Posted: Sun January 25, 1998 at 10:57 PM ET

Sunday
Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego

The 10 things I think I think tonight:

1.I think three things about the Broncos: I think I am amazed that John Elway threw for 27 yards in the first 36 minutes of the game and Denver was not only in the game but tied 17-17. In the biggest victory of his life, Elway was an absolute afterthought. I think the Broncos' defense is better than any of us thought. And I think Terrell Davis was the best player on the field.

2.I think three things about the Packers: I think they would have been in huge trouble if Mark Chmura hadn't kept that second touchdown drive alive with a 21-yard, one-handed, third-and-10 catch from the Green Bay 5, down 17-7 with six minutes left in the second quarter. I think Brett Favre has never seen such an unpredictable defense, at least not since the Vikings attacked him from all over creation at the Metrodome in a seven-sack loss in 1996. And I think Gilbert Brown picked a lousy night to have the worst game of his career.

3.I think I misled you yesterday about the cost of tickets, sort of. Either that or they skyrocketed overnight. There was a sense of desperation near the crowded downtown hotels today. Ticket-seekers were like thirsty people in the middle of the desert. "Got two?'' a guy asked me at 11 this morning. "Maybe,'' I said. He told me he'd pay $4,500 for two good ones in the lower deck. Now that's desperation.

4. I think Brian Billick is in trouble in Dallas, which makes Bill Walsh, his sponsor, just sick. The situation: Walsh and Billick, the Vikings' offensive coordinator, are friends. Billick says Minnesota head coach Dennis Green recently told him he's free to take another job, so Walsh began spreading the word. The big coordinator's job, in Dallas, was going to be open, Walsh knew, and so he told Cowboys owner Jerry Jones what a good candidate Billick would be to install the West Coast offense in Dallas. "So Jerry thought Brian was free," Walsh told me Saturday night. "Denny told Brian he was free not once but twice." Cowboys sources say there was the tacit understanding that Billick would be the offensive coordinator under either of the two leading candidates for head coach, Terry Donahue or George Seifert -- and then Vikings president Roger Headrick found out.

5. I think Seattle president Bob Whitsitt is doing his best to give non-denial denials about his alleged pursuit of Packers GM Ron Wolf or coach Mike Holmgren. "I can't tell you what's going to happen," Whitsitt says, "because I honestly can't tell you where the journey will end." Who's his speechwriter? Confucius?

6. I think Wolf is ticked off at Jerry Jones for announcing during the playoffs that he is going to interview Green Bay offensive coordinator Sherm Lewis. Wolf thinks it's tampering, and a distraction to his team during Super Bowl week.

7. I think whoever managed traffic flow around this stadium today ought to be fired and prevented from ever working a big event again.

8. I think maybe I'm being a bit hasty in axing the traffic guy. While at a near-standstill on the media bus for 43 minutes outside this place, we did see a man dressed as Jesus Christ, in a long, flowing white robe, with long hair, a beard and bare feet. He was holding this sign:

Super?
Question your obsession
With violence, greed, pain, fear.

Our bus, naturally, was filled with murmurs of, "Who's that guy?" Gary Shelton of the St. Petersburg Times, said, "I think it's a former No. 1 draft pick for the Bucs."

9. I think this game might have had the best music of the 14 Super Bowls I've seen, Queen Latifah especially. Heck of an anthem, too, by Jewel.

10. I think we finally got a great Super Bowl.

I'll wrap it all up with one more column Monday afternoon.

• Saturday: Countdown to kickoff
• Friday: From Tags to riches
• Thursday: Wolf cries foul as rumors swirl
• Wednesday: Hop on the coaching carousel
• Tuesday: Will Holmgren Pack it in