SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Oddsmakers in Las Vegas fail to care about the fate of the Broncos. They're too busy enticing millions to engage in the pleasurable evil of betting.
But Vegas leads a crusade that boosts the Broncos. The Panthers are six-point favorites in Sunday's Super Bowl. This should inspire The Front Range to break out in applause for greedy oddsmakers.
Cornerback Aqib Talib openly celebrates the doubters. He's giddy about the continued lack of belief in the Broncos.
"Ah, we got the No. 1 defense," he said to a pack of sports writers, "and we're still picked to lose the game. Y'all going to do what y'all going to do. We going to do what we do."
The Broncos' defense is arrogant, defiant and madly in love with itself. These defenders keep being told they will fail to plunder the opposition. This only multiplies the satisfaction of the plunder.
After hitting Tom Brady 23 times and silencing the Patriots' offense for three quarters, these defensive desperados are told once again what they can't do. The masses, and this includes oddsmakers, believe Cam Newton will dance off the field as champion.
Safety Bradley Roby endured this routine before. Remember, the Patriots were favored to defeat the Broncos in the AFC title game.
"Why does everybody keep saying we're not going to do this when we keep showing them that we can?" Roby asked, satisfied yet bewildered. "Now look where we are."
Defensive end Derek Wolfe says he does not care about being an underdog. This is a common tactic for the Broncos. Most swear they pay no attention to sinister oddsmakers a few seconds before going on a tirade against those very oddsmakers.
"If you think we're not as good, then OK, we'll show you," Wolfe said. "You'll see."
Point spreads are not vapors. They matter. They matter because the general public pays attention and players know the general public pays attention. They matter because chatter before the game seeps into the actual action. Mind games matter.
Safety Steve Atwater is a survivor of the disaster of Jan. 28, 1990, when the 49ers destroyed the Broncos, 55-10, in what might rank as the most ghastly of the 49 Super Bowls. The 49ers ranked as 12-point favorites. Yes, Vegas often is correct in its harsh judgment.
But not always.
Atwater also is a member of the 1997 Broncos, who marched into the Super Bowl as 11-point underdogs to Brett Favre and the Packers. America expected the Broncos to bungle to their fifth straight Super Bowl loss.
"It gave us special fuel, of course," Atwater said of being a universal underdog.
Lack of expectation is liberating. Doubts, especially the doubts of a few million, release the burden of expectation. The Broncos prepare for this Super Bowl with a lighter load than the Panthers.
Atwater was talking in the Broncos' loud, jubilant locker room a few minutes after the win over the Patriots.
Not far away, Shannon Sharpe was laughing as he thought back to the win over the Packers.
Sharpe served as the Broncos tight end in 1997. He believes his teammates would have rampaged over the Packers, instead of enduring a struggle deep into the fourth quarter, if Terrell Davis hadn't suffered a debilitating migraine that caused him to miss an entire quarter.
Sharpe, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, enjoys offering advice to the current Broncos.
"I tell them, 'It doesn't matter whether you're an underdog or an over-dog, you don't get the points in either case,' " Sharpe said. "The game starts zero-zero."
I understand Sharpe's point. He's saying the game starts even.
I don't fully agree. Sinister oddsmakers have given the Broncos a gift.
The underdog sprints on the field with a small, yet precious, edge.
Sports on 02/05/2016