MIAMI -- The Denver Broncos' 15-point margin of victory is misleading, because the Atlanta Falcons came close.
Six times, in fact, they came close. Denver stopped half a dozen Atlanta drives inside the 30-yard line, and that was the difference in Sunday's Super Bowl."That's what you've got to do -- you've got to keep them from scoring touchdowns," Broncos linebacker Bill Romanowski said. "We preach that, and we live it."
Darrien Gordon stopped two scoring threats with interceptions. Keith Traylor's deflection set up one of the interceptions, and he stuffed Jamal Anderson on fourth-and-1.
But the biggest momentum swing in the Broncos' 34-19 victory came when Morten Andersen hooked a 26-yard field goal attempt wide right, ending his streak of 13 consecutive field goals made in postseason. On the next play, John Elway hit Rod Smith with an 80-yard touchdown pass, giving Denver a 17-3 lead.
"That takes the air out of your balloon," Atlanta receiver Tim Dwight said.
The Falcons had a chance to close the gap in the third period, reaching the Broncos' 21-yard line, but Gordon intercepted a Chris Chandler pass deflected by Traylor and returned it 58 yards, setting up a touchdown to make the score 24-6.
If not for the tip, Chandler said, the pass might have gone for a touchdown to Terance Mathis.
"It was going to be a big play," Chandler said. "If he doesn't score, it's going to be close.
"There were things there for the taking. It was just unlucky things that happened. A tipped ball -- you never plan on that."
Gordon intercepted Chandler again on the next possession after Atlanta reached the Denver 26. Gordon sparked a pass defense that ranked 26th in the NFL and was considered the Broncos' weakness.
"We took a lot of criticism as a defense, particularly in the secondary," he said. "The bottom line is that we don't give up a lot of points."
"We said at halftime, 'Let's blow these guys out,' " Romanowski said. "But they kept hanging around until we gave the ball back to our offense, and the offense kept doing great things.
"It comes down to the red zone, and we stopped them from getting touchdowns, and that gets frustrating for them."
In the first half, the Falcons ran more plays and had a three-minute advantage in time of possession. But they trailed 17-6 at halftime because four scoring threats produced merely two field goals.
Anderson was stopped on a fourth-and-1 sweep at the Denver 26, and two other times the Falcons drove inside the 15 before settling for three points.