The Broncos responded with a 49-yard scoring drive, mainly on plays by running back Bobby Humphrey, who rushed 4 times for 22 yards and caught a 27-yard shovel pass, Elway's longest completion of the game.

Quarterback John Elway's 41-yard completion to wide receiver Rod Smith and 2 receptions by tight end Shannon Sharpe for a total of 26 net yards setup fullback Howard Griffith's 1-yard touchdown run.

Two plays later on 3rd and 6, Elway's 15-yard completion to Ed McCaffrey gave Denver 1st and goal from the 5 yard.

Vance Johnson recorded four catches for 105 yards, including a 55-yard reception to set up Elway's second touchdown pass.

The Steelers held a 17 – 10 halftime lead before Elway's 37-yard touchdown pass to Vance Johnson tied the game in the third quarter.

He described Tiger Woods's 2002 victory at Augusta as suspenseful as flossing, riding Lance Armstrong's team car about as boring as flossing sharks, would rather floss crocodiles than go skydiving, and stated John Elway's perfect endorsement product would be Johnson & Johnson dental floss.

In the third quarter, Broncos defensive back Tyrone Braxton recovered a fumble at the Pittsburgh 37-yard line, setting up quarterback John Elway's 37-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Vance Johnson.

On the next play, Denver QB John Elway's 34-yard scramble moved the ball to the 4-yard line.

After the ensuing kickoff Denver drove to the Washington 26-yard line, aided by running back Sammy Winder's 27-yard reception and Elway's 21-yard run.

In the fourth quarter, Moon completed a 19-yard touchdown to wide receiver Ernest Givins, but it was countered with Elway's 3-yard touchdown run.

However, the Broncos countered with an 82-yard drive to score on Elway's 22-yard touchdown run.

Aided by quarterback John Elway's 80-yard touchdown pass to receiver Rod Smith, Denver scored 17 unanswered points to build a 17-3 lead in the second quarter that Atlanta could not recover from.

After Elway's retirement and Davis ' career-ending injuries, Shanahan went seven years without a playoff win ( including three seasons when the Broncos didn't even make the playoffs ), a drought which caused some criticism from fans.

Tradewest started out by manufacturing SNK's Ikari Warriors arcade game in the United States, along with Victory Road, Alpha Mission and developed their own Redline Racer, John Elway's Quarterback and Ivan ' Ironman ' Stewart's Super Off Road, as the company would shift away from the coin-op arcade game business to concentrate on the home console market.

However, Washington rookie defensive back Brian Davis intercepted Elway's next pass at the 21-yard line with 7 seconds left in the half.

Linebacker Mike Walter intercepted Broncos quarterback John Elway's first pass of the third quarter, and Montana threw a 28-yard touchdown reception to Rice on the next play.

But Elway's 2-point conversion pass to Sharpe was incomplete, keeping the score at 12-0.

Then after a sack by Denver lineman Simon Fletcher, Bernie Kosar threw a pass that went through the arms of Webster Slaughter and into the hands of linebacker Freddie Gilbert on the Browns 17, setting up John Elway's 8-yard touchdown pass to Ricky Nattiel.

In the fourth quarter, the Browns drove 87 yards and tied the score with Kosar's 4-yard touchdown pass to Webster Slaughter, but it was countered by Elway's 20-yard touchdown pass to running back Sammy Winder with 4 minutes left in the game.

The Broncos scored first after linebacker Tom Jackson's fumble recovery set up quarterback John Elway's 9-yard touchdown pass to Jim Wright.

Elway's ability to improvise on the fly, in part, helped Denver to make it through the playoffs, narrowly defeating the New England Patriots, 22 – 17, and the Cleveland Browns, 23 – 20, in the AFC Championship Game.

He had worn the number 7 on his jersey since high school, but was forced to choose # 11 due to John Elway's # 7 jersey having been retired by the Broncos.

The Broncos then scored on Elway's 15-yard touchdown to wide receiver Ed McCaffrey with 1: 50 left, but they had no timeouts left and were unable to recover the onside kick.

Although Elway's performance in the AFC Championship Game was widely considered his best ever, many sports writers and fans believed that the Broncos ' best effort would not be good enough to beat the 49ers.

Much of the pregame hype centered around the confrontation between Elway and Taylor, and whether or not Taylor would be able to hurry Elway's throws or sack him.

Under Elway's leadership, the Broncos stormed to the top of the AFC with a 14 – 2 regular record in 1998, winning their first 13 games before suffering their first loss to the New York Giants.

But Davis ' rushing numbers did not reduce Elway's passing production.

A big reason for Elway's passing success was that he had 2 Pro Bowl wide receivers and a Pro Bowl tight end to throw to.

It would be the first of a record five Super Bowl starts at quarterback in Elway's career, a record that he solely held until 2012 when Tom Brady earned his fifth Super Bowl start.

Elway's 24 touchdown passes in 1982 led the nation, and he graduated with nearly every Stanford and Pacific-10 career record for passing and total offense.

As a result, Elway's performance was rather disappointing: just 14 out of 38 completions for 257 yards and one touchdown, with three interceptions.

On September 13, 1999, Elway's number 7 jersey was retired by the Denver Broncos during halftime of a Monday Night game against the Miami Dolphins ; that same night he was inducted into the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame.

Elway's 3, 417 rushing yards ranks sixth all-time among NFL QB's behind Cunningham, Michael Vick, Steve Young, Fran Tarkenton, and Steve McNair.

* Elway's 148 wins place him second to Brett Favre for career wins among quarterbacks.

* Elway's 300 career touchdown passes places him fifth behind Favre, Dan Marino, Fran Tarkenton and Peyton Manning.

One of the most noticeable changes was the move of John Elway's name to the center of the ring, in-between the goalposts of the North endzone.

It was also the site of the Denver Broncos and John Elway's famous Drive in the January 11, 1987 AFC Championship Game It was also the site of the 1980-81 AFC Divisional Championship game where Mike Davis of the Raiders intercepted Brian Sipe in the Oakland endzone with 41-seconds left securing Oakland's 14-12 victory.

Plunkett completed a 13-yard pass to King and a 32-yard completion to receiver Bob Chandler to move the ball to Philadelphia's 33-yard line.

Delhomme started out Carolina's ensuing drive with a 13-yard completion to wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad.

Later in the period, the Titans drove 51 yards in nine plays to the Patriots 13-yard line, featuring a 29-yard completion from McNair to Mason.

Garcia then took over, converting two third downs, one of them a 25-yard completion to tight end Eric Johnson, and rushing for 12 yards on the way to a 13-yard touchdown pass to Streets.