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February, 1st, 1999
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Monday, February 1st, 1999 Falcons self-destroy first Super Bowl appearance; Broncos repeat as championsSuper Bowl XXXIII After having defeated the mighty Minnesota Vikings, the Falcons seemed to be an overlooked team. But not on this Sunday. They played like real Super Bowl rookies, making too many mistakes and showing that maybe this year was a bit too early for them to be at the Super Bowl. The Denver Broncos easily became only the fifth team ever to win back-to-back Super Bowls. They really couldn't believe that the Falcons would self-destroy themselves. The Broncos made the plays they needed with surprisingly ease. The Falcons defense never showed up in the game. That would even be ok if the offfense showed some attacking fire power. They made many, many mistakes, and most of them happened when they were in the red zone. That was costly. Denver FB Howard Griffith scored twice in two short runs, RB Terrell Davis had a 100+ yard game, and QB John Elway threw for over 300 yards, including an 80-yard TD pass to WR Rod Smith - who, by the way, had a 150+ yard receiving day. Needless to say, if your whole offense is putting up those numbers, the other team must play big to have a chance. But Falcons QB Chris Chandler looked a lot like Jim Kelly in Super Bowls: throwing a lot of INT's and throwing away big chances to get back in the game. RB Jamal Anderson actually played well, but he had limited carries as his team got away behind in the score. The only problem he had was on short yardage situations. Atlanta blew almost all their 3rd and short situations in the first and second quarters, and even turned the ball over on downs on a fourth-and-1. A missed FG in one of their many red-zone missed oportunities was key, as it was followed by the 80-yard TD pass from Elway to Smith. Truth is, you MUST perform well under pressure to win Super Bowls. Chandler, as well as Jim Kelly and even John Elway in his first three trips to the Super Bowl (all defeats), showed that lack of ability to maintain his cool and help his team. Atlanta had many chances. But they simply couldn't convert them into points. The Broncos did the opposite, turning every Falcons turnover into a big scoring threat. The only good play by the Falcons all day came too late. Rookie kick returner Tim Dwight returned a kickoff 94 yards 4 minutes into the fourth quarter - but that only made the score 31-13. After a Jason Elam FG, WR Terrance Mathis scored later on a pass from Chandler, but they took ALL DAY to get there, killing all the clock and even missing an unnecessary two-point conversion. Final score: 34-19. Elway was named the MVP, despite big performances by other players, like CB Darrien Gordon (2 INT's, 108 return yards), Griffith, Davis and Smith. ---
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