John Elway, in his last game, passed for 336 yards and ran for a touchdown to earn most valuable player honors as the Broncos became the first AFC team to win consecutive Super Bowls since the Steelers won XIII and XIV.
A 25-yard pass interference penalty on Ray Crockett assisted the Falcons' nine-play, 48-yard game-opening drive that was capped by Morten Andersen's 32-yard field goal. Elway's 41-yard pass to Rod Smith kept alive Denver's ensuing drive and led to Howard Griffith's 1-yard touchdown run.
Ronnie Bradford's interception and return to the Broncos' 35 late in the first quarter gave Atlanta excellent field position. However, Jamal Anderson was stopped for no gain on third-and-1 and thrown for a 2-yard loss on fourth down. Denver capitalized on its defensive effort with Jason Elam's 26-yard field goal.
The Falcons responded by driving to the Broncos' 8, but Andersen's 26-yard field-goal attempt sailed wide right and on the next play, Elway fired an 80-yard touchdown pass to Smith to turn a possible 10-6 game into a 17-3 Broncos lead.
Andersen's 28-yard field goal and two misses by Elam on the Broncos' first two second-half possessions gave Atlanta an opportunity to climb back into the game. However, Darrien Gordon dashed the Falcons' hopes with interceptions on consecutive possessions inside the Broncos' 20 to stop drives and set up Broncos touchdowns.
Gordon returned the first interception, on a tipped pass, 58 yards to the Falcons' 24 to set up Griffith's second touchdown five plays later, and picked the second pass off at the Broncos' 2 and returned it 50 yards.
Terrell Davis turned a short pass into a 39-yard gain, and Elway scored two plays later to give Denver a 31-6 lead. Tim Dwight returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, and, after a field goal by Elam, the Falcons' offense scored with 2:04 remaining on Chandler's 3-yard pass to Tony Martin.
Byron Chamberlain recovered the ensuing onside kick, but Tyrone Braxton recovered Anderson's fumble at the Falcons' 33 with 1:30 remaining to ice the game. The Falcons drove inside the Broncos' 30 seven times, but tallied just one touchdown and two field goals, throwing two interceptions, missing a field goal, and turning the ball over one time on downs during the other possessions.
Elway was 18 of 29 for 336 yards and one touchdown, with an interception. Davis had 25 carries for 102 yards. Smith had five receptions for 152 yards. Chandler was 19 of 35 for 219 yards and a touchdown, with three interceptions.
SCORING
Denver 7 10 0 17 -- 34
Atlanta 3 3 0 13 -- 19
ATL- FG Andersen 32, 5:25 1st
DEN- Griffith 1 run (Elam kick), 11:05 1st
DEN- FG Elam 26, 5:43 2nd
DEN- R.Smith 80 pass from Elway (Elam kick),
10:06 2nd
ATL- FG Andersen 28, 12:35 2nd
DEN- Griffith 1 run (Elam kick), 0:04 4th
DEN- Elway 3 run (Elam kick), 3:40 4th
ATL- Dwight 94 kickoff return (Andersen kick),
3:59 4th
DEN- FG Elam 37, 7:52 4th
ATL- Mathis 3 pass from Chandler (pass failed),
12:56 4th
TEAM STATISTICS Den. Atl.
Total First Downs 22 21
Rushing 8 8
Passing 14 12
Penalty 0 1
Total Net Yardage 457 337
Total Offensive Plays 65 60
Avg. Gain per Offensive Play 7.0 5.6
Rushes 36 23
Yards Gained Rushing (Net) 121 131
Average Yards per Rush 3.4 5.7
Passes Attempted 29 35
Passes Completed 18 19
Had Intercepted 1 3
Tackled Attempting to Pass 0 2
Yards Lost Attempting to Pass 0 13
Yards Gained Passing (Net) 336 206
Punts 1 1
Average Distance 35.0 39.0
Punt Returns 0 0
Punt Return Yardage 0 0
Kickoff Returns 3 7
Kickoff Return Yardage 44 227
Interception Return Yardage 136 1
Fumbles 0 1
Own Fumbles Recovered 0 0
Opponent Fumbles Recovered 1 0
Penalties 4 0
Yards Penalized 61 0
Total Points Scored 34 19
Touchdowns 4 2
Rushing 3 0
Passing 1 1
Returns 0 1
Extra Points 4 1
Field Goals 2 2
Field Goals Attempted 4 3
Safeties 0 0
Third-Down Efficiency 6/13 5/11
Fourth-Down Efficiency 0/1 1/2
Time of Possession 31:23 28:37
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Denver No. Yds. LG TD
Davis 25 102 15 0
Griffith 4 9 4 2
Loville 2 8 6 0
Elway 3 2 3 1
R.Smith 1 1 1 0
Brister 1 -1 -1 0
Atlanta
Anderson 18 96 15 0
Chandler 4 30 12 0
Dwight 1 5 5 0
Passing
Denver Att. Comp. Yds. TD Int.
Elway 29 18 336 1 1
Atlanta
Chandler 35 19 219 1 3
Receiving
Denver No. Yds. LG TD
R.Smith 5 152 80 1
McCaffrey 5 72 25 0
Chamberlain 3 29 13 0
Davis 2 50 39 0
Sharpe 2 26 14 0
Griffith 1 7 7 0
Atlanta
Mathis 7 85 30 1
Martin 5 79 23 0
Anderson 3 16 9 0
Harris 2 21 13 0
Santiago 1 13 13 0
Kozlowski 1 5 5 0
Interceptions
Denver No. Yds. LG TD
Gordon 2 108 58 0
Johnson 1 28 28 0
Atlanta
Bradford 1 1 1 0
Denver
Braxton 1 0 0 0
Punting
Denver No. Avg. LG Blk.
Rouen 1 35.0 35 0
Atlanta
Stryzinski 1 39.0 39 0
Punt Returns
Denver No. FC Yds. LG TD
None -- -- --- -- --
Atlanta
Dwight 0 1 0 0 0
Kickoff Returns
Denver No. Yds. LG TD
Hebron 2 42 26 0
Chamberlain 1 2 2 0
Atlanta
Dwight 5 210 94 1
Kozlowski 2 17 16 0
Denver Broncos Atlanta Falcons
== Offense ==
Smith, Rod WR Martin, Tony WR
Jones, Tony LT Whitfield, Bob LT
Schlereth, Mark LG Collins, Calvin LG
Nalen, Tom C Tobeck, Robert C
Neil, Dan RG Williams, Gene RG
Swayne, Harry RT Salaam, Ephraim RT
Sharpe, Shannon TE Santiago, O.J. TE
McCaffrey, Ed WR Mathis, Terance WR
Elway, John QB Chandler, Chris QB
Davis, Terrell RB Anderson, Jamaal RB
Griffith, Howard RB Kozlowski, Brian RB
== Defense ==
Hasselbach, Harald DE Archambeau, Lester DE
Traylor, Keith DT Hall, Travis DT
Pryce, Trevor DT Dronett, Shane DT
Tanuvasa, Maa DE Smith, Chuck DE
Mobley, John LB Bennett, Cornelius LB
Cadrez, Glenn LB Tuggle, Jessie LB
Romanowski, Bill LB Crockett, Henri LB
Crockett, Ray CB Buchanan, Ray CB
Gordon, Darrien CB Booker, Michael CB
Braxton, Tyrone SS White, William SS
Atwater, Steve FS Robinson, Eugene FS
== Substitute ==
Davis, Rob Stryzinski, Dan
Elam, Jason Andersen, Morten
Brister, Brister Williams, Gene
Rouen, Tom Bradford, Ronnie
James, Tory Bush, Devin
Hebron, Vaughn Green, Harold
Johnson, Darrius Fuller, Randy
Paul, Tito Downs, Gary
Loville, Derek Sauer, Craig
Lynn, Anthony Hamilton, Ruffin
Smith, Detron Brooking, Keith
Coghill, George Talley, Ben
Burns, Keith Hallen, Bob
Diaz-Infante, David Schreiber, Adam
Lepsis, Matt Portilla, Jose
Nash, Marcus Harris, Ronnie
Green, Willie Dwight, Tim
Chamberlain, Byron Smith, Ed
Carswell, Dwayne Burrough, John
Smith, Neil Tuaolo, Esera
Williams, Alfred Edwards, Michael
Washington, Marvin
Lodish, Mike
Joyner, Seth
== Did Not Play ==
DeBerg, Steve
Oxendine, Ken