Griese Not the Word in Denver

The Broncos missed tackles all Monday night, the biggest coming at the half, when they should have piled on John Elway en masse, begging him not to let the Broncos retire his jersey and install him in the Ring of Fame.

To heck with the fireworks, television fanfare and all the little tykes running around the field wearing No. 7 across their shirts. To heck with his aching knees, 39 birthdays and the tearful farewell months ago. To heck with any chance of the Broncos becoming the first team in NFL history to win three consecutive Super Bowls.

Brian Griese is a nice young man, his father rightfully proud, and Denver will be as good as any team in the AFC West.

But the Broncos do not have the look of world champions with Griese under center, slow to hand the ball to Terrell Davis and unable to fire a scare into the opposition with an arm bred for finesse rather than power.

And so the Broncos are 0-1 one game removed from the John Elway era, 38-21 losers to the Miami Dolphins, who have the strut to be this year’s AFC East champions now that the Jets have been grounded by Vinny Testaverde’s season-ending injury.

“We’re not playing for John Elway; we’re playing for the guys in this locker room,” said a defiant Denver linebacker Bill Romanowski. “John Elway will never be forgotten, but he’s not playing anymore.”

That became very evident as TV sets across the country undoubtedly clicked to other exciting fare. On a night in which Denver was asked to pay its rowdy respects to a quarterback known best for his gritty comebacks, Mile High Stadium sat less than half full at the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter. A winning streak of 24 games at home gone, along with Elway.

“Losing a player like John Elway certainly puts a lot more stress on the offense,” said Denver defensive tackle Mike Lodish. “But the offense did a decent job.”

That’s not enough for a team seeking to make NFL history, and so now the final Elway chapter has been written, the Broncos beginning anew with who knows what to expect.

Thirty years ago almost to the day, Bob Griese made his NFL debut, replacing an injured John Stofa for the Dolphins, a second-year expansion team. Griese completed 12 of 19 passes for 193 yards with two touchdowns to lead Miami past Denver, 35-21. He would land in the Hall of Fame.

Finishing with almost the same score--this time reversed in defeat--the younger Griese completed 24 of 40 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns, lacking only the big effective finish.

“I think if everyone would have played like Brian Griese, we would have won the football game,” Denver Coach Mike Shanahan said. “I was pleased with the way he handled himself against an excellent defensive football team. He showed a lot of poise and a lot of composure, but collectively we have to play better.”

Shanahan to the defense, of course, is not surprising. This was going to be Bubby Brister’s team, Brister ceremoniously moving into Elway’s locker and taking command of this team. But Brister apparently didn’t cut it during exhibition auditions, although there is the suspicion that Shanahan thought so highly of his own directing skills, he was looking for the opportunity to defy NFL tradition and triumph with inexperience.

And for a while, Shanahan’s judgment appeared correct.

Matched against Dan Marino, who had 231 NFL starts and nearly 8,000 passes on him, Griese gave the Broncos promise on their opening drive--with a feathered flutter to wide receiver Ed McCaffrey producing a 61-yard touchdown.

But the first half ended with Miami ahead 17-7, and when it came time in the fourth quarter to make like Elway and bring the Broncos back from defeat, Griese ate the ball.

On fourth and two from the Miami 41-yard line and down 10 points, Griese retreated and held the ball until Dolphin linebacker Zach Thomas planted him for a 10-yard loss. Elway makes the play.

But Elway’s gone for good, most likely on his way to Los Angeles to run a football team if the NFL opts to return, leaving Denver to run in place while Griese gets a grip on the pro game.

Without the threat of Elway, Davis-- the NFL’s best running back the past two years--found himself trapped by a Dolphin defense not concerned with an immobile quarterback who couldn’t beat Miami Coach Jimmy Johnson in sprint with a 10-yard head start.

Davis, who ran for 199 yards against these Dolphins in January’s playoff game here, had 30 yards in 11 carries at halftime and finished with 61 unremarkable yards in 19 rushes. More telling than that, he did not find the end zone, becoming a bit player to Griese’s desperate heaves down the stretch.

Six teams before have tried to win three Super Bowls in a row, but they failed with Bart Starr, Troy Aikman, Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw (twice) and Bob Griese at quarterback. There are no allowances for quarterbacks who have yet to shed their training wheels.

Denver’s faltering step out of the gate now leaves the sentiment that propelled Elway to postseason greatness the past two years behind Marino, a 1983 draft-day classmate of Elway’s.

“I just try to be patient and hang in there,” said Marino, who hasn’t been to the Super Bowl since his second season in the league.

Marino, advised to file his retirement papers by loudmouth tight end Shannon Sharpe after Denver’s playoff win, completed 15 of 23 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns.

Said wide receiver Tony Martin, who had four catches for 101 yards: “Dan just went out there and showed why he’s a Hall of Famer.”