Coach Levy Knows Reeves' Pain

February 1, 1999 / 12:16 AM EST / AP

Sunday night, Falcons coach Dan Reeves joined the elite group of NFL coaches who have gone to four Super Bowls and lost them all. Another member of that group, ex-Bills Coach Marv Levy, reflects on the pain of being a four-time loser.

Myself and Bud Grant are the only men in the world who know exactly how Dan Reeves feels.

And believe me, it's a miserable feeling.

I walked off the field at the Super Bowl four times without ever knowing what it's like to win the game, and each time you can't believe the feeling.

You go in with high hopes and relish the idea, and you never think you won't win. And then, all of the sudden, you've been defeated and don't know if you'll ever get back.

I know what a terrible feeling it is. There's no feeling of despair I ever had that impacted me like losing those games. You bounce back after a couple of weeks, but at that moment you feel worse that you ever have.

I felt worse after losing those games than I did after losing my job in Kansas City.

What I saw were five reasons why Denver won the game:

It went according to form in that the best team won. There was no question about that. The Broncos were stronger, and it was obvious they were the better all-around football team.

Atlanta's one chance was to win the turnover game, and it didn't. Not even close. One of the things often missed when discussing turnovers is what happens after you get one. Atlanta got the first one but did nothing -- missed a field goal. Denver did something with its turnovers. Atlanta was plus-20 on turnovers during the regular season and the Broncos were plus-11 in the playoffs. So that was the biggest thing that did not go according to form, and Denver exploited it to the hilt.

Denver was vastly superior on pass defense to anything I expected. I though they were suspect at the corners, but Darrien Gordon came up with two interceptions.

Denver's uncanny ability to get that early lead. That's what helped it get the turnovers later, and that's what made Atlanta play as though it was desperate.

When Atlanta committed to stopping the run, the Broncos didn't go after the corners, they went after the soft middle. The Falcons had their linebackers closer to the line, and they were stepping forward with every run fake. That made them vulnerable to quick passes over the middle, which John Elway employed with great effect. And trying to stop Terrell Davis left the Falcons open to the biggest play of the game, that 80-yard bomb.

I'll never know exactly how Mike Shanahan felt, but I can offer some insight into what Reeves' next few days will look like.

What we did with the Bills was like a five-step program:

We mourned for about 10 days. I'd just be miserable, lay in bed and pound the pillow and scare my wife.

We'd own up to what happened, look at where we are and how we can improve.

Recognize the good. If I'm Reeves, I look at he way we came back in the Minnesota game, and I'd look at how we handled this loss.

Form a plan, decide what we're going to do about it. You can't just keep lying there in a fetal position.

Act. You don't just form a plan, you go out and do the hard stuff.

It'll be tough for Reeves in the month ahead. It's hard to out to dinner, because people come up to console you and you don't even want to hear about it.

There's a tendency to want to become reclusive, but you can't do that. You eventually have to get back to work.