NFC:  Green Bay Packers

AFC:  Denver Broncos

Date:  January 25, 1998

Super Bowl XXXII

 

Scoring:

Team                1          2          3          4          Final

GB                   7          7          3          7            24

DEN                7          10        7          7            31

 

NFC playmakers:

WR Antonio Freeman, TE Mark Chmura, CB Tyrone Williams, DB Eugene Robinson

 

AFC playmakers:

RB Terrell Davis, DB Tyrone Braxton, QB John Elway, DB Steve Atwater

 

Network:  NBC (NFL Network rebroadcast)

Announcers:  Dick Enberg, Phil Simms, Paul Maguire

 

Pregame:  Yes

Halftime:  No

Postgame:  Yes

Commercials:  No

 

Grade:  95/100 (NFLN crawl at bottom of picture)

 

Notes:  Terrell Davis rushed for 157 yards and a Super Bowl-record three touchdowns to lead the Broncos to their first NFL championship and break the NFC's streak of Super Bowl victories at 13.

 

The defending Super Bowl champion Packers took the opening kickoff and marched 76 yards in just over four minutes, scoring the first points on Brett Favre's 22-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Freeman. The Broncos responded with a 10-play, 58-yard drive capped by Davis's 1-yard run to tie the game.

 

Tyrone Braxton intercepted Favre two plays later, and John Elway scored on a third-and-goal play to begin the second quarter. Steve Atwater forced Favre to fumble three plays later, and Neil Smith recovered at the Packers' 33. Jason Elam converted a 51-yard field goal, the second longest in Super Bowl history, to give the Broncos a 17-7 lead with 12:21 left in the half.

 

After an exchange of punts, the Packers produced a 17-play, 95-yard drive that consumed 7:26 and finished with Favre's 6-yard touchdown pass to Mark Chmura on third-and-5 with 12 seconds left in the half.

 

Tyrone Williams forced and recovered Davis's fumble at the Broncos' 26 on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. However, the Broncos' defense kept the Packers out of the end zone as Ryan Longwell's 27-yard field goal tied the game with 11:59 left in the third quarter.

 

After another exchange of punts, Elway's 36-yard pass to Ed McCaffrey keyed a 13-play, 92-yard drive capped by Davis's 1-yard touchdown run with 34 seconds left in the third quarter. Tim McKyer recovered Freeman's fumble at the Packers' 22 on the ensuing kickoff return, giving the Broncos a golden opportunity, but Eugene Robinson intercepted Elway's pass in the end zone on the next play.

 

Sparked by Robinson's play, the Packers took just four plays, three on passes to Freeman, to score the tying touchdown with 13:32 remaining. Each defense stiffened, forcing two punts, but the Broncos got great field position following Craig Hentrich's 39-yard punt to the Packers' 49 with 3:27 left and the score tied 24-24.

 

Davis rushed for two yards on the first play, but Darrius Holland's 15-yard facemask penalty moved the ball to the Packers' 32. Elway threw a 23-yard pass to Howard Griffith two plays later, and after a holding penalty, Davis rushed 17 yards to the Packers' 1 with 1:47 left. After a timeout, Davis waltzed into the end zone to give Denver a 31-24 lead with 1:45 remaining.

 

Freeman returned the kickoff 22 yards to the Packers' 30, and Favre completed 22- and 13-yard screen passes to Dorsey Levens to reach the Broncos' 35 with 1:04 left. But after a 4-yard pass to Levens and incompletions to Freeman and Brooks, John Mobley knocked away Favre's pass to Chmura with 32 seconds left to give the Broncos the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

 

Elway was 12 of 22 for 123 yards, with an interception. Favre was 25 of 42 for 256 yards and a touchdown, with one interception. Freeman had nine receptions for 126 yards. Davis was named the game's most valuable player.

 

Running time:  2:37 (2 discs)