The Puncher Vs. The Boxer

Someday, when football historian sit down and analyze the great NFL quarterbacks, they will stop at Super Bowl XXIV and say, "Here was a fascinating matchup." John Elway versus Joe Montana. Denver Broncos versus San Francisco 49ers. The individual versus the system.

Montana and the system are heavy favorites going into Sunday's game in New Orleans. Why shouldn't they be? The Niners' offensive system, put in 10 years ago by then coach Bill Walsh and refined by his successor, George Seifert, and offensive coordinator Mike Holmgren, has reached a frightening level of proficiency. The 49ers' two playoff victories approached perfection offensively, and Montana was close to flawless in both. Technically precise, gifted with an uncanny touch on short passes, he has been the ideal operator of the system.

"Watching him in the playoffs was like watching him in a skeleton drill in practice," says Mike Giddings, who runs a scouting service for 12 NFL clubs. "It was like a professional quarterback coming back to his high school and running a drill. I've never seen a quarterback make it look as easy as Joe does."

He completed nothing deep in the 49ers' 41-13 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in the divisional playoffs or in their 30-3 win over the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC title game. He didn't have to. Protected by his offensive line of tackles Bubba Paris and Harris Barton, guards Guy McIntyre and Bruce Collie and center Jesse Sapolu, Montana carved up both teams with crosses and slants and quick outs. He gave them the slow death.

Elway has been wild and unpredictable in the playoffs, a mirror of his season—of his whole career, actually. When the Broncos' system breaks down, he puts in his own system—scrambling out of the pocket, peering downfield, buying time, dodging a rusher, looking, always looking. Then comes a flick of the arm, and from nowhere one of Denver's fleet wide receivers—Vance Johnson, Mark Jackson or the new one, Michael Young—materializes 40 yards downfield with the ball in his hands.

"Elway's greatest strength is reading on the run," says San Francisco linebacker Matt Millen, a former Raider who has seen more than his share of Elway from the other side of the ball. "Always was, always will be."

"The Cleveland Browns said to Elway, 'We're going to blitz the hell out of you,' " says 49er defensive coordinator Bill McPherson of Denver's opponent in the AFC Championship Game. "They chased him plenty, and what does he give 'em? The Singapore Sling."

That's the fascination of this matchup. It's the machine versus the free-spinning wheel, Broadway against improvisational theater. Elway's postseason statistics, in beating the Pittsburgh Steelers 24-23 and Cleveland 37-21, don't match Montana's except in one category: the long one. Elway is at the top of his game, with four touchdown passes and one interception in the playoffs, but here's the exciting stat: 19.5 yards per completion (versus Montana's 11.7). The NFL's quarterback rating system doesn't award points for a number like that; all that number does is give cornerbacks gray hair.

Denver versus Cleveland, Jan. 14: Elway scrambles right and finds Young for a 70-yard touchdown. Elway scrambles left, buys time and finds Young for 53 down the left side. Elway scrambles left on third-and-10, stops and throws across his body to Johnson, who's crossing left to right, away from him, for a 20-yard gain.

Montana can throw with touch on the go too, but his big numbers have been built with timed patterns off short drops. And no quarterback has ever put together the playoff numbers that Montana has. In three playoff games last season and two this year, he has thrown 14 touchdown passes and one interception, and it came 112 passes ago. His quarterback rating for those five games is an unheard-of 127.2. Then consider his final-minute drive to beat the Cincinnati Bengals in last year's Super Bowl and his selection as MVP in the other two Super Bowls the Niners have won, in 1982 and '85. He has the skins on the wall.