Rewatch: Broncos at Seahawks 12/15/84

I’ve referred to this game in several of my previous rewatch posts - the Week 16 Saturday Showdown in the Kingdome between the Broncos and Seahawks. The winner gets the AFC West crown, a week off, and a home playoff game. The loser plays the next week in the wildcard game against the Raiders. A game like this wouldn't have the same magnitude today as the number of playoff teams dilutes the value of a division title - probably they'd just be playing to determine which team would host the other the following week.

A Kingdome-record crowd of 64,411 is on hand, but the Broncos quickly quiet them when Elway connects with Steve Watson for a 73-yard completion on the second play of the game, much like the Seahawks did when they scored on an 80-yard touchdown on the first play of the game in Denver. The Broncos punched it in on a 1-yard run by Elway and took a 7-0 lead. However, Elway's first half stat line outside of the opening drive is not great: 4-for-14 for 23 yards and 4 interceptions. The Seattle defense was number one in takeaways in 1984, but in this game the offense was unable to do much with them and so the Broncos maintained a 10-7 lead at halftime. 

The number two team in takeaways in 1984 was the Denver Broncos, and they were able to take control of the game in the second half thanks in part to turnovers. Seattle returner Randall Morris is stripped of the ball on the second half kickoff by Bronco rookie Tony Lilly. Denver recovers the ball and scores moments later on a pretty pass from Elway to Jim Wright to take a 17-7 lead. After the teams exchange punts, Seattle QB Dave Krieg is intercepted by Steve Foley, who returns it 40 yards for a touchdown. It’s the 39th interception of Foley’s career and his first pick 6. Even though we didn't call it a pick 6 back then. It was the Broncos’ eighth touchdown off a turnover for the year, tying Seattle for the NFL lead. 

Foley retired two years later as the Broncos’ all-time leader in interceptions with 44, a record he still holds to this day and for the foreseeable future. Current Bronco Justin Simmons has a ways to go with only 27.

Steve Foley after first career pick 6

The Seahawks answer with a quick 73-yard touchdown drive, but the Broncos come back with a TD drive of their own to increase their lead to 31-14. The Seahawks drain about 8 minutes of game clock on a fourth quarter drive that stalls at the Broncos 15. Norm Johnson comes on to kick a field goal, and they attempt a poorly executed fake. And that’s essentially the ball game. Karl Mecklenburg gets a 42-yard interception return in the final minute similar to his one in Detroit.

The Broncos clinch their first AFC West crown since 1978 and are guaranteed no worse than hosting the AFC Central champion in the divisional round of the playoffs. As this game ended, they still had a chance at home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs if the Dolphins were to stumble the following day against the Cowboys (they didn’t). The Seahawks still faced the possibility of going on the road to play the Raiders in the wildcard round if the Raiders finished their season with a win over the Steelers (they didn’t).  

On the broadcast they mentioned that Seattle had seven players selected to the Pro Bowl, compared to just one for the Broncos - running back Sammy Winder. To add insult to injury, the Raiders had eight players selected and the Chiefs had two. So they Broncos were outnumbered on Pro Bowlers 17-1 by teams that they finished a collective 5-1 against in 1984. 

It made me wonder who on the Broncos was "snubbed"

John Elway was the headliner of the 1984 team, and without him the Broncos probably don’t make the playoffs. However, statistically he was not great. Dave Krieg with 32 TD passes got the backup slot behind Dan Marino, who spent 1984 setting NFL records.

Steve Watson had a really good year - 69 catches for 1,170 yards and 7 touchdowns, but he wasn't getting in ahead of Miami's "Marks Brothers" and the Steelers' John Stallworth and Seattle's Steve Largent also had stellar years.

Defensively, hard to say if there were any snubs. Louis Wright made the Pro Bowl in 1983 and 1985 but not 1984, beat out by Seattle’s Dave Brown, who had a career year. Rulon Jones had 11 sacks in 1984 but faced pretty stiff competition at defensive end - Mark Gastineau, Howie Long, and Art Still. Dennis Smith lost out to the Raiders’ Vann McElroy, who had also been voted in the prior season. Karl Mecklenburg was only in his second season. 1984 was just a year where the Broncos lost out in the numbers game possibly because they were a team that wasn’t expected to do much and sort of flew under the radar. But people started paying attention after the stellar season: Rulon, Meck, and Dennis Smith all made the Pro Bowl in both 1985 and 1986.