Elway Pursues Unfamiliar Ring Broncos Quarterback Hopes Fourth Time’s A Charm

John Elway arrived at his first Super Bowl in 1987, at 26 already of heroic stature for orchestrating the 98-yard drive that won the AFC championship for the Denver Broncos.

It was Elway vs. the New York Giants that year; Elway vs. the Washington Redskins a year later; and Elway vs. the San Francisco 49ers two years after that.

When it was over it was Opponents 3, Elway 0 by a combined score of 136-40. He accounts for three NFC victories in a string of 13 consecutive Super Bowl wins for the conference.

Today, at 37, Elway is back for John Elway IV, in this case Elway vs. the Green Bay Packers, probably his last chance for a Super Bowl ring.

Defending champion Green Bay is led by Brett Favre, a three-time NFL MVP at 28 and a lot like Elway in his younger days - a quarterback who could evade most rushers, gun the ball through defenders at 90 mph or sling it way downfield.

“He was my idol,” Favre said. “He could do things I could only dream of doing. He was someone you wanted to watch because you always want to watch things in sports that are out of the ordinary.

“Now that I can do some of those things, it’s like looking in a mirror.”

In some ways, so is this Super Bowl.

While the Packers are favored by nearly two touchdowns, the fifth consecutive time an NFC team has entered as a double-digit favorite, they are similar to the Broncos.

Besides Elway and Favre, there are running backs Terrell Davis of Denver and Dorsey Levens of Green Bay, and offensive systems that are variants of the California offense introduced by Sid Gillman and perfected by Bill Walsh.

Coaches Mike Shanahan of Denver and Mike Holmgren of Green Bay came to their jobs after interning as offensive coordinators in San Francisco, where Walsh and George Seifert won five Super Bowls with that offense.

Despite all that, this has been Elway’s week and Elway will be the sentimental favorite when the game begins at 3:18 p.m. PST at Qualcomm Stadium - known as Jack Murphy Stadium when Doug Williams and the Redskins beat the Broncos 42-10 in the second of Elway’s three losses.

Elway still shudders when he thinks of that game a decade ago when Washington scored 35 points in the second period after the Broncos had taken a 10-0 lead.

“I still can’t believe it,” he said. “Five touchdowns in 19 plays in 13 minutes and we’re out of it.”

But these Broncos are better and more resilient.

They’re better because Davis ran for 1,750 yards this season, making Elway only the second-most important player on the offense. And the defense is bigger and more physical than the defenses of those 1980s Broncos.

They also had to overcome adversity, becoming only the fourth team to win three games as a wild card and make it to the Super Bowl.

In 1996, the Broncos finished 13-3, after starting 12-1 and clinching home field in the AFC with a month left in the regular season. Then they were shocked by Jacksonville 30-27 in their first playoff game.

This year, they were 6-0 and rolling toward another AFC West title.

But they lost in Kansas City, lost in Pittsburgh, lost in San Francisco and ended up 12-4, second to the Chiefs in the division and forced to enter the playoffs needing to win at least twice on the road to reach San Diego.

They started by avenging the loss to the Jaguars, beating them 42-17 at Mile High Stadium. Then they beat Kansas City and Pittsburgh on the road and made it to their fifth Super Bowl. If they lose, they become the first franchise to lose five.

Green Bay’s road was easier.

But the Packers, who beat New England 35-21 in last year’s Super Bowl, started shakily, losing two of their first seven and looking stale in most of their five wins.

Then Holmgren gave players time off during their bye week and they came back looking as good as last year’s champs, beginning with a 28-10 victory over New England in a replay of the ‘97 Super Bowl.

Green Bay enters the Super Bowl with 10 victories in its last 11 games, the only loss to previously winless Indianapolis, 41-38.

With apologies to Favre and Levens, who ran for 1,435 yards, defense is the reason for Green Bay’s successful season.

Favre, who shared his third straight MVP award with Detroit’s Barry Sanders, is certainly the most dangerous player on the roster. But it’s the defense that keeps him from forcing the ball into trouble, as he did earlier in his career.

The Packers have allowed only 109 points in their last 10 victories.

Denver’s defense isn’t quite as solid - it’s last in the league in average yards per rush allowed.

That means that while both teams point to Davis as the key, the game may still come down to Elway, who has led 44 game-saving drives in his 15-year career.

Two weeks ago, in the 24-21 win at Pittsburgh that got the Broncos to the Super Bowl, he made the game-saving play: a third-down completion to tight end Shannon Sharpe from his 13 with the Steelers pressing. That allowed Denver to run out the clock.

Something like that would be the dream scenario for this Super Bowl - perhaps a desperate drive in the final 2 minutes with the Packers leading by six points.

It would be a fitting end to John Elway IV.

Graphic: Qualcomm Stadium