Hogs 1991 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Taking a page out of thebluefood playbook, me and a few coworkers were discussing somewhat old school football a few weeks ago, and we started talking about John Elway and his greatness. It got me thinking back to the 1998 Super Bowl and how the Atlanta Falcons were poorly no match for them. It also got me thinking, what if Gary Anderson, who had not missed a kick that whole season, made that last kick in the final four minutes of overtime instead of missing it. What if the other NFC Championship contender (Minnesota Vikings ), who broke the scoring record at the time, had won the NFC Championship and went on to face John Elway and the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl. I'm pretty sure most of us remember Randall Cunningham, who was as deadly with his feet as he was with his arm, quarterbacking a team with ypc beast Robert Smith in the backfield, all-time great Cris Carter on one side at wideout , and the most talented receiver of all-time Randy Moss on the other side at wideout. That offense was the closest thing to a real life Madden (videogame) team anyone has ever seen in the modern era at that time. I would love to give a definitive answer on who I think would win, because both teams had such potent offenses, but I cant. I would say, whichever team had the better defense would have most likely won. What are you guys thoughts on this ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diehard Otis Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Personally, I would lean towards Denver in this hypothetical matchup. Mind you, I cheer for The NFC by default - but my reasoning in taking the Broncos is that TD was at the height of his effectiveness during that stretch. Shanny would have played keep away by leaning hard on Davis (assuming he was fully healthy) & controlling the clock. And that could have been the difference. [Interestingly enough, the summer before that season began I had moved to Atlanta. And believe me when I tell you, not one soul in town reasonably thought the Falcons would be anywhere near THAT good! The euphoria that the town went into after that historic upset was fun to observe. Sure, I cheered for 'em in The Big Game, but there was a collective understanding that the homeboys were playin' with house money just getting there. The locals were hopeful, but everybody knew how good Denver was. The consensus take was just to enjoy the ride for as long as it lasted. But them Dirty Birds were pretty damn good. Unfortunately they get slighted because they upset an all-time historic Offensive Team.] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjfootballer Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 Cunningham was not as fleet of foot in 1998 as he was in Philly. He actually reinvented himself into more of a pocket passer and was deadlier with his arm, then he was before. I really wanted Minnesota to win that game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mania Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 On 7/20/2017 at 2:56 PM, Hogs 1991 said: Taking a page out of thebluefood playbook, me and a few coworkers were discussing somewhat old school football a few weeks ago, and we started talking about John Elway and his greatness. It got me thinking back to the 1998 Super Bowl and how the Atlanta Falcons were poorly no match for them. It also got me thinking, what if Gary Anderson, who had not missed a kick that whole season, made that last kick in the final four minutes of overtime instead of missing it. What if the other NFC Championship contender (Minnesota Vikings ), who broke the scoring record at the time, had won the NFC Championship and went on to face John Elway and the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl. I'm pretty sure most of us remember Randall Cunningham, who was as deadly with his feet as he was with his arm, quarterbacking a team with ypc beast Robert Smith in the backfield, all-time great Cris Carter on one side at wideout , and the most talented receiver of all-time Randy Moss on the other side at wideout. That offense was the closest thing to a real life Madden (videogame) team anyone has ever seen in the modern era at that time. I would love to give a definitive answer on who I think would win, because both teams had such potent offenses, but I cant. I would say, whichever team had the better defense would have most likely won. What are you guys thoughts on this ? Cunningham wasn't as deadly with his feet in his later years. He was a much different player with the Vikings than with thr eagles. denver still would have won the game, imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebluefood Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 Gonna side with everyone thus far and say Denver still wins that Super Bowl. I think closer game but the Broncos still had a serviceable QB in Elway and a 2,000 yard halfback in TD. Vikings had a solid defense (top 10 in the league, beat Farve's Packers twice and held Tampa's offense to 27 points in their only loss of the regular season) and a legendary offense - not taking that away from them - but it's really hard to gamble against Denver that year with Davis in that backfield and a defense that held their opponents to 13 points in the playoffs leading up to the Super Bowl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Sinister Posted August 4, 2017 Share Posted August 4, 2017 I haven't read the replies, but I too have thought about this matchup. My thought is this: The Vikings were largely a quick strike offense from what I recall, and left their defense out on the field a lot during that season. I think they would be rope a doped by ShanaTan and gut that defense through the running game, finishing with Elway going over the top a couple times to Rod Smith. There'd be no other way Minny could play. Mike was a master strategist and there'd simply be no way he'd be outfoxed in the big game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhead36 Posted August 4, 2017 Share Posted August 4, 2017 No way Mike Shanahan in his prime loses to Dennis Green. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riggo-toni Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 One thing for sure - they were a far better team than Atlanta. I thought Minny would go all the way, but the sad truth is Randy Moss was a choker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeMarco Murray 29 Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 Mannn I loved the 98 Vikings team. Moss, Carter and Reed. If you didn't love watching Moss play you're crazy. Would be tough, but I would pick the Vikings to win over Denver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjfootballer Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 On 08/09/2017 at 6:46 PM, DeMarco Murray 29 said: Mannn I loved the 98 Vikings team. Moss, Carter and Reed. If you didn't love watching Moss play you're crazy. Would be tough, but I would pick the Vikings to win over Denver Don't forget Robert Smith at RB. Dude was lightning fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceman Spiff Posted August 20, 2017 Share Posted August 20, 2017 I remember listening to that playoff game in the car with my dad and being absolutely shocked that the Vikings lost, Everyone loved that team, didn't matter who your real team was. Moss was the most exciting ****ing thing in the NFL that year, I don't think any receiver ever had an impact rookie year like that since then. Maybe Odell Beckham, but I think that catch he made is really what did it for him. Moss was catching touchdowns pretty much every weekend from the start. Cunningham was quite a story, too. Thought he was done after being in Philly but he came back and truly resurrected his career by just killing everyone from the pocket. IIRC, he was out of football at one point, I don't think he'd played for a year or something. That team just caught lighting in a bottle. For whatever reason Cunningham couldn't keep it going the next year, I remember he didn't start off well and was benched. I'm willing to bet this is the single greatest team that didn't make the Super Bowl. For them to put up the insane stats that they did and not make it in, i can't think of another team like them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozo the kKklown Posted August 20, 2017 Share Posted August 20, 2017 Randy Moss should have ended the Elway myth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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