It’s Broncos in Big Rush to Judgment

It was the first playoff victory for the Broncos since Dan Reeves’ departure five years ago, the first playoff victory for Mike Shanahan in five years as head coach with the Raiders and Broncos, and the first wild-card victory in the history of Mile High Stadium.

But the Broncos, already mastering the art of failed expectations, must now go on the road to either Kansas City, where they lost earlier this season, or Pittsburgh, where they lost earlier this season.

Sure, they have avenged last season’s blown Super Bowl opportunity, when they squandered the home-field advantage through the playoffs with a loss to Jacksonville. But after Saturday’s 42-17 romp over the Jaguars, they now have the chance to get pounded by history.

Since the NFL went to the wild-card format in 1978, 100 teams have begun the postseason with boasts of new-found brilliance and second chances, and only three have advanced to the Super Bowl.

Only one, the Oakland Raiders 17 years ago, went on to win the Super Bowl.

“We’re not in the playoffs to avenge what happened last year,” Denver tight end Shannon Sharpe said. “We’re in the playoffs to somehow, some way, be in San Diego in late January playing in the Super Bowl. There’s a long road to go, but hey, we’re still playing.”

The issue now is, for how long?

The Broncos (13-4), losers of three of their last four games on the road, had the AFC West wrapped up with one minute to play earlier this season in Kansas City, but they dropped back into a prevent defense and allowed Pete Stoyanovich to kick a 54-yard field goal on the final play for a 24-22 Chief victory.

A loss three weeks later in Pittsburgh after blowing a 21-7 lead allowed the Chiefs to leapfrog the Broncos and place themselves in the favored position of playing at home through the playoffs.

“We haven’t answered any questions yet,” acknowledged Neil Smith, Denver defensive lineman. “The teams that are home right now, like Kansas City and Pittsburgh, are feeling that they are rested and have the edge. But listen, we’ve taken the first step and with one game behind us we feel that much better about ourselves.”

An hour earlier, they were grabbing their throats after jumping to a 21-0 lead only to have Jacksonville (11-6) come back with 17 consecutive points and the ball at the Denver 16-yard line.

Fortunately for the Broncos, Jacksonville quarterback Mark Brunell tried to audible and arrived too late under center to receive the snap, fumbling the ball over to Denver.

“Certainly, we had a lot of momentum at that point,” Brunell said. “The fumble really hurt, and personally this is a difficult one to take because we’re a better football team this year than we were last year.”

So much for the loser’s lament; the relieved Broncos struck back with 21 points in the fourth quarter, controlling the game finally with a relentless running attack led by Terrell Davis, who was forced from the game because of sore ribs after gaining 184 yards in 31 carries.

Former San Francisco running back Derek Loville, given the chance to play because of Davis’ injury (X-rays were negative) and a hamstring injury to backup tailback Vaughn Hebron that kept him out of practice all week, ran 11 times for 103 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

It was the third time in NFL playoff history that a pair of backs on the same team topped the 100-yard mark (Hewritt Dixon and Pete Banaszak for Oakland in 1967 and Brent McClanahan and Chuck Foreman for Minnesota in 1976).

In all, the Broncos rushed for 310 yards in 49 attempts.

“The first thing I said during warmups was, ‘Thank God we have a good running game,’ because the wind was going to make it so tough to throw,” said Denver quarterback John Elway, who completed 16 of 24 passes for 223 yards, including nine for nine on third down. “Our offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage, and going back to high school, college and as long as I have been here, that’s the best I have ever seen an offensive line play.”

Elway, who carried the Broncos to three Super Bowls on the strength of his powerful arm, is now 37 and savvy enough to understand that his team’s only chance to prosper again is with Davis lined up behind him.

When Davis was a freshman at Long Beach State, Coach George Allen used to ride him hard, yelling, “Run the ball, Secretariat, run.” Since joining the Broncos as a sixth-round pick and establishing himself as the game’s top thoroughbred back behind Barry Sanders, he has allowed Elway and Shanahan to establish the Broncos as the No. 1 offense in the league.

“We came into the game believing we could control the tempo running the ball and using Terrell,” said Shanahan, who turned over last week’s game preparation against San Diego to Elway and offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak to work an extra week on Jacksonville. “The wind forced us to switch and go to the run even more.”

Davis, knocked out of a Monday night game with San Francisco 10 days ago by a separated shoulder, took a painkilling shot, added some extra padding beneath his jersey and then rammed his body full speed ahead at anyone from Jacksonville so foolish to get in his way.

After running 59 yards in the third quarter, four plays after Brunell’s crucial fumble, he landed on the ball, injuring his ribs and forcing him to sit out the remainder of the game.

“I thought I had the wind knocked out of me, but when I got back to the bench and sat down, that’s when I noticed it,” Davis said. “It’s painful; it’s the type of injury that when you breathe, you feel it.”

Without Davis, the Broncos are advised to spend the New Year packing their equipment away for next season. His consistent ability to carry the ball more than 20 times a game has allowed Denver to maximize Elway’s talents in his declining years.

Elway, selected in the draft of ‘83, already has seen classmate Jim Kelly retire and Dan Marino has never looked so old as recent weeks. Waiting to see how the team fares in its quest to win the Super Bowl, Elway has refused to say if he will return next season. But if this was his last game in Mile High, it ended with him being hugged at midfield by Kubiak, his longtime backup before becoming a coach.

“I was too busy trying to win the game,” Elway said when asked if it crossed his mind that he might be playing his final game in Denver. “It did cross my mind that when we went up, 21-0, and they came back on us, that there was a little more urgency there to get things done.”

The speculation in Denver is that Elway will be back for one more season unless the team wins the Super Bowl, so if history has its way, Elway returns.

“It’s too early to say if I’ll be back next season,” Elway said. “I want to get us past this--it’s nice satisfaction to beat Jacksonville, but for us, anything short of winning a Super Bowl leaves us unfulfilled.”