There’s Quite a Flap Over Surprising Falcons

A review of championship Sunday in the NFL, and if you think you were stunned by the Falcons’ upset of the Vikings, how about league officials?

“You could tell they weren’t expecting us,” said Atlanta Coach Dan Reeves after reviewing the schedule of events for Super Bowl week with NFL officials, “because it said, ‘Atlanta Falcons, head coach Denny Green.’ ”

The itinerary, which included several references to the Vikings, was corrected later, but not entirely.

“They had changed the team from Minnesota Vikings, but they forgot to change the head coach,” Reeves said.

The thing is, anyone who knows anything about football knows Dennis Green is never going to go to a Super Bowl. You could look up his postseason record: 2-6.

But how about those “Dirty Birds?”

The Falcons have had only eight winning seasons in 33 years but Reeves and his team were greeted by about 5,000 fans at the airport and another 4,000 at the Falcon practice complex in the middle of the night after returning from Minneapolis.

“It was absolutely nuts,” linebacker Jessie Tuggle said. “It was like a rock concert.”

Reeves, after getting less than four hours’ sleep, appeared on “Good Morning America,” then returned to the hospital where he underwent quadruple bypass surgery five weeks ago for a checkup before rejoining his team.

In a pregame speech in early November, Reeves had promised his players he would do the “Dirty Bird” dance in downtown Atlanta if they made it to Miami for the Super Bowl.

On Monday, Reeves told his team, he made good on that promise, stopping his car on Peachtree Street in the middle of the night and flapping his arms and dancing--with no one around.

This Is Good To Know

Irritating Denver cornerback Darrien Gordon is not wise.

Jet guard Todd Burger smacked into Gordon, injuring Gordon’s ankle, while Gordon was engaged in a disagreement with Burger’s teammate, Matt O’Dwyer.

“That was the cheapest of the cheap,” Gordon said. “If I had my gun, I would have blown his brains out at that that time.”

So that’s what Jet center Kevin Mawae was talking about when he said, “If you give them the chance, they’re going to kill you.”

Relax, Enjoy the Game

Paul Wiggin, an assistant general manager for the Vikings, was sitting in the second row of the Mile High press box ready to scout Minnesota’s opponent in Super Bowl XXXIII.

But just seconds after the Broncos kicked off to the Jets, Morten Andersen’s kick defeated the Vikings, rendering Wiggin’s trip to Denver useless.

Well, maybe not a total waste. Wiggin was the coach at Stanford when Denver quarterback John Elway was there, so he had an opportunity to be a part of Elway’s final game in Mile High before returning to Minnesota for the winter.

Cave Dwellers

The Falcons have played their last nine games inside, and will be playing outside in Miami on Jan. 31 for the first time since traveling to New England on Nov. 8.

The Rematch

Denver Coach Mike Shanahan, once fired by Reeves when Reeves was coaching Denver, took his Broncos to Atlanta last year and ran out to a 23-0 lead before winning, 29-21. Reeves and Shanahan shook hands at midfield after the game.

After that game the Broncos were 5-0; the Falcons 0-5.

Good Question

Does Reeves, who will be participating in an NFL-record ninth Super Bowl, have to win one as a head coach to merit entry one day into the Hall of Fame?

He has lost three as a head coach, by a total of 96 points, been fired by Denver and fired by the New York Giants, but qualifies as a miracle worker now in Atlanta, having resurrected a team that went 10-22 the last two seasons.

“He’s won enough games,” said Elway, who guaranteed Reeves’ selection. “How old is he? 55? He’s got a lot of time left.”

Reeves, who won a Super Bowl as a player with Dallas and again as an assistant coach, could join Buffalo’s Marv Levy and Minnesota’s Bud Grant as four-time losers. Grant is in the Hall of Fame, and Levy is on the ballot this year.

Secret: Lose The Coin Toss

Reeves has been the winning coach in the NFL’s last two championship games that were decided in overtime.

In each instance, his team trailed and needed a touchdown to tie, then lost the coin toss.

Elway took Reeves’ Broncos 98 yards on “the Drive” on Jan. 11, 1987, to pull even with Cleveland, and then after the Browns had won the toss and later punted, Rich Karlis kicked a 33-yard field goal in overtime to win it for the Broncos.

This time it was Chris Chandler taking Reeves’ Falcons 71 yards to send the game into overtime, and after the Vikings had two chances to score, punting both times, Andersen was good from 38 yards.

“It ranked right up there with the drive we had in Cleveland,” Reeves said. “I told Chris after we tied the score that that ranks up there with all the big-time quarterbacks.”

Do They Have a Chance?

“We’ve got a 3,000-yard passer, two 1,000-yard receivers, an 1,800-yard rusher and the No. 2 defense in the NFL stopping the run,” said Falcon running back Jamal Anderson. “And everybody was saying ‘Look at the Vikings.’ ”

OK, so everybody was wrong, but do the Falcons have any chance of upsetting the Broncos?

Yes. Their track record indicates they can stop Terrell Davis. In their last 26 games, dating to last season, they have allowed only one opposing runner, Curtis Martin, to top the 100-yard mark. Martin had 101 yards.

Without Davis, it’s up to old man Elway to win.

Do They Have a Chance II?

Atlanta won consistently primarily because running back Anderson could not be stopped, leading all NFL rushers with a dozen games of 100 or more yards.

But ask the Jets and Miami Dolphins what it’s like to run against the Broncos and, amazingly, you will get the identical answer: 14 yards in 13 carries with one touchdown.

In the last four games, Denver’s defense has allowed a total of 88 yards rushing, limiting opponents to 1.3 yards a carry.

Without Anderson, it’s up to Chandler.

Let’s Be Serious

Vinny Testaverde completed 13 consecutive passes but when all was all said and done, there were really no surprises, said Denver tight end Shannon Sharpe:

“Come on, man, they’re still the Jets.”

To help any transplanted New Yorkers, that’s J-e-t-s, Jets.

Wimp Alert

Football players are supposed to be such tough guys, but they’re no different from anyone else, probably covering their eyes during parts of “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”

“We couldn’t bear to look,” admitted Atlanta cornerback Ray Buchanan as teammate Morten Andersen lined up to kick a 38-yard field goal to send the Falcons to the Super Bowl. “We were on our knees praying and we said, ‘We’ll know by the crowd noise.’ When we didn’t hear anything, we knew.”

Cry a Tune

A year ago, most football fans were rooting sentimentally for Elway to win a Super Bowl, after three defeats, hoping he could add an exclamation point to his career.

Atlanta linebacker Cornelius Bennett wants those same warm, fuzzy feelings.

“I’m like Elway this time,” said Bennett, who lost four Super Bowls while with the Buffalo Bills.

Maybe the guys down at the Erie County Correctional Facility, where Bennett served 36 days of a 60-day sentence after pleading guilty to reduced charges of rape, sodomy, unlawful imprisonment and sexual abuse, will be pulling for their old cellmate, but as for everyone else . . .

Trivia Question

Who will have played in more Super Bowls than anyone else?

Why sure, Mike Lodish.

Lodish, who played for UCLA, is a defensive tackle for the Broncos. He lost four Super Bowls while with Buffalo and won last year’s with Denver.

“I feel like the luckiest guy in the history of the NFL,” said Lodish who has started 29 games in his nine-year career. “I feel for all the all-pros and hall-of-fame players who never had the chance.”

Don Beebe played in five Super Bowls, but was inactive on Green Bay’s roster last year because of an injury and did not play in a sixth.

And Finally

The Broncos have to be concerned. The Falcons have chosen to wear their black uniforms as home team in the Super Bowl, which means Denver will wear white.

Since redesigning their uniforms last season, the Broncos have gone 21-0 in blue; 11-6 in white.

Atlanta (16-2) vs. Denver (16-2)

Jan. 31

3:15 p.m.

at Miami

TV: Channel 11