The Falcons Can Run, Broncos Can Stop Them

MIAMI —  Matchups for the Super Bowl between the Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons:

When the Falcons have the ball: Atlanta’s attack works off the running of Jamal Anderson (32), which sets up the passing of Chris Chandler (12) to Tony Martin (80), Terance Mathis (81) and tight end O.J. Santiago (88).

Anderson was second in the NFL with 1,846 yards rushing. But running can be a daunting task against the Broncos, who allowed a total of only 27 yards rushing in playoff victories over the Jets and Dolphins. Only four teams ran for more than 100 yards against them during the regular season and only Gary Brown of the Giants and Corey Dillon of the Bengals had more than 100. That’s a little deceptive -- Denver jumped off to early leads in most of its games, forcing opponents to abandon the run.

The heart of the run defense are the three linebackers, John Mobley (51) and Bill Romanowski (53) on the outside, and Glenn Cadrez (59) in the middle. Safeties Steve Atwater (27) and Tyrone Braxton (34) and the two defensive tackles, Trevor Pryce (93) and Keith Traylor (94), also play the run well.

That puts a major load on the Atlanta offensive line, which has been transformed by line coach Art Shell from run-and-shoot pass blockers to run blockers. The best and most experienced is left tackle Bob Whitfield (70), one of just two first-round draft picks in Atlanta’s starting lineup. Center Robbie Tobeck (61) is a converted guard and left guard Calvin Collins (68) is a converted center. Right tackle Emphraim Salaam (74) is a rookie picked in the seventh round of last April’s draft.

If Chandler has time, he should be able to throw successfully against a Denver secondary that hasn’t been as good as it was last season. Ray Crockett (39) is the best cover man, with Darrien Gordon (21) on the other side. But most important will be the pressure put on Chandler by Denver’s ends, Neil Smith (90) and Maa Tanuvasa, plus Alfred Williams (91), who plays on passing downs. One statistic to remember: Chandler was the best fourth-quarter passer in the NFL this season.

When the Broncos have the ball: Despite the presence of future Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway (7), the Broncos run first, then pass. Terrell Davis (30) ran for 2,008 yards, only the fourth NFL player ever to pass 2,000, and was brilliant in last year’s Super Bowl, earning the MVP award by running for 157 yards and three touchdowns.

The key to stopping Davis for Atlanta will be middle linebacker Jessie Tuggle, a five-time Pro Bowler in his 12 seasons on bad Atlanta teams. But Tuggle has a lot of help, most of it from very good but little-known colleagues like Chuck Smith (90), who has earned a reputation as a pass rusher but is equally adept against the run, along with Travis Hall (98), Lester Archambeau (91) and Shane Dronett (75). Linebacker Cornelius Bennett (97), who played in four Super Bowls with Buffalo, has bounced back the last two seasons after looking ready for retirement in his first season in Atlanta.

Denver’s offensive line is one of the game’s best.

Left tackle Tony Jones (77) and center Tom Nalen (66) are the two linchpins. Left guard Mark Schlereth (69) has undergone a dozen operations and plays as if he’s never had one. One problem: There’s not much depth there, so all must stay healthy.

Elway has three top-flight receivers, Ed McCaffrey (87), Rod Smith (80) and tight end Shannon Sharpe (84), all over 6 feet against an Atlanta secondary that’s not particularly big. The Falcons’ best corner, Ray Buchanan (34), is 5-9, but played a major part in shutting down 6-4 Randy Moss in the NFC championship game two weeks ago. Only Michael Booker (20), who alternates with Ronnie Bradford (23) at the other corner, is over 6 feet. Randy Fuller (29) often blitzes off the corner on passing downs.

But the key to the secondary are the safeties, William White (35) and Eugene Robinson (41), who between them have 25 seasons of NFL experience, most of it elsewhere. Robinson, the free safety, is in his third straight Super Bowl--the last two were with Green Bay.

Special Teams: Atlanta has the most explosive returner in rookie Tim Dwight (83). He also serves as a third-down receiver, completed one of two passes for 22 yards, and against Minnesota ran three times for 28 yards, once lining up as quarterback in the shotgun. Dwight had a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Carolina.

Gordon returns punts for Denver, and has returned eight for touchdowns during his six seasons with the Chargers and Broncos, three in 1997. He averaged 11.1 yards a return this season but didn’t score. Vaughn Hebron (22) returns kickoffs and had a 95-yard return for a touchdown against Miami, the first by a Bronco in 26 years.

The placekickers are among the best in the game.

Atlanta’s Morten Andersen (5) is second all time in field goals made, while Denver’s Jason Elam (1) tied the NFL record with a 63-yarder this season and was perfect until late in the season. Both will be a little out of their elements here -- Andersen has kicked indoors for his entire 17-year career, first in New Orleans and then Atlanta, and Elam is helped by the mile high elevation in Denver.

Dan Stryzinski (4), Atlanta’s punter, is not a long distance man, but he is adept at dropping the ball inside the 20. Denver’s Tom Rouen (16) is more straight away -- he averaged 46.7 yards, a career best, this season, but just 14 of his 66 punts were inside the 20.

One possible problem for Denver is the long snapper, Cadrez, one of the few regulars in the NFL to handle long-snapping duties. He had two bad snaps in the AFC title game against the Jets. Atlanta’s Adam Schreiber (67) is a career long-snapper, although he also can fill in on the offensive line if necessary.

Coaching: Atlanta coach Dan Reeves hired Mike Shanahan as an assistant in Denver, then fired him when he thought Shanahan and Elway were consorting behind his back. Reeves was fired himself a year later in 1992.

But that was just media fodder for a duel of two of the NFL’s best coaches.

Reeves, who had quadruple heart bypass surgery just six weeks ago, is in his ninth Super Bowl as player, assistant coach or head coach. He’s lost all three as a head man, with Denver in 1987, 1988 and 1990. His strength is his ability to motivate, particularly for one game, but he often gets conservative with a lead -- rushing continually to run out the clock. But he’s taken less of a hand in game strategy; two of his assistants, defensive coordinator Rich Brooks and offensive line coach Art Shell, are former NFL head coaches. Reeves now delegates a lot of his offensive strategy to Jack Burns, the quarterbacks coach and 45-year-old backup quarterback Steve DeBerg (17), who returned to the field this season after serving as a coach for Reeves with the Giants in 1995 and 1996.

Shanahan is regarded as one of the NFL’s most innovative offensive minds and both his coordinators, Gary Kubiak on offense and Greg Robinson on defense, are regarded as future head coaches. Shanahan is also an outstanding motivator, keeping the Broncos up this year when most teams let down after winning Super Bowls.

Intangibles: The Falcons, the first dome team in a Super Bowl, have played their last nine games indoors. Reeves says they’ll be happy to be outdoors (on grass supplied by a company owned by golfer Greg Norman).

But that also could work against the Falcons if it gets too hot in Miami, particularly with defensive starters who are an average of 30 years old. The heat may have affected Denver in its loss to Miami at Pro Player Stadium on Dec. 21, a defeat they avenged 19 days later in Denver by beating the Dolphins 38-3. That game in Miami was played at night, starting two hours later than the Super Bowl, which will begin at 6:15 p.m.

Denver has far more Super Bowl experience than the Falcons--most of its players were in this game last season. Atlanta, on the other hand, has only four players who have been in Super Bowls--Bennett (four with Buffalo), Robinson (two with Green Bay), Martin (one with San Diego) and Fuller (one with Pittsburgh). Only Robinson has been on a winner, the 1997 Packers.

Two more things.

This will probably be Elway’s final game. Will the Broncos be more motivated to send him out with a victory or will they be satisfied with last year’s win?

And will Atlanta, 3-13 just two seasons ago, be happy just to be here?