Elway Loses His Grip, but He Still Beats the Falcons, 44-28

ATLANTA — Because of the humidity, John Elway had trouble getting a grip on the football Sunday.

But the Denver quarterback still managed to complete 19 of 38 passes for 291 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Broncos defeated the Atlanta Falcons, 44-28.

Elway said the ball was wet throughout the game and “it was flying on me. That’s the first time in a long time I’ve played in this kind of humidity and it was tough for me, but, heck, I’ll take 44 points any day.”

Elway continually overthrew receivers, twice missing wide-open players in the end zone.

Elway hit Vance Johnson for a 63-yard scoring play on the fifth play of the game. He also threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Clint Sampson and capped the day with a 31-yard toss to Butch Johnson with only 1:11 remaining.

Gene Lang scored the Broncos’ go-ahead touchdown on a two-yard run. Denver (2-1) also scored on Sammy Winder’s one-yard plunge late in the second quarter, and Rich Karlis kicked field goals of 42, 25 and 47 yards.

John Rade opened Atlanta’s scoring with a 38-yard pass interception return, and Steve Bartkowski had a pair of touchdown passes to Billy (White Shoes) Johnson covering 62 and 6 yards.

Gerald Riggs got the other touchdown for Atlanta on a one-yard dive as the Falcons fell to 0-3, losing for the 12th time in their last 13 outings.

Bartkowski completed 16 of 17 for 234 yards. Riggs led Atlanta rushers with 69 yards in 22 carries.