Sorry, but Super Bowl XXXIII promises to be anticlimactic.
The Broncos might not even be here if they hadn't gotten whacked by the Giants on Dec. 13. The loss, you will remember, put an end to the Broncos' run at history. It ended their perfect 13-0 start and their NFL-record-tying string of 18 consecutive victories.
On a balmy Monday night in Fort Lauderdale, a mile from the ocean, the Broncos begged to disagree with this admittedly out-there premise. In a temporary tent, pitched in the middle of a parking lot outside the Hyatt Regency, they willingly trashed the idea that it's all downhill from here.
"That's an interesting theory," said Denver linebacker John Mobley, quite politely. "I can't say I agree. I was always thought that the most important game is the next game. Super Bowl XXXIII is the next game, it's the one game people will remember."
True, but if the Broncos hadn't lost that game to the Giants or the next one at Miami, all the pressure, all the expectations could easily have led them to implode in the first or second round of the playoffs.
Oddly enough, the players' reaction to the loss at Giants Stadium on a late, quirky touchdown pass, was not anger. It was relief.
"We hit a wall and seemed to run out of energy on offense," quarterback John Elway said. "When we came down here last time we made no plays. It wasn't because of a lack of effort. I think it was because we were trying too hard. I just said, 'We need to relax.' There's a lot of pressure winning 13 games. That kind of took its toll.
"At that point, it started to turn into a little drudgery. We worked really hard to get ourselves in that position, and we couldn't despise coming to work. We needed to relax a little bit."
You get the idea that head coach Mike Shanahan was secretly hoping for such a setback. It was a lot easier to get the players' attention before the last regular-season game against Seattle.
The Broncos survived Seattle 28-21, then settled down for two weeks of fairly grim preparation. Imagine. No team ever followed up a Super Bowl victory with a better record (only the 1988 49ers matched their 14-2), and yet there was an air of disappointment about how the Broncos temporarily lost their minds in December.
Well, they have been unconscious in the playoffs. While last year's road to the Super Bowl included a wild-card game and two dicey road games in Kansas City and Pittsburgh, this year's path was unfettered. The Dolphins fell 38-3 at Mile High Stadium and the Jets were 23-10 victims there.
The offense, which functioned at record-setting levels over the regular season, has been more than adequate. The defense, solid all season long, has been spectacular.
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I think we learned a valuable lesson in how Green Bay approached it. You don't get those 11½, 12 points on the scoreboard. For us, seven points doesn't mean anything because we know we have to go out there and play the ballgame.
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- Broncos TE Shannon Sharpe
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And now, there is this small matter of the Atlanta Falcons.
History, for what it's worth, is working in the Broncos' favor.
Denver is the 10th defending champion to return to the Super Bowl. And while that means 22 teams failed to return to the ultimate game, the record of the nine teams that did is an encouraging 6-3.
The two-timers: Dallas 1992-93, San Francisco 1988-89, Pittsburgh 1978-79 and 1974-75, Miami 1972-73 and Green Bay 1966-67.
The three teams that fell short were last year's Packers, the 1983 Washington Redskins and the 1978 Cowboys.
Which raises an interesting point: What happened to the Packers, who were favored to beat these Broncos by as much as two touchdowns? Why won't Denver, favored by a more modest touchdown, similarly succumb to overconfidence?
"Because," wide receiver Rod Smith said, "we're not overconfident. We know what the deal is."
The deal is, they've been too far, suffered too much to let Atlanta take what they believe is theirs -- a nice little piece of history.
"Everybody was talking about the Green Bay Packers a year ago," Shanahan said. "What were they, 12-point, two-touchdown favorites? Common sense tells you how important that really is."
That message, one Shanahan has been preaching for more than a week, has been received.
"I think we learned a valuable lesson in how Green Bay approached it," tight end Shannon Sharpe said. "You don't get those 11½, 12 points on the scoreboard. For us, seven points doesn't mean anything because we know we have to go out there and play the ballgame. Atlanta has a very good football team. We've got our hands full, and we know that."
Greg Garber, a regular contributor to ESPN.com's NFL coverage, will write a daily column during Super Bowl week.
