Super Bowl 2014: Broncos trying to add to history

Denver has had some great teams in the past and can add to that legacy with one more victory.

Feb 1, 2014, 9:01 PM UTC

Ezra Shaw

The Denver Broncos used to be one of those teams that could never win the big game. Now, they are in search of their third Super Bowl title.

Once upon a time, Denver was known as chokers, having lost Super Bowls XII, XXI, XXII AND XXIV in blowout fashion to the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Washington Redskins and San Francisco 49ers, respectively. Then, the Broncos showed up as decided underdogs against the defending champion Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXII.

Denver won on the back of Terrell Davis, taking home its first championship since the team's inception in 1960. In 1998, the Broncos won back-to-back Super Bowls by trouncing the Atlanta Falcons in John Elway's final NFL game.

Over at Mile High Report, Tim Lynch remembers that contest and thinks about how it could be a similar day for Peyton Manning against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

The game stayed close until the fourth quarter, however. The Falcons were determined to keep Terrell Davis bottled up, so it fell on John Elway to put the game away. And put it away he did, leading the Broncos on two touchdown drives in the fourth quarter to put the Broncos up 31-6. Terrell Davis capped his playoff career with his seventh consecutive 100 yard game in the playoffs, but the day was Elway's. He would retire after the 34-19 victory with another ring and a Super Bowl MVP to add to his credit.

You couldn't write a better ending to his career and now he is trying to do the same for Peyton Manning.

For Elway, that Super Bowl gave us a validation of sorts. He will always be thought about in a different light after winning a second championship, despite long having proven he was a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Manning can do the same with a win on Sunday. If he can beat the Seahawks, he will become the first quarterback ever to win Super Bowls with two different teams as a starter. He will also join the ranks of Bart Starr, Jim Plunkett, Terr Bradshaw, Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, Elway, Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger as the only signal-callers to win multiple Super Bowls.