Editing Super Bowl XII (section)

===Morton and the Broncos' Orange Crush Defense===
{{Main|1977 Denver Broncos season}}
{{See also|Orange Crush Defense}}

After spending three years with the Giants, Morton became the starting quarterback for the Broncos, a franchise with a dismal history.  It had taken them 14 years (1960–1973) to record their first winning season and they had never once made the playoffs.  But under the leadership of the newly arrived Morton and their new coach [[Red Miller]], Denver finished 1977 with a 12–2 record and earned the #1 seed in the AFC.

Morton did not put up a large number of passing yards (1,929) during the regular season, but he threw 14 touchdown passes and only 8 interceptions, while also rushing for 125 yards and 4 touchdowns, earning him the [[NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award]]. Denver tight end [[Riley Odoms]] was his main target, with 37 receptions for 429 yards. Wide receiver [[Haven Moses]] was also a major deep threat, catching 27 passes for 539 yards, an average of 20 yards per catch. However, the Broncos main offensive strength was their rushing game. Denver had 3 running backs, [[Otis Armstrong]], [[Lonnie Perrin]], and [[Rob Lytle]], who carried the ball equally, combining for 1,353 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns.  On [[special teams]], multi-talented wide receiver [[Rick Upchurch]] led the NFL with 653 punt return yards, while also catching 12 passes for 245 yards and recording 456 yards returning kickoffs.

The backbone of the Broncos was their defense, a unit known as the "[[Orange Crush Defense|Orange Crush]]", which used a 3–4 formation anchored by four superb linebackers, including [[Randy Gradishar]] (3 interceptions, 4 fumble recoveries) and [[Tom Jackson (American football, born 1951)|Tom Jackson]] (4 interceptions, 93 return yards, 1 touchdown). Defensive End [[Lyle Alzado]] anchored the line, while their secondary was led by defensive backs [[Bill Thompson (American football)|Bill Thompson]] (who recorded 5 interceptions) and [[Louis Wright (American football)|Louis Wright]] (who had 3 interceptions).  The Broncos defense had given up just 148 points during the season, an average of just 10.6 per game and the 3rd-fewest in the NFL.