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