Broncos Headed To Super Bowl

John Elway's Mile High sendoff ended with another trip to the Super Bowl, an emotional victory lap and pleas from his faithful fans for "One more year."

With Terrell Davis on Elway's side, the Denver fans just might get their wish.

They got a fifth AFC championship out of the Elway-led Broncos as Davis, the NFL Most Valuable Player, rushed for 167 yards and a touchdown in a 23-10 victory Sunday over the mistake-prone New York Jets.

Elway also had a touchdown pass in what probably was his final home game -- he is expected to retire after the Super Bowl on Jan. 31 in Miami.

"I can't tell you that yet," Elway said of a retirement announcement. "We're just going to go back and win the next one. I'm just thrilled to death to be going back."

When they get there, the Broncos, who ended a 13-year AFC slide in last year's title game, will find the Atlanta Falcons. Former coach Dan Reeves -- who once feuded with Elway and Denver coach Mike Shanahan -- will be awaiting them.

Atlanta upset Minnesota 30-27 for the NFC crown and opened as 8½-point underdogs in the Super Bowl. It dropped to seven within an hour of Denver's victory.

The way Elway celebrated his victory sure looked as if he were bidding farewell to the Mile High Stadium fans, who have loved him throughout a 16-year career.

They began chanting "El-way, El-way," stomping their feet and making the old stadium shake. The 38-year-old quarterback, who returned because he felt the Broncos were good enough to repeat, then ran a victory lap, holding up the AFC championship trophy as the fans begged him to return.

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Howard Griffith's touchdown in the third quarter helped put the game away for the Broncos. (AP)

Davis as the main weapon for Denver, which overcame 40 minutes of ineptitude with the kind of efficiency and spark that identifies the defending NFL champions.

"The team came together and made up our minds to do the things we've been doing all year," said Davis, the fourth player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season when he gained 2,008 in 1998.

The Broncos' winning method hardly was in keeping with their dominant, high-scoring image. They botched their way to a 10-0 deficit and seemed to forget about Davis, their only effective offensive performer early on.

But they didn't forget they are champions.

"We had the strength and the ability to come back," Shannon Sharpe said. "We knew that."

On the first play following Curtis Martin's 1-yard TD run after Blake Spence blocked a punt, Elway found Ed McCaffrey wide open for 47 yards. That got the usually loud crowd back into the game and, two plays later, it was fullback Howard Griffith bulling his way in on an 11-yard reception.

Jason Elam, who would make field goals of 44 and 48 yards in the third quarter to give Denver the lead, then blooped a kickoff into a 25 mph wind that carried just past the second wave of Jets. The ball ricocheted back toward Denver territory and was grabbed by Keith Burns.

By then, New York was wavering.

"It was the combination of turning the ball over three times across midfield, which limited our scoring opportunities," said Bill Parcells, who added he will be back as coach next season. "Then we had special teams mistakes as well."

The Jets won their last seven games with a big-play attack and stingy defense, but they had neither in the second half. They turned the ball over six times in the game.

Davis broke it open with a 31-yard TD run just 18 seconds from the end of the Broncos' 20-point third quarter.

After Darrien Gordon's 36-yard punt return, Davis sped through a gaping hole into the end zone, ending New York's remarkable run from 1-15 two years ago to a step from its first Super Bowl since 1969.

In winning their 19th straight at home, the Broncos set up a juicy Super Bowl matchup. Shanahan was fired by Reeves as offensive coordinator in 1992 because Reeves thought Shanahan had taken some power and had too much influence on Elway.

"At times, we were best friends," said Shanahan, who has a 33-3 record at home. "He's done a great job with that football team."

Elway called playing for Reeves "hell" when the coach was fired after the '92 season. Reeves guided Denver to three Super Bowl losses in four years.

Oddly, the crowd, apparently still feeling some affection for Reeves, cheered wildly when Morten Andersen's field goal gave Atlanta its win.

The fans had little to cheer for the next hour or so.

Elway, who finished 13-for-34 for 173 yards, was off. His receivers ran some poor routes and dropped some passes. The Jets got pressure on him, winding up with three sacks. But all was right in the end. Gordon's interception of Vinny Testaverde, who threw for 356 yards, set up Elam's third field goal, a 35-yarder. Gordon had another pickoff with 2:47 to go.

That began the celebrations.

Shockingly for two teams that combined for 917 points this season, the game was scoreless until the final play of the first half. Both sides made some maddening mistakes as Denver was blanked through 30 minutes for the first time since September 1993.

The Jets opened the game moving smartly on Testaverde's passing to Wayne Chrebet. But John Hall missed a 42-yard field goal wide right.

The Broncos, whose quick starts kept opponents off-stride all season, went three-and-out and Dave Meggett returned a punt 33 yards.

That was negated when Martin, who rarely fumbles, lost the ball for the second straight week and Tyrone Braxton recovered at the Denver 44. That punctuated a miserable day for Martin, who ran for just 14 yards on 13 carries.

This time, Denver didn't falter until it reached the New York 1. Davis rushed eight times for 42 yards on a 55-yard drive. But on fourth down, the struggling Elway -- who converted an earlier fourth down with a 9-yard run -- had his pass blocked by Mo Lewis.

The second quarter didn't begin any better. Broncos punter Tom Rouen dropped a snap and was tackled for a 9-yard loss and New York took over at the Denver 43.

After converting a fourth down on a 9-yard pass to Dedric Ward, the Jets continued the comedy of errors when Keith Byars fumbled at the Denver 18 and John Mobley recovered.

Elway finally got his first completion 5:20 into the second quarter, and Testaverde didn't throw his first incomplete pass until he'd connected on 13 straight, his longest streak of the year.

Still, it was 0-0 until the Jets struck on a 20-yard pass to Chrebet and a 26-yarder to Dedric Ward, setting up Hall's 32-yard field goal to end the half.

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