Denver Broncos (& John Elway) Chasing Lombardi Now!
By Craig Hurst
Feb 3, 2014; New York, NY, USA; A general view of the Vince Lombardi Trophy during the winning team press conference the day after Super Bowl XLVIII at Sheraton New York Times Square. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Last week, Mike Klis of The Denver Post, interviewed John Elway at the annual NFL owners meeting in Orlando, Florida and one of the topics discussed was the offseason moves orchestrated by the Denver Bronco executive. Elway, General Manager and Executive Vice President of Football Operations for the reigning AFC Champions, indicated that “we are chasing Lombardi” when asked if the Broncos made the offseason moves to catch up with the Seattle Seahawks and to catch (or stay ahead of) the New England Patriots. The comment made me think about an NFL football team and their main goal each season – win the Super Bowl! Please continue reading for a look at the Lombardi Trophy and the teams that have been fortunate enough to have won one, if not more than one trophy.
As Bronco fans, we should feel lucky that the Broncos are owned by a man that has the right goal in his mind and that is to win NFL Championships. Let’s be clear, the goal is to win NFL Championships, and not to be content with making it to the big game. Unfortunately the Broncos have lost the Super Bowl more times than they have won it, but the foundation is set in the organization and in Broncos Country. Getting to the game and losing is failure; there is no pleasure in knowing that you were best in your conference, but just not the best in the league. Actually, the closer you get to winning the Super Bowl without doing it, the more it hurts when you lose. My assumption is that the Broncos are not unique when it comes to setting a goal of winning the Super Bowl, but saying it and creating a culture that is 100% dedicated to achieving that goal are two very different things. Thinking of it in that perspective, teams are probably very different from one city to another.
To win a Super Bowl is not easy – the season is long and many of the variables are uncontrollable by any team – injuries, opposition, timing, weather, strange bounces, and luck, etc.
There have been a total of 48 Super Bowls. Take a look below at some interesting statistics regarding the outcome of the Super Bowl over the last forty-eight years!
- AFC Victories: 22
- NFC Victories: 26
- Average Score: AFC – 20.9 / NFC – 25.4
- Average Margin of Victory: 14.5
- Longest AFC Winning Streak: 5 years (1973 – 1977)
- Longest NFC Winning Streak: 13 years (1985 – 1997)
- AFC Back-to-Back Winners: Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh Steelers twice, Denver Broncos, New England Patriots
- NFC Back-to-Back Winners: Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys
- Most Super Bowl victories: Pittsburgh Steelers (6)
- Most Super Bowl losses: Denver Broncos (5)
- MVP’s – 26 quarterbacks; 7 running backs; 6 wide receivers; 9 defensive players*; 1 special team player (* Super Bowl XII had two defensive MVP’s)
For more details on all the Super Bowl matchups, click here.
Let’s hope the Broncos can capture their third Lombardi Trophy in the 2014-15 season!
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