Hawks Need To Find Oz, Ask For Heart

You can almost hear the groans, gathering like storm clouds, rolling across the country like the prevailing westerlies.

“Oh, no, not the Broncos again.”

The Denver Broncos have clinched the best record in the AFC, have cinched home-field advantage for the playoffs, are marching toward another Super Bowl.

The Denver Broncos, who have been there four times and lost there four times; the Broncos, who have been outscored 163-50 in their four Super Bowls, are back. The Broncos have been so bad on Super Sunday, their four losses make the Buffalo Bills’ four Super Bowl losses look positively palatable. Now they are threatening a fifth trip.

This time, however, they have a running game. This time they have a defense. This time do they really have a chance?

“We’ve got to continue to stay healthy and play like we’ve been playing,” Denver quarterback John Elway said, “but I like our chances.”

Let’s not draw too many conclusions from Sunday’s home-field-clinching, 34-7 belly laugh over the Seahawks. Seattle could have phoned this game to Mile High Stadium and saved its air fare.

If the Hawks are playing December for pride, we discovered Sunday they have very little of it.

This game was like a battle of heavyweights. One was Evander Holyfield, the other Chuck Wepner. These were two teams looking ahead to January. One can’t wait for the playoffs; the other can’t wait for the end.

It was the kind of ho-hum performance by the Seahawks that gets a head coach in trouble. The last time they were this bad was Christmas Eve 1994, when they gave up in Cleveland and then-coach Tom Flores lost his job.

An effort this poor makes you wonder: If Paul Allen buys this team, will he clean house everywhere, including the coaching staff?

The Hawks opened the season flat as roadkill in San Diego. Twelve games later, at 5-8, they look as bad now as they did then. There only are 16 games in a season. There is no excuse for an effort this lusterless.

The Seahawks had the ball for less than 19 minutes Sunday. They ran 48 plays to Denver’s 80. They were pathetic. They were embarrassing. They didn’t quit. They never showed up.

This game looked a lot like Denver’s four Super Bowl losses. Now the Broncos - the new, improved Broncos - will have the home-field edge as they try to make it to another Super Bowl and another chance at redemption.

Kelley, for the Seahawks.

Hawks need to find Oz, ask for heart

“I’m surprised we clinched home field so soon,” said Elway, who threw for two touchdowns despite leaving the game briefly in the second quarter with a sore left hamstring. “It’s impressive. Sure it’s great. We’ve reached our first goal. But I’ve been here many times before. This doesn’t make a season.”

Elway has played in three of Denver’s four Super Bowl losses. He has lost by a combined 136-40 score. He has thrown six interceptions and one touchdown pass.

At age 36, his Super Bowl opportunities are dwindling. This might be his last chance at a ring. And maybe, his best chance.

‘There’s going to be a lot of comparisons,” Elway said. “The only trouble is, those teams made it to the Super Bowl and this team hasn’t. But I sure feel good about this team, both offensively and defensively. This is as solid as we’ve ever been.”

The Broncos are 12-1. They have the best record in football. Now, imagine their dilemma. They don’t have a meaningful game for the rest of this month, but they have a show-me game Sunday in Green Bay.

Should they rest Elway and his nattering hamstring? Or should they maintain their momentum?

“We’ve all got to play,” Elway said. “It’s a fine line there. The key thing for me is to be 100 percent by the playoffs. But the last thing we want to do is lose our edge, the momentum we’ve got going.

“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us these next four or five weeks, however long it is before our next meaningful game. We’ve got to go in playing our best football and that’s not by having our starters sitting on the bench for these last three games.”

At game’s end, Denver coach Mike Shanahan was given his first Gatorade bath. Defensive tackle Mike Lodish took off his shoes and threw them into the end-zone stands.

There is celebration and anticipation again in Denver. As for Seattle? It’s December: You know the drill.