Commentary : Broncos’ Timing-Not Their Talent--Is Pretty Lousy

It was hard not to feel a twinge of sympathy for the Denver Broncos even as they celebrated their third American Football Conference championship in four years after dispatching the Cleveland Browns Sunday.

They were proud of making it back to the Super Bowl, and rightfully so. Two consecutive Super Bowl blowouts, the second against the Washington Redskins in 1988, had forced them to look hard in the mirror and change their ways. Almost everything about them, from coaching staff to style of defense, had been overhauled. It was not easy. The Broncos went 8-8 in the 1988 season and failed to make the playoffs.

But now, just a year later, they were back in the Super Bowl. And in their locker room Sunday the talk was that this year would be different, no Orange Crushed headlines the day after the Super Bowl. They were painfully earnest about all this and had worked hard to recover their pride.

Even as they spoke, however, the San Francisco 49ers were stamping out the Rams with such ferocity that women and children cowered from coast to coast. The score in the National Football Conference championship game was 30-3, and the Rams were on their knees begging for their lives at the end, or so went the inside scoop.

The poor Broncos. Their timing is just plain poor. Had they made their return to the Super Bowl a year ago, when the 49ers were more vulnerable, they probably would not have taken another mega-beating. The Cincinnati Bengals, if you recall, were in the game all the way before a last-minute 49ers touchdown beat them. These Broncos are as capable as those Bengals.

But this year’s edition of the 49ers is many lengths superior. They lost only two games, as opposed to five a year ago. Their underrated defense has been particularly nettlesome. And, of course, Joe Montana is having a remarkable season: his best; one against which all great quarterbacking seasons may be compared.

The Broncos just do not compare. It is true they have a more balanced offense and more physical defense than both of their Super losers, but they still are overmatched against these 49ers. Fact is, the 11 1/2-point betting line is too little. Not that that is an insult. No team in the parity-puffed, watered-down National Football League could stay within two touchdowns of the 49ers right now.

So it comes down to this: The Broncos, after all their soul-searching and reconstruction, are facing yet another paddling. Those who believe in justice had best avert their eyes. The Broncos’ lot in life, it appears, is to be the well-paid, genial foil, the team that achieves much but, in the end, serves primarily as a pillow other teams kick and stomp as final proof of their prowess.

It should be noted that one thing in the Broncos’ favor is their motivation. Not in years has a Super Bowl qualifier stimulated such disrespect. The Broncos will play for the legitimacy of their name, and teams in such position play hard and, often, well. So maybe they have a chance if Montana falls off a train somewhere.

The Broncos’ window of opportunity is, simply, a peephole. It is important to understand the powerful sweep against which they are bucking. If not for one poor game in January, 1988, the 49ers would be on the verge of their third consecutive Super Bowl championship and their fourth in six years. It could be time to bring out the D-word: Dynasty.

Two seasons ago, the 49ers finished the regular season with a 14-2 record that included 41-0 and 48-0 shatterings of the Rams and Chicago Bears in the last three weeks. But, inexplicably, they did not show up against the Minnesota Vikings in the playoffs, giving a four-loss Redskins team the chance to batter the Broncos. The Redskins won fair and square but they were not the best team that year.

The 49ers rebounded to win the Super Bowl last year after a tumultuous regular season during which they lost five of their first 11 games.

This year, the pieces fit perfectly. Montana is healthy now, and the nucleus of players has been together four or five years. The latter makes a big difference; the 49ers’ combination of talent, teamwork and experience is just overwhelming.

Watching Cleveland’s receivers get open so easily against Denver in the AFC championship, one could not help imagining what damage the 49ers’ Jerry Rice, John Taylor and Roger Craig could inflict if set loose in those open fields. Perhaps the only defense that could stop such a passing game is the 49ers’ defense.

Now, that would be worth watching. Let’s say we pool our resources--if every fan who watched the game contributed a dollar, we would have $120 million--and buy the Super Bowl and give it to the 49ers. (Final: 34-14.) We would be spared another Bronco-bashing, and, instead, we could hold Super Scrimmage I. Jerry Rice against Ronnie Lott. That would be super.