SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco Centre is set to close for good on Monday, nearly 20 years after its highly anticipated opening.

Inside the cavernous downtown mall, most shops are shuttered, escalators stand empty and preparations are underway for its final day.

“Can’t wait until it opens up,” customers said on opening day in September 2006. “Let us get in there.”

From bustling destination to near-empty halls

What we know:

The scene is a stark contrast to two decades ago, when crowds lined Market Street to shop at what was then known as the Westfield Centre. At the time, the mall was projected to attract 25 million visitors a year.

Today, foot traffic is sparse. Of the mall’s roughly 1.5 million square feet of retail space, only one store, an Ecco shoe shop, appears to remain open.

Visitors new to San Francisco, and unfamiliar with the mall’s decline, said they were surprised by how empty it felt.

“It was pretty lame going in there, I’m not going to lie,” said Nathan Boria. “I saw all these locations on the map, and I kind of got emotional thinking, ‘Wow, there’s a lot of places in here.’ But when I go in there, it’s all dead. No restaurants, no stores. It was all just empty.”

Memories of what once was

Local perspective:

Others recalled the mall as a gathering place, particularly for teenagers drawn to its movie theaters and food court.

“Things just started disappearing,” said Josue Reyes. “At this point, everything is gone. It’s going to be missed for sure.”

Visitors said it was difficult to reconcile the empty corridors with their memories of a bustling shopping center.

“I remember when this side opened,” said Heather Snow. “I haven’t been here in a long time, and I was just like, ‘Well, it’s closing — let’s just see.’ It’s pretty weird to walk through an empty mall.”

What comes next

Big picture view:

What will replace the mid-Market monument remains unclear.

Mayor Daniel Lurie said the city is working to create conditions for the space’s future redevelopment.

“There are people who want to move into that incredible space,” Lurie said. “I’m not concerned about big ideas, great ideas coming in. They’re happening. I just have to continue to create the conditions for that mall to succeed.”

A gradual shutdown

The closure has unfolded in stages. There are no partitions separating the east and west sides of the mall, and doors remain open where Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom once operated. BART entrances connected to the mall were recently closed, leaving street-level doors as the only remaining points of entry.

Vance Joseph knows the knock on his defense.

Or, at least one of them.

Teams have had success throughout the season throwing the ball to tight ends, who often end up in coverage matchups against Joseph’s defense this season.

The Broncos in the regular season gave up the seventh-fewest passing yards overall but the sixth-most to tight ends. The numbers for opposing running backs are more moderate, but there have been instances of major hits against the defense out of the backfield, including long touchdown receptions by Green Bay’s Josh Jacobs and Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley.

Joseph has a logical answer for why teams test his middle-of-the-field players.

“Our corners are really good players,” he said, referring to the starting pair of Pat Surtain II and Riley Moss plus nickel Ja’Quan McMillian. “Pat, obviously, the best in football in my opinion. And Riley is always close. Sometimes, in (defenses’) minds, their better matchups are with backers and safeties. They can control the leverage, which is smart. So we understand that.”

That approach, Joseph said, is nothing new.

“That’s been that way for two years now,” he said.

It will likely be that way again on Sunday in the AFC championship. New England’s offense is balanced and features a high-quality tight end in Hunter Henry (768 yards and 7 TDs in the regular season) and a pair of capable backs in TreVeyon Henderson and Rhamondre Stevenson, who combined for 67 catches.

The onus isn’t just on inside linebackers like Alex Singleton, Dre Greenlaw and Justin Strnad or safeties Talanoa Hufanga and P.J. Locke, though they do have to make their plays in coverage.

Joseph said it’s on him to put those players in more advantageous situations, too.

“Having certain calls to help our ‘backers and safeties cover these guys is always important,” he said. “But also putting (tight ends and running backs) in certain structures where it’s pressure structures where they have to block first before they go out. You can cover a back or tight end with certain structures. He can’t leave until he blocks first. So, absolutely.

“It’s tough to find tight ends, especially on first and second down. But on third downs, that’s the matchup they want because they get the leverage they want. That’s just football. It’s always been that way for my defense. We understand that.”

Joseph, Bonitto up for awards. Joseph and edge Nik Bonitto each were named finalists for awards on Thursday and Joseph won one, too.

The defensive coordinator won the Pro Football Writers Association of America’s assistant coach of the year award and was named a finalist for the same award given by the Associated Press.

“It’s cool, but I go back to the players and the coaches and the entire team,” Joseph said. “When you win games in this league, coaches get rewards and players get rewards. It’s a team game. It speaks to our team winning.

“The more we win around here, the more people will get rewarded for doing their job.”

Bonitto was named one of five finalists for the AP’s defensive player of the year award, which Surtain won last year.

“I’m super excited when I saw that news,” head coach Sean Payton said Thursday. “They’re two great candidates. Vance has been outstanding and a big reason we’re here. Then Nik, with the season he’s had — you know how I feel when they do these voting things every once in a while.

“Bonitto is an All-Pro player and a Pro Bowl player, and I’m happy for both of them.”

Bonitto finished one vote shy of earning second-team All-Pro from the AP last week and was seventh in voting among outside linebackers. But his 14-sack campaign was enough to land him among the top five for an award given to the best defensive player in football. Go figure.

Broncos’ health trending up. Every player on the 53-man roster except for quarterback Bo Nix (ankle) practiced Thursday. Nix is a mere formality on the team’s injury report before he is transferred to injured reserve, likely Saturday.

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