Broncos defense does it again

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Posted: Tuesday January 19, 1999 08:34 PM

There were some fine performances by players from the Vikings and the New York Jets, like Minnesota backup defensive tackle Jason Fisk's two sacks and two tackles, or the Jets' Dedric Ward's five receptions for 61 yards or Chad Cascadden's two sacks and three tackles, but this week the awards will go to performers from the winning teams.

Broncos defensive coordinator Greg Robinson was an unsung hero last week when his defense held the Dolphins to three points and 14 yards rushing. His underrated group did it again -- the Jets were held to 14 yards on 13 carries, exactly the same output as the Dolphins managed. The Jets scored 10 points, but seven came after a blocked punt gave New York the ball on the Denver 1-yard line. Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said that when he hired Robinson, he was looking for a defensive coordinator who could get the ball back for the offense. Against the Jets, the Broncos defense had two interceptions and forced four fumbles, recovering all four. I'm sure Mike didn't think Greg's defense would get him the ball back six times in a Championship game, but he did. The 14 yards rushing in a championship game is an NFL record, and the 28 yards rushing allowed on 26 carries for the playoffs will never be broken.

Falcons defensive coordinator Rich Brooks has won this award once before when he held down the head coaching duties and coached great defense while Dan Reeves was in the hospital. This time the Falcon defense went on the road to play the highest scoring offense in the history of the NFL. Rich's group slowed down this offensive machine well enough for the Falcon offense to hang around and get the score tied late and win it in overtime. The plan was to keep Randy Moss and Cris Carter in front of the secondary and don't give up the deep ball. When Moss went deep, the Falcons always double-covered him. The two All-Pro receivers were "slowed down" to 12 receptions for 142 yds and one touchdown. Robert Smith was "slowed" down to 71 yards in 21 carries for 3.3 yards/carry and no scores. In overtime, Brooks' defense shut down the Viking passing attack. Cunningham went 2-for-7 for 23 yards, gave up a sack, forced a fumble, and made Minnesota punt twice. Not an easy task and the numbers themselves don't indicate what a great plan he had.

Atlanta had other unsung players, like rookie Tim Dwight, who had four kickoff returns for 110 yards and three carries for 28 yards, two as a shotgun quarterback. Dwight also had two excellent blocks downfield as a receiver. Fullback/tight end Brian Kozlowski had three receptions for 11 yards and was the lead blocker for most of Jamal Anderson's 23 carries. When Atlanta lost fullback Bob Christian to injury, some experts felt it was a serious blow to the offense, but Brian's effort has not gone unnoticed here.

Among Denver's unsung players, linebacker Keith Burns recovered the Denver kickoff that broke the game open, then came back on the next kickoff to tackle Dave Meggett inside the 20. Burns was also in on Denver's punt coverage team and played some snaps on defense as well. Cornerback Darrien Gordon had two interceptions for 58 yards and returned five puns for 79 yards. That's 137 yards in seven plays -- hidden yardage that really helped a Broncos offense that didn't score until its ninth possession.

 

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