In the spirit of March Madness, NFL.com has set up a bracket of its own to determine the greatest NFL team of all time. Fans vote on each matchup to determine which teams continue on to the next round.
The tournament, which began with 64 teams, is down to the Elite Eight with the 1998 Broncos up against the 2000 Ravens. Other matchups are: 1985 Bears vs. 1981 49ers, 1976 Raiders vs. 1999 Rams and 1989 49ers vs. 1984 49ers.
The ’98 Broncos are a three seed in the Don Shula Region. The team began the season with 13 consecutive victories and finished the year with a 34-19 win over the Falcons in Super Bowl XXXIII.
In the opening round of the tournament, Denver topped the ’68 Jets by a 76 percent to 24 percent margin. The next round seemed like a difficult matchup with the ’98 Broncos squad squared up against the ’97 Broncos. The fans had no problem choosing between the two, moving the ’98 Broncos into the Sweet Sixteen by a 81 percent to 19 percent vote. Next up was the 2007 Patriots squad, the two seed in the region. Denver squeaked past New England with the 53 percent to 47 percent upset.
The ’97 Broncos team, which finished the year 16-4 (including postseason) and beat the Packers in Super Bowl XXXII, received a six seed in the Shula Region. The ’97 team held off the 1984 Dolphins in the first round with a 64 percent to 36 percent victory.
Voting for the Elite Eight round ends Monday at 3 p.m. MDT. Click here to help determine which team is the greatest in NFL history.
-Stuart Zaas
Tags: March Madness, NFL.com
Turtle, no bro. It melts most of the time in a day or so afterwards unless we getting belted. But its gone dude.
Tutle, Love your attitude bro, your a humble dude in my opinion. Your a true Orange and Blue fan, that I know, your appriciated. Broncos all the way.
OT… like I said, my concern is not of a new injury… It is about him being able to perform in Game situations at a high level as is…
Only time will tell, and Like I said, until I see it in pads w/a pass rush from guys that have evil intentions I will be skeptical that he is the Manning he use to be… I would love for him to take us to the Superbowl, and I never once question his on field ability… I just don’t see it shaking out that way… Fair?
Jeff Saturday. The guy makes a statement that the Broncos didn’t want him as much as he (Peyton Manning) did. That really bugs me. The Broncos brought him in to see if they could sign him. What Saturday should have said was the money was more important to me than playing with Peyton Manning. The Bronocs are trying to build a contender and only have so much to offer each position they sign to reach that goal. Perposterous of Saturday to suggest the Broncos didn’t want to sign him. Obviously, his loyalties lie only with the almighty dollar.
Go Broncos!
Hey today and tonight is the time to vote like crazy for the 98 Broncos, Its 51% to 49%, C’mon Broncos Country lets help em out!!!
More than fair.. The only problem I have with it is that you are so skeptical of Manning returning to the level he once performed, yet you are so certain that Tebow will be a great QB, which remains unseen.. Frankly, there are questions surrounding both if you ask me..
Now Guys I love the Broncos as much as the rest of you, but realistically lets hope for winning the division and possibly 10 wins we have the second hardest schedule in the league we play the Ravens, Steelers, Bengals, Texans, Patriots, Falcons all of which are previous playoff teams even though the steelers are on a down fall and the saints are just gonna suck because of all the bs thats taken place for them, but the Bengals are up and coming with two first round picks this year they will be tough agian, the Texans are gonna be better they have Arian Foster all year as well as a healthy Shuab and Johnson so houston gonna be tough, we still have to keep up with a tough Patriot Offense, and out wit an aging tough Raven D-Now i beilieve we can do it and come out with 10 to 12 wins if we do get twelve i believe that we would have home field through playoffs which would be awesome
As for Drafting Hightower, ya he is a beast but we could use a big DT there before we draft a MLB simply because if we do get a big man up front he will make Joe Mays look better simply because the running back will be stopped at the line rather than making Joe miss
OT Again… My assurance that I like everyone understand that Tebow has learning to do when it comes to some timing things, defensive reads etc… but those are easy fixes for a guy that works as hard as he does and has the track record on every level of success… and has a winning record in his first 16 games which is almost unheard of in the NFL…
I never said he would be Joe Montana, I said he’d be a good leader for this franchise in the future… Tebow is the man… Hopefully Manning can play well but as you and I know… Hope is a horrible stategy bud
Sndvl, UK, I have a suggestion that might work to spread out the playing field for one winner. 1. a blogger picks #25 and the player 7 points. 2. a blogger picks to move up or down say #30 and picks correct player add 3 more points 7+3=10 because of correct draft # number and correct player in movement of pick up-down. 3. A blogger picks to move up or down and misses the # number but picks the right player add one point plus the score Sndvl placed in the rules. This males it more spread out, that way there isn`t 2 or three winners. Just an idea, what do you think?
All I’m saying is that “hope” is needed for both Tim Tebow to learn those things, just as it is needed for Peyton Manning to return to form..
I forgot that we get to pick 3 players now. But in a sunopsis, if you select a player but not right number make it say, 2 points. You get the idea. Disregard my last post. once again I forgot the 3 player rules.
Didn’t realize Foxworth was a FA. Wouldn’t mind having him back in orange and blue. Just saying.
The Eagles are shopping to trade Asante Samual.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/NFL-owners-consider-rules-changes-on-instant-replay-injured-reserve-032512
Some of the possibilities for rule changes.
Asante Samuel for DJ Williams straight across… and then we Draft Hightower!!!
Go for it!
BT and a 6th round pick for the age difference lol
Im still waiting to see us get rid of Goody…..
DJ for Samuel and a 6th rounder
Hightower is an inside guy if we Traded DJ then we would need a guy like Zach Brown who is a tremendous outside LB more of a pass rush guy or that guy Nick Perry out of USC, but why DJ one of our best tacklers i think we should keep him he is a Defensive leader Samuel is starting to get up there in age we got Tracy too
Woodyard can step in and replace Williams or Irving. Woodyard had almost as many tackles as DJ and is the backup.
If I remember correctly Samuals contract is huge and we`d eat up alot of cap to get him. I`d want him, but he`d have to restructure. IMO
Actually Woodyard had more tackles.
Maybe and Woodyard is also a leader on the team so dont lose out on too much. I still think DJ is a better player and if we did trade him why Samuel, Porter is younger and has just as much ability as Samuel actually they play the same ball practically, both like to gamble
DJ will also be suspended for 6 games.
I just now looked it up, Samual is owed 9.5 million this season. Thats a cap killer.
No they will lift the suspension, he is taking it to court the whole thing is a bit of a mess, i read something on it saying things like the people testing didnt follow protocol and got samples mixed up and contaminated them and DJ didnt actually fail his test….but it could just be DJ being optimistic…….I believe though with Dawk on the team if we took a chance on Vontaz Burfict that dawk could whip him into shape then i feel he could be better than Hightower
Dont make sense to get Samuel then
Your right Karl, he`ll win in court, no doubt!
Im not even going to touch Burfict.
As for the suspension. They may lower it but they wont completely take it away. It may go 6 to four but not 6 to nothing. And what you say happened is DJs version so who knows if that is actually what happened.
The people that are doing the specimen testing just want to cover their own butts, they`ll lose. It is a big mess.
Ya Burfict may be too much to handle but it is alot of potential, most likely gonna be a Jamarcus Russel deal big expectations and nothing to show for it…..hightower would be good but again Brockers man im telling you he would cover up more mistakes by the MLB than a MLB covering up weak DT play
The DT depth in the draft is great. Not so with ILB. Grab Hightower and grab a couple DTs 2-6 rounds. With a RB somewhere in there. Also sign a DT or 2 in FA.
If Williams and McBean win their cases, the NFL has to drop the suspensions completely. If they tampered with or misused their specimens in anyway, cased is closed and they both are free. I bet they both win, Ryan Braun won his case because of the misuse. Theres problems starting with the one employee there who got fire for tampering, what does that tell ya.
Or get both but any DT in the Second round would be a guys like Kendall Reyes and Jerel Worthy both whom will be gone before Denver picks, or guys like Brandon Thompson and Alameda Ta’amu which i think would be good picks so ya i guess Hightower would be nice if Pitt dont take him they like drafting LB’s, but we still need more than one DT through the draft or trade or even whats left in FA
Karl, the difference between Russel being a bust and Burfict being a bust is that Russel was taken #1 overall while Burfict is being rated now as 4-5 rd pick. It would still be a waste of a pick if he is a bust, but not as big of a bust as Russel was being the #1 pick.
We need to vote!!! It is still 51-49 Ravens. We can pull even with them. We have until Monday!!! We can beat them. GO TD!!!
Going out on a limb lets say we traded DJ to move up in the draft in some manner i would love to take Zach Brown and Hightower with Brandon Thompson, thats drafting Lamicheal James and Jared Crick later on. Just get younger on D basically at DJ’s position
Reyes is considered a late 2nd.
Thompson Ta’amu Forston Martin Winn Roy Hicks Rhandall are all also pretty good DTs in the draft.
In FA theres Okoye Laws Foster Ayodele are some young decent DTs that have a lot of upside and with talent around them like we have can be great.
True that would be the difference, i was just saying he would most likely be a bust
Burfict`s problem is not his play, its his immaturity and attitude. He needs to temper his anger after the whistle. Disregard his flippen 40 yard dash, he`s a gamer but just needs to play within himself, he`ll learn. Can you say Bill Romanowski. Its the same darn thing. Burfict will be a NFL star some day, just wait and see.
Ya but i like Brockers thats the only thing that keeps me from totally agreeing with you i think brockers is the next Sue man, he at least has that high of potential. Also if we did sign Okoye and Ayodele id be happy with that. I always thought Okoye had tremendous upside.
Burfict does resemble ROMO dont he, and he was around when Denver was winning, so maybe….But thinking about Fox and what he does it makes more sense that he drafts Hightower or a MLB like that, he drafted Jon Beason and Thomas Davis in Carolina
Ive been crying for Okoye. 5 or 6 years pro and only 25!! I dont mind Brockers hes just real raw IMO I prefer Cox.
Okoye could be a beast with teams more worried about Von and Doom, its the perfect fit for him especially if we get someone to stop the run beside him
Thats why i want him.
25 we draft Hightower
57 a DT
3rd round a DT
1st 4th rounder a RB
2nd 4th rounder a OLB
1st 5th round a DE
2nd 5th round DB
6th round WR or QB.
You think we will take a DE in the 5th
Problem is the Broncos might be strapped for cash and and the rest of the cap goes to the draft. Not sure, about that though, just assuming on my part. I hpoe we can get another player or two in FA. LOL
I hope we take a DE somewhere in the draft. Someone who can step in and help keep Ayers and Doom rested and still be able to pass rush. Theres a couple good DEs in the 5th round IMO
Ya but Okoye has been underachieving so he should be cheap
We need to restructure Dooms and Baileys contract to free up more money. From my estimates we have 10/11 mil and save 5 mil for draft picks. Thats 5/6 mil. Goody would add 4.6 mil. We could get anywhere from 5-10 mil from Dooms and Bailey contract being restructured.