The Denver Broncos will meet the Atlanta Falcons in Miami on January 31st in Super Bowl XXXIII after their respective wins over the New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings yesterday.
Just when the Jets looked ready to end Denver's reign, John Elway sparked the Broncos to a 23-10 home victory, while in Minnesota, Denmark's Morten Andersen kicked a 38-yard over-time field goal to push Atlanta to a 30-27 upset win.
Elway, playing what might have been his final game, rallied Denver with 23 unanswered points to give the Broncos a chance to become the sixth team to defend a title, the first since Dallas in 1994.
The American Conference champion Broncos will now face former coach Dan Reeves' latest team, the National Conference champion Falcons, for the title.
Reeves, who left Denver in 1992 in a feud with Elway, underwent heart bypass surgery five weeks ago but guided the Falcons past Minnesota to reach his fourth Super Bowl.
Elway will become the first quarterback to start in five Super Bowls as the Broncos make their sixth trip to the title game, two fewer than the record held by the Dallas Cowboys.
In Denver, Terrell Davis broke the game open with a 31-yard touchdown run 18 seconds before the end of the third quarter, giving Denver a 20-10 lead. Jason Elam later added a 35-yard field goal, his third of the game.
Vinny Testaverde threw for more than 350 yards but the Jets could not overcome six turnovers, the last two of them interceptions by Darrien Gordon late in the fourth quarter.
Jets rookie Blake Spence blocked a Denver punt and New York recovered just outside the Broncos' goal-line, setting up Curtis Martin's 1-yard touchdown run that put the Jets ahead 10-0 early in the third quarter.
But Elway answered with a long pass to Ed McCaffrey that set up a touchdown toss to running back Howard Griffith to put the Broncos on the scoreboard.
The ensuing kick-off was lost by the Jets and recovered by Denver's Keith Burns, setting up a 44-yard field goal by Elam to equalise at 10-10 only 6:37 into the third quarter.
Elam kicked a 48-yard field goal five minutes later to give the Broncos their first lead.
In Atlanta, quarterback Chris Chandler completed 27 of 43 passes for 340 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Falcons into the first National Football League championship game in the club's 33-year history.
The Vikings, the highest-scoring team in NFL history, became the first team to win 15 regular-season games and fail to reach the Super Bowl, missing a chance to redeem their 0-4 Super Bowl record.
Atlanta's defence shut down the high-powered Vikings' attack twice in over-time before the Falcons drove for Andersen's winning kick in the sudden-death extra period.
"I took all the time I needed. Right down the pipe," Andersen said. "No doubt about it."
The game was American football's first over-time play-off game in five years and the first overtime game to decide a Super Bowl participant since 1987, when Denver outlasted Cleveland 23-20.
