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Pastimes : Football Forum (NFL) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: blankmind who wrote (2028)	2/1/1999 8:37:00 PM
From: BubbaFred	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 45639

Denver defense forces Falcons to freeze in red zone sportsline.com By Mike Lurie SportsLine Staff Writer MIAMI -- Chris Chandler didn't particularly care to go into details. His first taste of being a Super Bowl quarterback exposed a whole new level of difficulty. Chandler could lead the Atlanta Falcons inside Denver's 20-yard line Sunday night. Getting farther seemed like a futile process. There were no touchdowns from the Atlanta offense when the Falcons had a chance to rein in the Broncos. Denver offered a series of blitzes and schemes that had Chandler misfiring toward the corner of the end zone. Eventually, that defense confounded Chandler and his timing with receivers Tony Martin and Terance Mathis, forcing two interceptions that led directly to Denver touchdowns. John Elway was the MVP for the Broncos' 34-19 victory in Super Bowl XXXIII but Denver's defense won the game. "I could sit here and spend a lot of time trying to explain what things happened," Chandler said in a hallway outside the Atlanta locker room at Pro Player Stadium. "It would just sound like excuse-making. To sit here and describe what happened just wouldn't do any good." All week, Chandler had a hard time buying into the suggestion he had become a better quarterback than Elway at this stage of the playoffs. He had a higher quarterback rating this season. And the poise he showed in defeats of San Francisco and Minnesota revealed a veteran quarterback who had hit a new zone. THE BRONCOS PROVED defensively they are on a different plane. Chandler wasn't ready for it. It was too much for one quarterback to overcome. "The frustration is that we were moving the ball well to get down there (toward the end zone). You know, it's a little bit of our own doing," Chandler said. "But I think they deserve a little credit. "Whether I'd been here every year or the first year, it's the Super Bowl. And to lose it is very disappointing." Collectively, the Broncos realized their defense would prove to be far too superior if they had allowed its domination to come out. "We came in at halftime," said linebacker Bill Romanowski, a mainstay of this defense, "and thought that if everybody handles their responsibilities, we'll come in and blow this team out of the stadium." Their internal prediction proved true. Chandler and Martin were off on their timing and communication. As the Broncos' lead swelled to 24-6, the Falcons had to pass, making Jamal Anderson a non-factor. "I think it was a combination of everything," Romanowski said. "It was coverages, blitzes, our defensive line getting pressure on (Chandler). "We hit him a couple of times early and then forced him to make a couple of mistakes. Whenever you can keep them from scoring inside the red zone you've got a chance to win." Atlanta coach Dan Reeves saw it happening, a slow but obvious unraveling of his game plan. "We just couldn't get it done. Today, we missed the field goal (Morten Andersen's 26-yard attempt in the second quarter), missed a fourth-down attempt, settled for two field goals, threw two interceptions," Reeves said. "You just can't win if you don't get in (from) the red zone." THE BRONCOS WERE NOT ONLY convincing but ironic. Coach Mike Shanahan is known as the offensive innovator, a man who calls one of the best play-calling schemes around. To win his second straight Super Bowl, Shanahan's defense maximized opportunity for Elway. "Any time your secondary is able to come up with interceptions like they did, there is going to be a great pass rush as well," Shanahan said. "So when you do that, which our defense has done throughout the playoffs the last couple of years, they come up with a number of big plays. "They put pressure on the opposition and today was very typical of how they played over the last couple of years." It made an impression on rookie receiver Tim Dwight, another man smothered on end-zone pass routes. "They did a great job shutting down the running game inside the 20," Dwight said. "We couldn't come up with the big plays and they did, all through the night. It was very frustrating because this team is good in the red zone. "They did a tremendous job of stopping the line of scrimmage. Jamal couldn't get out of his lanes and run the football. We threw the ball over them, started moving the football and when we got inside the 20 we just couldn't establish anything and put points on the board. They were very tough up front." The Broncos offered complete defense, impact plays, turnovers. It was thorough. For a good and humble guy like Chandler, it was a harsh greeting to the Super Bowl aura. It was the kind of stern message only a champion would deliver.