Patriots Let Broncos Off Floor : Denver Avoids Knockout and Rallies to Win, 27-20

Football is like boxing in one way. When the other guy is on the ropes, you’d better put him away.

The New England Patriots had that opportunity here Sunday. Time after time they were in position to overpower the Denver Broncos in the first half, when they drove to the Denver 15, 14, 11 and 26-yard lines on 4 of their 6 offensive series.

But they tried for the knockout with trick plays that bombed, and settled for only 13 points. This took the heart out of the Patriots and transferred it to the Broncos, who came on in the second half to win, 27-20, after falling behind at halftime, 13-3.

On a calm, sunny afternoon at Mile High Stadium, a record crowd of 75,804 saw quarterback John Elway lead the Broncos 72, 68 and 53 yards to touchdowns on 3 of his first 4 series in the second half as New England dropped out of the game, 24-13.

This put Denver (4-0) alone atop the AFC West with Seattle losing at Washington, and left defending conference champion New England (2-2) a game behind the New York Jets in the AFC East.

Elway’s spectacular comeback followed his worst half as a pro, a half in which Denver earned only three first downs and incredibly held possession of the ball for only 9 minutes to New England’s 21 minutes.

“The harder I tried, the worse I got,” Elway said.

But it never got him down.

“I could have been in Israel getting shot at,” he said.

The other quarterback, Tony Eason, whose accurate early passing made the Patriots appear to be much the better of the two teams, said: “Our offense only showed up for the first half.”

It was New England’s game, said Patriot fullback Craig James, until the last two minutes of the half.

“Then I made a poor pass on the option play,” he said.

He was right about all that. “The (option) interception was the turning point,” Denver Coach Dan Reeves said.

James’ fullback pass, badly underthrown, was one of several trick plays the Patriots attempted in the second quarter when their offensive line was beating up the Broncos and when Eason’s passes were tearing up the Bronco secondary.

The Patriot play caller, backup quarterback Steve Grogan, sent in the James option on first down from the Denver 11 after Eason’s throws and halfback Tony Collins’ runs moved New England that far.

Collins was open for a probable touchdown, but James underthrew him, free safety Steve Foley getting a lucky interception for Denver.

A moment later, a clever New England punt run by Irving Fryar and Eason’s passes returned the Patriots to the Denver 26. This time on first down, Grogan put Eason in shotgun formation and called James on a draw play.

The Broncos stuffed it. And the Patriots, whose conventional offense was too much for Denver for two quarters, were never heard from again.

Grogan wasn’t available for comment afterward, but the lesson he learned is that in the NFL, trick plays are not only unnecessary but often dangerous when conventional plays have been succeeding.

It only remained for Elway to regain his control. What had happened to him in the first half?

“I wasn’t setting up properly,” he said. “The problem was my feet, not my arm. When I realized it and went back to the basics, I came out of it.”

On the second of the Broncos’ three touchdown drives, the one that put them ahead, Elway overcame third and 21 with a throw to wide receiver Clint Sampson, who lateraled to halfback Gerald Willhite for a first down.

“That got their fans into the game,” New England Coach Raymond Berry said.

“We just had too many occasions (after that) when we had three downs and out.”

Also talking about the noisy stadium, James said: “We lost the momentum when their fans got in the game.”

The mile-high altitude here didn’t help New England, either.

“I think we wore them down in the second half,” Reeves said.

The turnabout was a rare one for even this altitude. The Broncos, who’d had the ball for only 9 minutes in the first half, had it for 20 of the 30 in the second.

Exact time of possession: New England 30:46, Denver 29:14.

“It was two different ballgames,” Reeves said.

Added Elway: “The second one was a confidence booster for us.”