DENVER GRINDS UP DOLPHINS BEHIND DAVIS : DENVER 38, MIAMI 3.

Byline: Mike Fisher Fort Worth Star-Telegram 

Shortly after his Denver Broncos' astoundingly easy 38-3 victory over Miami in Saturday's AFC second-round playoff, John Elway was zigging and zagging his way through the Mile High Stadium locker room overflowing with teammates, media members and assorted hangers-on.

He was heading for the bathroom when he was stopped, dead in his tracks, by a highly unusual request.

``John,'' some stranger asked, ``could you pose for a picture?''

Elway looked down at his body, considered the fact that he was dressed in his underwear, then smiled nice and pretty for the camera, honored to share a frame with none other than trash-TV ringmaster Jerry Springer.

``The players invited me,'' said Springer, who made his mark as a scandal-plagued mayor of Cincinnati before launching his career as a scandal-plagued moderator of a controversially contentious talk show. ``I'll start showing up at the NFL games in Cincinnati as soon as we get an NFL team there.''

Good one. But on this day, the joke was really on the Dolphins.

They provided the Broncos with everything the defending Super Bowl champions could have wished for: a wakeup call in the form of that Week 15 regular-season 31-21 loss at Miami; weeks of Springer-level pregame verbal sniping used by the Broncos as motivational fodder; and a Jimmy Johnson-assembled roster of players not yet anywhere close to the elite of the NFL.

``The last time, they were at their best and we were at our worst; but this time, they were again at their best, and so were we,'' said Shannon Sharpe of the Broncos, who play host next Sunday to the AFC Championship Game against the winner of today's Jacksonville Jaguars-New York Jets meeting. ``That was just an old-fashioned butt-kicking.''

It is probably accurate to say that Denver is 5,280 feet above Miami in more ways than just geographically. Denver, which averages 35 points a game at Mile High, the site of 18 consecutive Broncos victories, has this nasty habit of jumping out to huge leads that allow it to disguise any defensive liabilities.

In both Broncos losses this season, at the New York Giants and at the Dolphins, the opponents kept it close enough to force the Denver defense to play straight up, and the Broncos' secondary was victimized.

But this time, two Terrell Davis touchdowns fueled the Broncos' jump to a 14-0 lead in the first period as they captured huge advantages in first downs (10-1), rushing yards (67-5), passing yards (88-34) and time of possession (10:14 to 4:46).

With 8:40 left in the second period, Davis had 11 carries for 100 yards. With 4:39 left in the second period, Davis backup Derek Loville's 11-yard run made it 21-3. On the first play of the second half, Davis set up a field goal and a 24-3 lead with a 62-yard sprint. In the fourth quarter, Denver added Rod Smith's 28-yard touchdown catch and Neil Smith's 79-yard fumble return for a score.

In the end, Davis - who had only 29 yards in the previous Dolphins game - totaled 199 yards on 21 carries. Meanwhile, the Dolphins managed only 14 rushing yards on 13 carries.

``Our tank was pretty much empty coming in here today,'' Johnson said.

So Denver is one victory away from another Super Bowl appearance. And Miami - taunted all afternoon long by some of the crowd of 75,720 chanting ``Jim-mee! Jim-mee!'' - is left wondering what might have been had the Dolphins played the game as well as they talked it, or filled up their tanks with something besides empty boasts.

``We had something to prove,'' Elway said. ``They embarrassed us the last time we played.''

``Usually,'' added receiver Ed McCaffrey, ``you don't need much inspiration. I mean, it's the playoffs. But the last couple of weeks, Miami's trash talking was getting a little tough to swallow.''

In the buildup to this game, Sharpe had called the outcome of that previous meeting ``a hoax,'' suggesting the Broncos are two touchdowns better than Miami.

The Dolphins angrily took the bait and promised a demonstration in Denver. But in the end, in arguing for themselves as the superior team, Miami demonstrated nothing more than naivete.

``Really now,'' said Sharpe, ``somebody would have to play the perfect game to even think about coming here and beating us.''

AFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF: MIAMI vs. DENVER

THE HERO

What did Denver's Terrell Davis do as an encore after winning the league's MVP award earlier in the day? How about a Broncos playoff-record 199 yards and three touchdowns against the league's third-best defense? John Elway (an efficient 182 yards passing and a TD) and Neil Smith (an improbable 79-yard fumble recovery for a TD) receive consideration, but the game was Davis'. He had 9 more yards by his third carry (23) than Miami would have all day, more than making up for his 16-carry, 29-yard performance against the Dolphins during the regular season.

THE GOAT

The Dolphins' running game. If Miami had any chance, Dan Marino needed balance on the ground. No chance. The Dolphins gained an anemic 14 yards on 13 carries as a team, somehow doing worse than 19 days earlier, when Miami rushed 28 times for 36 yards but Marino was on fire in the Dolphins' victory. Karim Abdul-Jabbar rushed three times for 5 yards Saturday.

STAT OF THE GAME

Take your pick. Denver had 24 first downs to Miami's 14, outgained the Dolphins 424-252 (250-14 on the ground), forced three turnovers while committing none and ran 11 more plays. Miami didn't have a first down until the final play of the first quarter.

QUOTE OF THE GAME

``Right now, obviously, I'm just plain old football speed. I scooped the ball up and looked around. I was expecting to hear a whistle. I think a piano jumped on my back after about 20 yards.''

- Denver's 6-foot-4, 270-pound defensive lineman Neil Smith, after his 79-yard fumble recovery for a fourth-quarter TD sealed the Broncos' victory.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Box

PHOTO (1) Miami quarterback Dan Marino is brought down by Denver's Marvin Washington in the fourth quarter.

Bob Galbraith/Associated Press

(2) Terrell Davis

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

BOX: AFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF: MIAMI vs. DENVER (see text)