The Denver Broncos punched their ticket to Super Bowl 50 behind a stout defense and an efficient, if not plain, offense. Denver’s defense was the best in the league this season and is quite possibly the best in franchise history. The offense, though, was a far cry from the NFL record-setting group that Denver took into Super Bowl XLVIII against Seattle. So how does this team rank compared to other Super Bowl squads from Denver?
Former Broncos offensive lineman Mark Cooper knows a thing or two about what constitutes a Denver Broncos Super Bowl team, he was on one in 1986.
Cooper joined Gil Whitelely on Mile High Sports AM 1340 to recap the AFC Championship and to compare this Broncos team to the great teams of years past.
“This defense, in the first few games of the season, looked like the 1985 Bears defense,” said Cooper. “They had to battle through some injuries, but they’re playing like they were at the beginning of the season.”
Coopers ’86 team ranked 9th in the league on defense and 15th on offense. They lost to Phil Simms and the New York Giants 39-20. It was the closest margin of defeat until Denver finally punched through with a win following the 1997 season. The ’87 and ’89 teams lost by 32 and 45 points, respectively. The 2013 team lost by 35, a memory quarterback Peyton Manning would surely like to erase with a win this time around.
While Cooper was quick to praise the defense, Whiteley commended Manning for his efficient play, even if the 39-year-old gunslinger isn’t putting up numbers with the same gusto as he did in 2013.
“Manning may not have been winning these games,” Whiteley pointed out. “But he hasn’t been losing them either. Look at Carson Palmer [against the Carolina Panthers.]” Whiteley also described Manning’s stat line from Sunday as “Tebow Numbers,” that is, not overly sexy, but good enough to get the job done.
The case for this being the worst Broncos team in a Super Bowl most likely is a result of the lackluster offensive statistics. The last three Broncos teams to make the Super Bowl (1997, 1998, and 2013) were either at or near the top of the NFL in total offense. This season’s team? They ranked 16th.
What the latest model may not have in offensive firepower, it makes up for in defensive ability. This is the first time since 1989 the Denver Broncos have entered the Super Bowl with the league’s top defense.
This week’s Power Rankings took a look at how each team stacked up, by the numbers, against their competition and against other Broncos Super Bowl teams. For all their struggles on offense this year, the reality is the Broncos have sent worse teams to the Super Bowl.
Listen to the full discussion between Cooper and Whiteley in the podcast below…
Catch Gil Whiteley every weekday from 11a-1p on Mile High Sports AM 1340 or stream live any time for Denver’s biggest lineup covering what’s new and what’s next in Colorado sports.
