I remember that it was a sunny but chilly day with temperatures hovering around the 40-degree mark at kickoff, with Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan matching wits with New York's Bill Parcells all day long.

I remember well that during the week we had been especially careful of visitors watching practice and talking to the players, as there were a number of New York writers and broadcasters in attendance and we were well aware of Coach Parcells' legendary ability to glean knowledge from outside sources.

The Broncos had gone almost a calendar year without a defeat on the way to what would be a second straight Super Bowl win, so the players were veterans used to winning. We did not have many neophytes in that locker room, with vets taking the younger players under their wings starting with training camp.

Coach Shanahan had made it clear that another title was not only our goal but well within our reach and abilities, and the team had played like it all year.

We failed to score in the first half against New York, but Denver scored 20 third-quarter points to take control of the game.

That win propelled the Broncos to the Super Bowl for the second straight season, matching the back-to-back Super Bowl appearances of the 1986 and '87 Broncos.

The Jets took a 10-0 lead after a second quarter field goal and a 1-yard Curtis Martin touchdown run early in the third stanza, set up by a blocked Denver punt at the Broncos' 1-yard line.

But that TD proved to be just the wake-up call that Denver needed to ignite its offense as well as the Mile High Stadium crowd. The stakes were high and fans were nervous and unusually quiet, but they woke quickly as John Elway connected with Ed McCaffrey on a 47-yard pass from the Denver 36, with Elway eventually finding fullback Howard Griffith for an 11-yard scoring pass to narrow the Jets' lead to 10-7.

Then special teams captain Keith Burns recovered a wind-stifled kickoff fumble to set up a 44-yard field goal by Jason Elam to tie the score.

Following another Elam field goal, the Broncos opened up a 10-point lead with Terrell Davis' 31-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter.