In Super Bowl XXXI in January 1997, the Green Bay Packers were favored by 14 points over the New England Patriots, and won 35-21.

So, after the oddsmakers got it so right, many figured it would be much of the same the following January when the Packers were favored by 11 over the Broncos in Super Bowl XXXII in San Diego.

Hardly. The Broncos concluded the 1997 season with a stunning 31-24 victory over the Packers for their first Super Bowl win and denied Green Bay a rare championship repeat.

On Sunday, Denver (11-2) will face Green Bay (9-3-1) at Empower Field at Mile High in what could be a Super Bowl preview. Plenty of Packers players from that team 28 years ago will be looking on and wondering what happened on that day at demolished Qualcomm Stadium.

“It’s a bitter pill to swallow,’’ said center Frank Winters, who played for Green Bay from 1992-2002 and is in the Packers Hall of Fame. “We were heavily favored. We had a great year following Super Bowl XXXI. It’s tough to swallow because when you win back-to-back Super Bowls, you’re recognized as kind of the start of a dynasty.”

Nevertheless, Winters, who will be watching Sunday’s game at his home in Chicago, gives plenty of credit to the Broncos. He said, “They played a good game and had a good game plan and it just wasn’t our day.”

Former Green Bay safeties LeRoy Butler and Eugene Robinson look back at the loss in a similar manner. They say a Packers’ win would have placed them among the all-time great teams in NFL history, but that the Broncos were simply better that day. They were led by legendary coach Mike Shanahan and future Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees John Elway at quarterback, Terrell Davis at running back, Shannon Sharpe at tight end, Gary Zimmerman at tackle and Steve Atwater at safety.

“What softens the blow is to lose to somebody like Shanahan and Terrell Davis and John Elway,’’ Butler said. “You can understand shaking hands with them that you had the better team that day. But if we had beaten those guys, it would have put us in a different stratosphere (as a back-to-back champion).”

The Packers, led by coach Mike Holmgren, featured three future Hall of Famers in quarterback Brett Favre, defensive end Reggie White and Butler, who was inducted into the Canton, Ohio, shrine in 2022. Butler said they likely would have more now if they had defeated the Broncos.

“I would have gotten in the Hall of Fame sooner,’’ said Butler, who played for Green Bay from 1990-2001. “Holmgren would already be in the Hall of Fame, too.”

Butler, who is a Packers analyst for Spectrum cable television in Wisconsin and has a podcast, will watch Sunday’s game at his home in Milwaukee. Robinson will look on at his home in Charlotte, N.C., where he does radio work for the Carolina Panthers.

“If we could have won back-to-back Super Bowls, that’s a hard feat to do, and we realize that some history was involved if we could have been able to capitalize,’’ said Robinson, who played for the Packers in just the 1996 and 1997 seasons but was in the NFL from 1985-2000 and made three Pro Bowls. “But Denver said no and they had other plans.”

Robinson suffered a double whammy. He was with Atlanta the next year when the Falcons lost 34-19 to Denver in Super Bowl XXXIII. That’s when the Broncos instead would become a back-to-back champion.

“I had gone against John Elway most of my career, so I was very familiar with how good Denver was,’’ said Robinson, who had played for Seattle from 1985-95 when the Seahawks were with the Broncos in the AFC West. “We had some injuries on the defensive line (with Gabe Wilkins being lost after the first drive with a knee injury), but that doesn’t diminish how well Denver played that day.”

Elway did not have a big passing game, electing to hand off most of the day to Davis, who rushed for 157 yards and scored three touchdowns and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player. But Elway, who completed 12 of 22 passes for 123 yards and threw an interception to Robinson, had perhaps the biggest play of the game with his famous “Helicopter” run.

With the score tied 17-17 late in the third quarter and the Broncos facing third-and-6 at the Packers 12-yard line, Elway, then 37, sacrificed his body by taking off. He was belted by Butler and spun in the air as two other Green Bay defenders also converged on him. But Elway got the first down on an 8-yard run, and Davis soon scored on a 1-yard run to put Denver up 24-17.

“If that ball comes out, I scoop it up and run 98 yards for a touchdown and that game’s over,’’ Butler said. “But Elway was tough. That was the play of the game.”

Butler said a big key in Super Bowl XXXII was Shanahan having the “best game plan.” The Broncos split Sharpe regularly out wide, and it was Butler’s job to follow him. So that took Butler out of the box and opened things up for Davis to have a huge day running the ball.

Davis missed much of the second quarter due to a severe migraine that hampered his ability to see. Robinson didn’t deny the Packers “were so excited when he went out of the game,’’ but Davis eventually returned to dominate. He scored the decisive touchdown on a 1-yard run with 1:45 left for a 31-24 lead when Holmgren had his defense lie down to save time on the clock for the Packers.

“(Davis) was really formidable,’’ Robinson said. “He brought the heat.”

After the loss to the Broncos, some key Green Bay players began to leave in free agency, including Robinson. Holmgren departed after the 1998 season.

The Packers didn’t win another playoff game until 2001 and didn’t get back to the Super Bowl until defeating Pittsburgh 31-25 in Super Bowl XLV in February 2011. They haven’t been back to the big game since then but perhaps Sunday’s game in Denver will indeed turn out to be a Super Bowl preview.

“There’s always that chance,’’ Winters said. “I’ll be watching the game and cheering for the Packers.”

Denver Broncos running back Terrell Davis (30) runs for a short yard gain in the first quarter of Super Bowl XXXII at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium Sunday, Jan. 25, 1998. The Broncos beat the Green Bay Packers 31-24 and Davis was the game’s Most Valuable Player. (AP Photo/Elise Amandola)

What I’m hearing

— The Broncos haven’t offered defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers a contract extension, but he is grateful they are touting him for the Pro Bowl. “It’s much appreciated,’’ he said. “It’d be nice to get that. Maybe I can get some (fan) votes and get that out. I’m going to try and hopefully get to (the Pro Bowl) this year.” Franklin-Myers has 5.5 sacks, leaving him 1.5 shy of his career high last season of 7.0. “Me and (defensive lineman) Zach (Allen) have talked about how we want to get to 10,’’ Franklin-Myers said. Allen, who has 6.0, told The Denver Gazette early this season about his goal of getting to double digits.

— Sincere McCormick made his NFL regular-season debut Oct. 6, 2024, for Las Vegas at Denver. Now he’s with the Broncos. The 5-foot-8, 204-pound running back was elated to sign Tuesday with Denver’s practice squad. “It’s a blessing,’’ McCormick said. “I’ve been through a little roller coaster going from team to team.” McCormick spent 2022-24 with the Raiders, which included rushing for 183 yards in five games last season. He was on practice squads earlier this season at San Francisco and Arizona. “I’ve been able to get my feet wet (in the NFL), and I’m just going to continue to work,’’ he said.

What I’m seeing

— Paul Wiggin, Elway’s college coach at Stanford, died Friday at age 91. Wiggin was a Pro Bowl defensive lineman with the Cleveland Browns from 1957-67, and a head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1975-77 and at Stanford from 1980-83, when he had Elway for his first three seasons. He was also a longtime NFL assistant and a personnel executive who was still working in Minnesota’s front office into his 90s. “He’s a tremendous human being,” Elway said in 2022. “He was a great coach, a great man, one that I’ve always looked up to. In my mind, he’s one of the most quality guys I’ve ever met as far as integrity.”

— Tight end Marcedes Lewis, 41, is back on Denver’s practice squad and there is some hope he could make history. If Lewis gets a catch this year, he would join Jerry Rice as the only players in NFL history to have a reception in 20 different seasons. Lewis doesn’t have a catch in the four games he has played this season. He has had his three allowed elevations and was signed to the 53-man roster to play in Denver’s 24-17 win at Las Vegas last Sunday. But he was waived Thursday and put on the practice squad Saturday. The only way Lewis can match Rice this season for the Broncos is if he is signed to the 53-man roster.