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Reason #24: Elway doesn’t win his first ring without Steve Atwater

Going into Super Bowl XXXII, the Green Bay Packers were considered heavy favorites. The AFC hadn’t just lost 13 straight Super Bowls, they weren’t even competitive. Conventional wisdom said the Broncos had no chance after they scraped by the Steelers and Chiefs to get into the game, while Green Bay cruised past their opponents.

Even the advanced numbers favored Wisconsin, though FootballOutsiders DVOA statistic hinted at a much closer game than pundits were calling.

Green Bay was number 1 while the Broncos were 2. If you fire up Youtube and re-watch the game it will became painfully clear that Terrell Davis may have been the MVP and John Elway the story, but Steve Atwater and the defense were the difference in the game.