Three Super Bowls, Three Blueprints: What Denver's Titles Say About This Team

The Broncos have won three Super Bowls, and they came in three very different ways: a running back carrying an aging legend, the legend finishing the job, and a defense dragging a fading star to one last ring. Looking at how Denver won each one is the best way to understand what this franchise values, and what Sean Payton's team still needs.

The long climb

It's worth remembering where this started. Denver was a charter AFL member in 1960 and went 15 seasons without a playoff appearance, winning just two of 14 games in both 1963 and 1964. The first winning season didn't come until 1973. The franchise lost its first four Super Bowls: to Dallas after the 1977 season, to the Giants after 1986, to Washington after 1987 and to San Francisco after 1989. The last three came with John Elway at quarterback.

So when the titles finally came, they meant a lot.

Title No. 1: Super Bowl XXXII (1997 season)

The 1997 Broncos went 12-4 and didn't even win the division. They finished second in the AFC West and had to go the wild card route. They beat Jacksonville 42-17, won 14-10 at Kansas City and 24-21 at Pittsburgh, then beat Green Bay 31-24 in the Super Bowl.

The MVP wasn't Elway. It was running back Terrell Davis, the season after he was named AP Offensive Player of the Year. That tells you how Mike Shanahan's team won: a dominant run game that took pressure off a quarterback in his late 30s.

Title No. 2: Super Bowl XXXIII (1998 season)

The follow-up was even better. Denver went 14-2, won the West, and rolled through the playoffs: 38-3 over Miami, 23-10 over the Jets and 34-19 over Atlanta in the Super Bowl. Davis was named AP MVP and Offensive Player of the Year. This time Elway took Super Bowl MVP.

Back-to-back titles capped a stretch from 1983 to 1998 with only two losing seasons and five AFC championships.

Title No. 3: Super Bowl 50 (2015 season)

The third title was different. Peyton Manning, signed in 2012, had led an offense that reached Super Bowl XLVIII after the 2013 season and lost 43-8 to Seattle. By 2015, under first-year coach Gary Kubiak, the offense wasn't the strength anymore. The defense was.

Denver went 12-4, won its fifth straight AFC West title, beat Pittsburgh 23-16 and New England 20-18, then beat Carolina 24-10 in Super Bowl 50. The MVP was edge rusher Von Miller. The defense was even compared to the old Orange Crush.

What the three titles have in common

Look past the quarterbacks and a pattern shows up. In none of the three Super Bowl wins was the passing game asked to do everything. In 1997 and 1998 it was Davis and the run game. In 2015 it was the defense. Even the great Elway and Manning teams won when the roster around the quarterback carried a real share of the load.

Our Take: what it means for this team

That's the lens we'd use on the current Broncos. Denver went 14-3 last season, won the West and beat Buffalo 33-30 in overtime before losing the AFC Championship 10-7 at New England. Patrick Surtain II was Defensive Player of the Year the season before that. The defense-first identity is already here.

What hasn't shown up consistently this year is the other half: a run game and a line that take pressure off Bo Nix, the way Davis and Shanahan's line did for Elway. History says Denver doesn't need Nix to be a superhero to win big. It needs the roster around him to look like a champion's.

Let's Ride.

Sources: Wikipedia, List of Denver Broncos seasons, Wikipedia, Orange Crush Defense