RAMS 27, DENVER BRONCOS 21 : Broncos Backtracking on March to Playoffs
A one word answer seemed to say all Sunday.
John Elway, last week it looked like you had some questions answered. Things were starting to take shape. Everything was moving in the right direction. And now you’re right back where it was a few weeks ago.
“Correct.”
Analysis had never been so simple and so painful for Elway.
He and the Denver Broncos were ready to shout.
They watched the Rams hold on for a 27-21 victory and saw their playoff surge stopped, maybe for good.
“We needed this game to really say, ‘We’re back,’ ” tight end Shannon Sharpe said. “Instead, we’re asking ourselves again, ‘What happened? What’s wrong?’ ”
Questions that seem too familiar. The answers aren’t there and time is growing short.
“With all the talent we have, had someone told me we would miss the playoffs, I wouldn’t have believed them,” Sharpe said.
The Broncos, who lost their first four games, had put themselves in the position for a playoff run. They had won three of four games, including consecutive victories over San Diego and Cleveland--both division leaders.
They were 3-5 with three consecutive home games ahead. The makings of a sweet picture provided, of course, they beat the Rams, a 3-5 team treading water.
But the Broncos went down, possibly for the last time.
“We can’t lose anymore games,” Elway said. “If we can get on a roll, we can make it.”
They better hurry, moss is starting to accumulate.
Elway threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns in the second half, but he couldn’t put together one of his typical fourth-quarter miracles.
The last gasp came with two minutes left. But Sharpe’s fourth-down catch was ruled incomplete over the protests of Coach Wade Phillips. Still, the game was lost long before that controversial call, according to the Broncos.
“I think every individual has to take it upon themselves to be ready for a ball game,” safety Steve Atwater said. “That wasn’t the case. I don’t who it was, I just know they weren’t ready to play.”
The Broncos were down, 14-0, seconds into the second quarter. They went three plays and punted on their first possession. They got one first down on the second time they had the ball.
By halftime, the Broncos had all of 60 yards by halftime and trailed, 17-6.
“It’s always going to bite you in the end if you don’t play 60 minutes,” running back Glyn Milburn said.
They put in about 30, although the first few of the second half were more of the sleep-walking-variety. The Rams scored on their first possession to take a 24-6 lead.
The Broncos didn’t make any easier on themselves. They had 93 yards in penalties. They were offside on kickoffs not once, but twice. The second hurt and led to more mistakes.
Elway’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Milburn and a two-point conversion by Sharpe pulled the Broncos to within, 24-14.
Todd Kinchen was then stopped on the Ram five on the kickoff. But the Bronco’s Richard Harvey was ruled to have been offsides. The re-kick gave the Rams the ball on the 33.
They drove for a field goal, aided by two pass interference calls on defensive back Randy Hilliard, one of which nullified his interception.
“We had two offsides on kickoffs,” Phillips said. “I can’t imagine those things happening. It was those kind of things that kept us from winning.”
Said Sharpe: “Seems like instead of finding a way to win, we find a way to lose.”
Not a good sign for a team and a quarterback known for fantastic finishes. But the Broncos have lost eight games by three points the past two seasons.
“I think John has spoiled us,” Sharpe said. “He gives us the feeling we can dig ourselves a hole and he’ll dig us out. We just can’t do that anymore. We have to play complete games. We were like two entirely different teams today.”
