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Denver duo toast Seattle, ease into history books The Associated Press DENVER -- The Denver Broncos got their groove back. Terrell Davis and John Elway got more than that. Davis ran for 178 yards to become the fourth back in NFL history to gain 2,000 yards in a season, and Elway threw four touchdown passes to become the third passer in league history with 300 for his career. Together, they led Denver to a 28-21 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, sending the Broncos (14-2) into the playoffs on a high note after suffering their only two defeats of the season the previous two games. "For John to throw his 300th TD pass and for Terrell to get over 2,000, it's really exciting," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. "It's always nice to end a season on a positive note. But the real season (playoffs) begins in two weeks." When Davis was held to 29 yards in 16 carries in last week's 31-21 loss to Miami, it left him 170 yards shy of 2,000 -- a deficit even he admitted would be tough to make up. Nursing a sore back, Davis managed 54 yards on just six carries in the first quarter, had 82 at the half and 133 through three quarters. With a 15-yard run on his 29th carry midway through the fourth quarter, he raised his season total to 2,008 -- the third highest in NFL history. Eric Dickerson ran for 2,105 yards in 1984 and Barry Sanders for 2,053 last season. O.J. Simpson had 2,003 yards in 1973. "It's an elite group, a special club to be in," Davis said. "I'm happy I'm finally in there. "I didn't really think I was going to be able to get it, to be honest. One hundred seventy is a lot of yards when the other team knows you want to get it. From the first play of the game, my linemen were itching to get those yards. They blocked great, and I just tried to run hard." Elway burned the Seahawks (8-8) for two TD passes to tight end Shannon Sharpe, one to Rod Smith and one to Davis. It gave him an even 300 in what could be the final regular-season game of his 16-year career, joining Dan Marino (408) and Fran Tarkenton (342). "It was crucial for us to get back and get the feeling of winning again and really get over that hump of 13 wins," Elway said. ``Thirteen scared me. You don't want to go into the playoffs with three losses in a row, so it was huge." Asked about his 300th career TD pass, Elway said, "Hitting that was great, because I had no real expectation that I'd get it." Elway completed 26 of 36 passes for 338 yards, while Seattle quarterback Jon Kitna was 22-of-37 for 242 yards. Elway's 1-yard TD throw to Sharpe with 11:45 left gave Denver a 28-7 lead. The Seahawks rallied for a pair of touchdowns in the final six minutes. Kitna threw a 7-yard TD pass to Mike Pritchard, capping a 72-yard drive. With 1:32 left, Ricky Watters threw a 1-yard halfback pass to Deems May, but the Broncos then recovered the ensuing onside kick. The Broncos finished with 511 total yards compared to Seattle's 241. "We ran into a buzz saw today," Seattle coach Dennis Erickson said. "They ran the ball, they threw the ball. They just seemed to do anything they wanted. Denver was in sync." Erickson, whose four Seattle teams have gone 31-33 and whose failure to get the Seahawks into the playoffs this season could cost him his job, sounded fatalistic. He said he thanked his players "for the effort they gave all year. We had some good times, we had some bad times. I truly appreciate how hard they worked." Asked about his future, a misty-eyed Erickson said, "I will talk about that on Monday. I only want to talk about this game." Elway's two touchdown passes gave the Broncos, who have a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, a 14-7 lead at intermission. After Jason Elam missed a 42-yard field goal attempt early in the game, the Seahawks marched 67 yards in 12 plays for a 7-0 lead. Kitna completed five passes on the drive, and Watters ran 4 yards for the score. In the second quarter, Elway drove the Broncos 85 yards in five plays. Davis had a 15-yard run and Elway hit Smith on a 33-yard TD pass with 10:25 left in the half. Later in the half, Elway hit Sharpe on back-to-back 15- and 16-yard passes, completed a 13-yard tipped pass to Smith on third down, and then found Sharpe on a 17-yard touchdown pass with 1:01 remaining in the half. Elway's 2-yard pass to Davis put the Broncos ahead 21-7 with 8:26 left in the third period. Smith wound up with nine catches for 158 yards. NOTES: The Broncos posted 14 wins for the first time in their history. They went 13-3 in both 1984 and 1996. ... Davis became the top career rusher in Broncos history with 6,413 yards, doing in four years what it took Floyd Little (6,323) nine years to accomplish. ... Watters, who rushed for a career-high 178 yards last week, had only 13 yards on 10 carries. ... This is the 10th straight season they have failed to reach the playoffs. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford,