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Kevin Reece/US Presswire
(Left) Derrick Mayes ( 80) and Antonio Freeman ( 86) celebrate a Packers score. (Right) Denver’s Terrell Davis ( 30) crosses the goal line for the game-winning touchdown.
It’s fitting that Super Bowl XXXII is the one that launched the NFL into this era of fantastic title-game finishes. That contest saw Denver clip Green Bay, 31-24, snapping the NFC’s 13-year run of
Super Bowl dominance and providing Broncos quarterback John Elway
with a Super Bowl victory after three losses earlier in his career.
In the first half, Elway and Terrell Davis scored on 1-yard runs and
Jason Elam nailed a 51-yard field goal as Denver built a 10-point lead.
But the Packers, looking to repeat as Super Bowl champions, rallied to
knot things up at 17-17 and again at 24-24, the latter tie coming early in
the fourth quarter on Brett Favre’s 13-yard TD pass to Antonio Freeman.
Each defense then drew a line in the turf, forcing a series of punts
but with the Broncos gaining field position on each exchange. With
3: 27 to go, Denver took possession just across midfield.
A facemask penalty, a 23-yard Elway-to-Howard Griffith pass, and
Davis’ 17-yard run advanced the ball to the 1 with 1: 47 left. Desperate
to stem the momentum, Green Bay called timeout, but Davis scored on
the next play—his Super Bowl-record third rushing touchdown of
the game —to put Denver in front, 31-24.
Green Bay still had some fight, and it had Favre. He moved the ball
to the Denver 31 where he faced a second-and- 6, but fired a pair of
incompletions and then had a fourth-down pass to tight end Mark
Chmura batted away by John Mobley. Once the ball hit the ground, the
Broncos were ensured of lifting their first Vince Lombardi Trophy.
“I’ve wiped the slate clean,” said a joyful Elway, who the following
season would be named MVP of Super Bowl XXXIII after leading
Denver to its second straight title. “This feels two times better than
anything I could have imagined.”
Favre, despite his disappointment, was quick to offer congratulations.
“I’m happy for John. He’s had a great career and he’s finally got the
greatest thing that the NFL has to offer.”
SUPER BOWL XXXII 1 2 3 4th T
GREEN BAY PACKERS 7 7 3 7 24
DENVERBRONCOS 7 10 7 7 31
Super Bowl V Rookie Jim O’Brien’s 32-yard field goal with five
seconds to play completes a 10-point fourth-quarter rally that lifts the
Colts to a 16-13 win over Dallas.
Super Bowl X The Steelers score 14 fourth-quarter points, then
hold on for a 21-17 victory over Dallas when Glen Edwards picks off a
Roger Staubach pass in the end zone as time expires.
Super Bowl XXIII Joe Montana leads a late-game 92-yard drive,
capped with a touchdown pass to John Taylor (below), as San Francisco
overcomes upset-minded Cincinnati, 20-16.
Super Bowl XXV The Giants move ahead, 20-19, on Matt Bahr’s
field goal midway through the fourth quarter, but the celebration can’t
start until Buffalo’s Scott Norwood barely misses his last-second field
goal attempt from 47 yards.
Super Bowl XXX Pittsburgh had already scored 10 fourth-quarter
points against the Cowboys and had the ball again with 4: 15 to play.
But Larry Brown’s second interception of the game set up Emmitt
Smith for a back-breaking 4-yard TD run and a 27-17 Dallas victory.
OTHER FANTASTIC FOURTHS
