CNN/SI - Football - NFL Playoff Recap (Denver-Atlanta)

NFL Playoff Recap (Denver-Atlanta)

Posted: Mon February 1, 1999 at 2:25 a.m EST

DENVER 34, ATLANTA 19

MIAMI (Ticker) -- If this is the end, John Elway went out like a Super Bowl MVP.

Elway completed 18-of-29 passes for 336 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score to lead the Denver Broncos to a 34-19 victory over the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl XXXIII at Pro Player Stadium.

The Broncos (17-2) became the first AFC team to repeat as Super Bowl champion since the 1978-79 Pittsburgh Steelers. Denver beat the Green Bay Packers, 31-24, last year in Super Bowl XXXII.

The 38-year-old Elway indicated this would probably be his final season and he may ride off into the sunset with back-to-back Super Bowl titles.

"This is what we play for, to have this opportunity," Elway said. "To be able to do it two years in a row is unbelievable. I have been around for 16 years, and the last two is the only time I have ever been able to get to win the Super Bowl."

However, if Elway decides to return for a 17th season, he would have a shot at becoming the only quarterback to win three straight Super Bowl titles.

"(It) definitely will go into the thinking and throw a kink into the thinking on what I decide to do next year," said Elway, who today became the first quarterback to start in five Super Bowls. "But I am not going to cross that bridge for awhile."

Ironically, Elway's finest Super Bowl game came against former coach Dan Reeves, who guided the Falcons to the first Super Bowl appearance in the franchise's 33-year history. Under Reeves, Elway endured three miserable Super Bowl losses by a combined 136-40.

Rod Smith was Elway's favorite target in the first half before he shifted the passing attack to Ed McCaffrey in the second half. Smith had four receptions for 144 yards and a demoralizing 80-yard touchdown in the first half and finished with five catches for 152 yards. McCaffrey caught five passes for 72 yards, all in the second half.

This time, NFL rushing champion Terrell Davis took a back seat to Elway, although he did run for 102 yards on 25 carries and set an NFL record with his seventh straight 100-yard game in the playoffs. Last season, Davis earned Super Bowl MVP honors with 157 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

Fullback Howard Griffith scored on a pair of one-yard runs and the Denver defense, overshadowed by the team's offensive prowess most of the season, again delivered a big-time performance. The Broncos intercepted Chris Chandler three times in the second half, including two which cornerback Darrien Gordon returned 50 and 58 yards to set up a pair of touchdowns.

"We just went out and the D-line did a great job with the pressure to force Chandler into some bad decisions," Gordon said. "And I was in the right place at the right time."

The lone touchdown allowed by the Broncos' defense came with just 2:04 left after the outcome had long been decided.

Denver coach Mike Shanahan, fired by Reeves as an assistant with the Broncos after the 1991 season, became the fifth coach to win back-to-back Super Bowl titles. Shanahan has a 7-1 career record in the postseason.

"I think it's special for everyone in the organization," said Shanahan. "One guy doesn't do it. A head coach doesn't do it. A quarterback doesn't do it. You have a lot of people going in the same direction. That's the only way you win championships."

Reeves appeared in the Super Bowl for the ninth time as a player, coach or assistant. However, he has lost all four times as the head man, joining Marv Levy of Buffalo and Bud Grant of Minnesota as the only other coaches with 0-4 records in the Super Bowl.

"Congratulations to the Denver Broncos, what a great football team," Reeves said. "We just didn't play well and I knew if we didn't play well, we would get beat. We just didn't get the job done."

It was a tough day for Reeves and the Falcons, who had to deal with the embarrassing escapade involving free safety Eugene Robinson, the team's most outspoken leader. On the eve of the Super Bowl, Robinson was arrested and charged with solicitation of a prostitute.

The players did not use the distraction as an excuse.

"The situation shocked us, but it didn't affect us," said Falcons linebacker Cornelius Bennett, who became the second player to lose five Super Bowls.

"We don't point fingers on this team," Falcons middle linebacker Jessie Tuggle said.

Robinson played a horrific game. He was victimized by Smith on the long touchdown and made numerous incorrect reads over the middle.

"I really got no sleep," Robinson said. "However, when it came to the game tonight, I was extremely focused on the game. It did not affect my play today because it was pretty much therapeutic. I really don't think we played well enough to win the game."

Morten Andersen kicked a pair of field goals to account for Atlanta's only scoring in the first half, but missed a 26-yard attempt in the second quarter.

Falcons rookie Tim Dwight returned a kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter after Denver had built a 31-6 lead. In collecting the fifth kickoff return for a score in Super Bowl history, Dwight was Atlanta's best player with five kick returns for 210 yards.

This was the first Super Bowl featuring the NFL's top rushers. Atlanta's Jamal Anderson nearly matched Davis with 96 yards on 18 carries, but was nowhere near the factor the Falcons hoped.

"This is the team we wanted to play," Anderson said. "We feel bad we didn't get it done for him. A lot of guys were choked up with emotion in the locker room right after the game."

Chandler, who was virtually mistake-free in two playoff wins, was intercepted on three successive possessions in the second half when Denver pulled away. He finished 19-of-35 for 219 yards and a touchdown.

"I can sit here for a long time and try to explain exactly a lot of things that happened and it wouldn't do any good," Chandler said. "It sounds like excuse-making."

The Broncos played the entire second half without seven-time Pro Bowl tight end Shannon Sharpe, who suffered a twisted left knee in the first quarter when he was submarined by fellow trash-talker Ray Buchanan shy of the goal line after a catch.

"I knew something was wrong as soon as I hit the ground," Sharpe said. "My knee was hurt and I just got up and ran off the field. I tried to come back but it just wasn't stable enough. I knew it would do more harm than good to try to play on it."

The Falcons struck first on the game-opening drive when Andersen kicked a 32-yard field goal, but it would be their only lead. Dwight returned the opening kickoff 31 yards and the Falcons drove 48 yards in 10 plays to set up the kick.

The Broncos responded with a 10-play, 80-yard drive, capped by Griffith's first touchdown. Shanahan always scripts Denver's first 15 plays and it usually results in points. On 3rd-and-7, Elway connected with Smith on a 41-yard pass and Sharpe had two catches for 26 yards in the drive.

The Falcons, who led the NFL with 44 takeaways this season, created the first turnover when cornerback Ronnie Bradford intercepted a pass that deflected off Sharpe at the Denver 35. It was the eighth interception for Elway, an ignominious Super Bowl record. He had been tied with Craig Morton and Jim Kelly.

However, Atlanta could not capitalize. The Falcons reached the Denver 26 and Reeves decided to go for it on 4th-and-1 rather than attempt a field goal. On a pitch right, Anderson was trapped for a two-yard loss by defensive tackle Keith Traylor.

The Broncos drove 63 yards in 11 plays and increased their lead to 10-3 when Jason Elam kicked a 26-yard field goal with 9:17 left in the second quarter. Davis rushed four times for 28 yards and Elway hit Smith for 18 yards to key the drive.

The Falcons appeared to seize the momentum when Chandler completed three straight passes for 55 yards, but the drive stalled at the Denver 8 and the normally reliable Andersen hooked a 26-yard field goal attempt to the right.

"It was a mechanical blunder on my part, I missed the kick," Andersen said. "I was a little too quick through the ball. I just didn't get it done."

On the very next play, Elway faked a handoff, rolled to his right and lofted a pass over the middle to Smith, who raced past Robinson and turned it into an 80-yard touchdown to give Denver a 17-3 lead with 4:54 left in the second quarter.

"We ran one keeper earlier, and Eugene had come out of center field, so we knew that that play would be open," Elway said. "Eugene stayed flat, and we were able to run the post behind him."

"That play wasn't even in the game plan," Smith said. "We put the play in on the side, right before the play happened."

A 42-yard kickoff return by Dwight set up the Falcons at the Denver 49. Chandler hit Tony Martin with a 26-yard pass and scrambled for 10 yards to set up a 28-yard kick by Andersen with 2:25 left in the half.

The Broncos opened the second half with a drive which consumed nearly seven minutes. After being held without a reception in the first half, McCaffrey had two catches in the drive for 32 yards. However, Elam missed a 38-yard field goal attempt wide right.

Chandler made the first of his three turnovers when he tried to hit Mathis with a pass over the middle. Nickel back Darrius Johnson picked it off and returned it 28 yards to the Atlanta 42. Elam missed another kick, this one wide left from 48 yards.

The Falcons again threatened as Anderson picked up 28 yards on just two carries to move the ball to the Denver 21. Chandler had a pass deflected at the line of scrimmage by Traylor and intercepted by Gordon, who returned it 58 yards to the 24 before he was tackled by Chandler.

Five plays later, Griffith scored his second touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter to give Denver a 24-6 bulge.

Atlanta again moved downfield, only to have Chandler make yet another mistake. Anderson broke off a 15-yard run and two completions by Chandler netted 29 yards to the 26. But Gordon picked off a pass intended for Martin at the 2 and returned it 50 yards to the 48.

Davis turned a screen pass into a 39-yard gain. Two plays later, Elway scored on a three-yard run up the middle to open a 31-6 lead with 11:20 left.

Dwight returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown and Chandler hit Mathis with a three-yard TD pass around a 37-yard field goal by Elam.

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