DAVIS AND ANDERSON RUSH TO GLORY; FOR FIRST TIME IN SUPER BOWL HISTORY, LEAGUE'S TOP TWO RUNNING BACKS WILL MEET.

Byline: Don Pierson Chicago Tribune 

Terrell Davis and Jamal Anderson give the Super Bowl its best running-back matchup ever. For the first time, the top two rushers in the NFL go toe-to-toe.

It happened 50 years ago in pre-Super Bowl days when Steve Van Buren of the Philadelphia Eagles and Charley Trippi of the Chicago Cardinals were 1-2 and met in the 1948 NFL title game, but it hasn't happened since.

Surprisingly, Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboys is the only rushing champion ever to play in a Super Bowl and he did it three times. Twice he faced the No. 3 rusher, Thurman Thomas of the Buffalo Bills, the closest the Super Bowl had ever come to a 1-2 showdown until this.

Not only are Denver's Davis and Atlanta's Anderson 1-2, they enter the game with the most yardage ever by Super Bowl running backs. Davis' 2,008 yards is the third best of all time and Anderson's 1,846 is the ninth best of all time. None of the other runners on the top 10 list of best seasons made the Super Bowl or NFL title game in their best years.

This judgment to rush is a phenomenon of the 1990s not seen since the 1950s and '60s. Smith's three appearances all were in the '90s. Until then, a rushing champion had not played in a title game since 1965, when Cleveland's Jim Brown played for the NFL crown and San Diego's Paul Lowe played for the AFL crown.

Last year No. 2 rusher Davis faced No. 4 rusher Dorsey Levens of the Green Bay Packers. A matchup of that level hadn't occurred in a Super Bowl since 1972, when No. 2 rusher Larry Brown of the Washington Redskins faced No. 4 rusher Larry Csonka of the Miami Dolphins.

The best Super Bowls - indeed the best football games - are when neither team dominates the other on the ground. Lopsided rushing totals almost always point to the winner. Often a team runs to protect a lead built by passing. Sometimes teams establish the run first. Either way, the threat of a strong running game is vital.

The quarterback who threw the most touchdown passes this season, San Francisco's Steve Young (36), also had the No. 1 rushing offense in the league to help him.

``Once you get into the playoffs, the teams that run and stop the run are the ones that win,'' Minnesota coach Dennis Green said.

The ability of both the Broncos and Falcons defenses to stop the run is what makes this Super Bowl even more intriguing.

The Falcons finished second and the Broncos third in rushing yardage allowed. Only the San Diego Chargers ranked higher. In average gain allowed per rush, the Falcons were second (3.3) and the Broncos seventh (3.6).

This is bad news for Davis and Anderson, good news for fans because it portends a tight game.

As long as turnovers or early big plays don't make the running game irrelevant for one team, fans are usually treated to the kind of knock-down, drag-out football that makes the sport so popular.

When the 1985 Bears blew out the New England Patriots, they had a 167-7 edge in yards rushing. When the 1988 49ers beat the Cincinnati Bengals on Joe Montana's last drive, it ended a standoff between Roger Craig (74 yards) and Ickey Woods (79 yards).

When Buffalo's Thurman Thomas gained 166 yards in his first Super Bowl, the New York Giants matched him with 172 of their own, led by Ottis Anderson's 102. The Bills lost that one 20-19. In three subsequent lopsided losses, Thomas entered the game as the league's third-leading rusher but was stuffed with 13, 19 and 37 yards.

The Vikings boasted the No. 1 passing attack in the league and the No. 1 scoring offense ever and couldn't beat the Falcons last week, partly because the Falcons outrushed them. It was close, 110-102, and the game went into overtime after neither team was able to knock the other down with the run.

The 49ers' chances to beat the Falcons the previous week went down the tubes on the first play when top runner Garrison Hearst broke his leg.

``Everyone now is really hammering the run game,'' Green said. ``There are some great running backs in the league. There are not quite as many short-pass attacks. That great West Coast offense, a lot of those coaches aren't still in the game. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, but I don't think you win with just a system. So a lot of people who thought the answer was throw a lot and throw every down are now getting much more balance.''

There was an all-time high of 20 running backs with more than 1,000 yards this season, up from 16 last year and 13 in 1996. Of the 12 playoff teams, only the Packers and Miami Dolphins failed to produce 1,000-yard rushers and they accomplished that by committee.

Davis was the league MVP. His fabulous season was catapulted by a 157-yard stomping of the Packers to win the Super Bowl MVP award last January. Quarterback John Elway anointed the Broncos as ``Terrell Davis' team. I just pick up third downs.''

In Atlanta, they argue that Anderson was more of a league MVP than Davis. Both teams finished 14-2, but the argument goes like this: Elway would still win 10 games in Denver without Davis and often did. The Falcons wouldn't win half their games without Anderson and often didn't. Two years ago, when the Falcons were messing around with the run-and-shoot offense, they were 3-13. Anderson ran for 1,055 yards in the unconventional attack, but obviously wasn't the difference-maker he is now.

Only when coach Dan Reeves returned to a power-running offense with tight end, fullback, feature back and play-action passing did the Falcons emerge.

When the Eagles won the 1948 title 7-0 in Philadelphia, Van Buren outrushed Trippi 98-26. At least that's what was recorded. There was so much snow, the yard markers were invisible.

``Everybody wanted to go home,'' said Jim Parmer, former Bears scout who played for the Eagles. ``Both squads had to help roll up the tarp. You were out of bounds when you hit a snowplow.''

Davis and Anderson might not live up to the glamour either, but they won't have to worry about snow.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) no caption (Atlanta's Jamal Anderson)

Ric Feld/Associated Press

(2) Broncos star Terrell Davis has the most regular-season rushing yards - 2,008 - of any Super Bowl running back in history.

Eric Gay/Associated Press