Broncos vs. Vikings: The Super Bowl that never was

Super Bowl XXXIII

The Broncos met the Falcons in Super Bowl XXXIII and though it wasn't the showdown that most NFL fans expected between the Broncos and Vikings, it still had some big storylines. One of those was John Elway, playing in what would be his final NFL game, going up against his former head coach, Dan Reeves.

The Falcons did what the could to hang around, but the Broncos were dominant and won the game, 34-19. They became the first team since the 1992-93 Dallas Cowboys to win back-to-back Super Bowls and only the sixth team to ever do it.

But even to this day, 25 years later, many fans still wonder what would have happened in a Vikings-Broncos Super Bowl.

In addition to Cunningham and Moss, that Vikings team had several great players such as Cris Carter, Randall McDaniel and John Randle. All of those players retired without a Super Bowl ring.

The Vikings, who are 0-4 in the Super Bowl, have still not played in the big game since the 1976 season. Though they have reached the conference championship again (losing in 2000, 2009 and 2017), the 1998 season was the biggest missed opportunity.

And as a result, the question of who would have won between that Broncos team and that Vikings team remains to this day.

When you think of missing Super Bowls and teams that should have won it or played in it, fans often think of teams like the Buffalo Bills that lost four in a row or the 2007 New England Patriots that were undefeated until the Super Bowl that year. But the 1998 Vikings are around the top of that list.

It would have been a great game. It would have been a memorable matchup between two high-powered offenses. And it will always make for a great debate.

Who would have won?