Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Suppose Nelson hauls that pass in, gets across the goal line, and Minnesota prevails in OT at RFK. Their Cinderella story continues and they square off against Denver in the Super Bowl

How do you foresee that game going? We have Wade Wilson going down in history as a Super Bowl starting quarterback...does Elway get his ring about a decade earlier? Or is Anthony Carter torching Denver deep all night? Tough for me to really get a good feel about how this game would go. Definitely leaning Denver with how well they'd played since week 10.

As Bill Parcells said in 1989 - the Broncos of that era were a team that could not deal with power. I think they would have fared better against the Vikings than the Redskins.

Would have been an interesting SB ... If Wilson was hot, the Vikings could win especially with Carter having a great postseason but if Denver gets to Wilson, they can win. The pass rush for both teams would be the difference and the Broncos have more playoff experience, so I think it would have been a close game.

Halas Hall wrote:As Bill Parcells said in 1989 - the Broncos of that era were a team that could not deal with power. I think they would have fared better against the Vikings than the Redskins.

A very Parcellian quote indeed. He absolutely hit on it. They were a talented, well coached team, a team that can beat anyone at any time during the regular season.

But when the game was the biggest under the bright lights of the Super Bowl...those Broncos were always outmuscled, outwilled. They could never stand toe to toe against the NFC's best and they knew it

Halas Hall wrote:As Bill Parcells said in 1989 - the Broncos of that era were a team that could not deal with power. I think they would have fared better against the Vikings than the Redskins.

But how would it be possible for the Broncos to fare worse against anyone compared to the Redskins? They give up 7 TDs in the 2nd period instead of 5TDs? Just kidding.

For all the talk of Doug Williams and the Redskins offense, the Redskins defense basically shutout John Elway and the Broncos after giving up a quick TD. The Broncos offense was terrible. If the Broncos had played the Vikings, I'm guessing the Vikings also hold the Broncos to 10 points and win probably 28-10 or 31-10. If you have two weeks to prepare for a Dan Reeves offense, you are going to be able to dominate on defense.

The thing is while the Broncos got blown out in those three Super Bowls they fared better against those three teams in regular season games of that era.

The two teams did play earlier that year:

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... 260min.htm

The main edge I would give Minnesota is momentum. Sometimes the hotter team beats the better one. But the '87 Broncos had a far better offense, especially in the passing game, while the Vikings defense was middling against the pass. I can see Elway having a field day against Wymon Henderson and Carl Lee.

Mark wrote:The two teams did play earlier that year:

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... 260min.htm

What a weird game. 5 interceptions from Wade Wilson yet Minnesota still wins. Heck Minny was up 17 in the 4th

A very Parcellian quote indeed. He absolutely hit on it. They were a talented, well coached team, a team that can beat anyone at any time during the regular season.

I don't think those Bronco teams from the 80's were that talented, especially the 87 team. Elway pretty much carried them to the Super Bowl. The 87 Broncos had the seventh-ranked defense, but that had to do with forcing turnovers more than anything. When they didn't force turnovers (like most of the second half of the AFC Title Game and the Super Bowl), they were exposed.