Denver and Seattle both come into this one riding two-game win streaks. This game begins a crucial stretch of the schedule in which the Broncos will play 8 of 10 against AFC West opponents.
The Broncos take the ball right down the field on their opening drive. 80 yards in nine plays, concluding with a nifty 36-yard run by Sammy Winder to put the Broncos in the lead 7-0. It's pretty rare to see Winder rip off a long gain like that.
The Raiders wind up scoring late to beat the Browns 21-20 in Cleveland, moving their record on the season to 5-2 and temporarily putting them in a half-game lead over the Broncos and Seahawks for first place in the AFC West. Dick Enberg has a feeling the AFC West won't be decided until the final week of the season...not much of a stretch considering that's how it went in 1984 and that all five teams were separated by a single game going into Week 7.
A rookie named Eugene Robinson is flagged for an illegal block on a punt return. It is in fact the same Eugene Robinson who will be beaten by the Broncos in consecutive Super Bowls 12 and 13 years later.
Seattle has sack nullified by an offsides penalty, giving Elway another shot at third down which he converts with a pass to Vance Johnson. Dick has fun telling us about all of Elway's sons: Vance JohnSON, Butch JohnSON, Steve WatSON, Clint SampSON.
The Broncos have a 16-play drive that includes a 4th-and-inches conversion by Winder at the Seattle 15, but ultimately Rich Karlis has to come out for a field goal try, which is blocked, leaving them with no points on the clock-chewing drive.
The Broncos get the ball back and have another shot at a field goal from 52, but this time Karlis is wide right.
Krieg connects with Paul Skansi for a first down at the Broncos 38. It’s their deepest penetration of the first half, but Skansi is injured on the hit by Dennis Smith and won’t return to the game. On third-and-10, Dave Krieg loses the snap and the Broncos recover with a few seconds left in the second quarter. They get close enough for Karlis to try again from 56 on the last play of the half, but he is again wide right. Neither team has managed a score since the opening drive of the game.
The Seahawks receive the kickoff to start the second half and on the first play Curt Warner is stripped of the ball with the Broncos recovering at the 30. But they can't move the ball and after three first half misses by Karlis, decide to punt. Chris Norman pins the Seahawks back on their 4-yard line, but the Broncos’ third takeaway of the game soon follows. An interception by Tony Lilly sets them up at the Seattle 30 once again. They stall, but Karlis boots a 45-yarder to extend the Denver lead to 10 points.
Denver's defense has been stout, but with the offense unable to capitalize on scoring opportunities, a Krieg to Steve Largent touchdown pass cuts their lead to 3 with 1:46 left in the third quarter. The pass extended a couple of streaks - Krieg now has 25 straight games with a TD pass and Largent has 114 consecutive games with a reception.
The Broncos offense goes three-and-out to end the quarter. Seahawks All-Pro safety Kenny Easley is returning punts for the injured Paul Skansi. He doesn't call for a fair catch and gets leveled by Daniel Hunter before he can catch the ball. The Broncos are flagged, but the Seahawks star is down for several minutes.
Curt Warner goes down with an injury and Merlin takes the opportunity to talk about Broncos defensive coordinator Joe Collier’s use of Polaroid pictures sent down from the coaches booth to get a look at how the Seahawks are attacking his defense. Cutting edge for 1985!
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| Joe Collier studying photos on sideline |
The Broncos don't manage a first down in the second half until there are five minutes left in the fourth quarter. The game is now tied at 10, but the Broncos might be ready to make their move. But on a third-and-5 at the Denver 43, Bill Bryan snaps it over Elway's head. It's a 22-yard loss and they have to punt with three and a half minutes remaining.
Seattle takes over at their own 34. Curt Warner rips off a 12-yard run for a first down near midfield. The Seahawks have been able to run the ball on the Broncos (Warner winds up well over 100 yards) but they haven't been able to get a passing game going. So it seems like the best thing to do would be to just run the ball and the clock, get in position to score, and leave the Broncos as little time as possible. But for some reason Krieg launches a deep ball in the direction of Daryl Turner, who doesn’t have a catch in the game. Mike Harden intercepts and gets a 28-yard return to the Denver 34.
There's been a lot of talking up of Dave Krieg on the broadcast and oh, wow, look how his stats are better than Elway's! But it's okay, the next few years will reveal who the vastly superior player is.
However, the Broncos again can’t get a first down and faced with a fourth-and-1 decision elect to punt it away and play for overtime. Chris Norman is getting a lot of work in this one and making the most of his opportunities - the ball rolls out of bounds on the 2-yard line with 0:03 on the clock.
The Seahawks win the toss and elect to receive, but the stalemate continues. Karl Mecklenburg gets his second sack of the day on third down and forces a punt. He’s up to 8 1/2 sacks on the year.
The Broncos can't do anything with their first two overtime possessions and each time Chris Norman pins them inside their 20.
We're nearly halfway through the overtime period when Seattle begins their third possession. Dennis Smith forces a fumble on a sack, but Seattle recovers at their 10. However, on the very next play, Krieg misses Largent and is picked off by Daniel Hunter, who returns it 19 yards to the Seattle 16.
Fortunately for the Broncos, the ball is already in field goal range, so they aren’t going to have to get a first down in order to win it. They still run three plays before bringing on Karlis. The 24-yard attempt is not much more than an extra point, but as Dick and Merlin point out, the Broncos have missed three extra points on the year. Also, this hasn’t exactly been a stellar day for Karlis with the three missed field goals. He barely squeezes it inside the left upright, but it’s good for a Broncos 13-10 victory.
The Seahawks led the NFL in takeaways in 1984 with 64 and the Broncos were second with 56. However, in this one, Denver won the turnover battle 5-0.
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| Dan Reeves’ pregame prediction |
Even with the wide disparity in turnovers, failures with the offense and special teams kept it close. The Broncos missed three field goals and managed only a single first down after halftime. Nearly a third of the Broncos' offensive production on the day came on the first drive of the game.
Clearly, the Broncos weren't going to let Seattle throw the ball on them. Steve Largent was held to a single reception. Daryl Turner had no catches on the day. Krieg completed 9 of 32 passes for 115 yards and 3 interceptions. He was also sacked five times leaving Seattle with just 77 net passing yards in 69 minutes of play.
Chris Norman had probably the best game of his career. He punted 11 times for 517 yards, a 47 yard average, and pinned the Seahawks in their own end numerous times. He's in the midst of the best stretch of his career. Unfortunately, it doesn't last, and he's replaced the following season.
I really miss the Denver-Seattle divisional rivalry. Why did the Seahawks have to go to the NFC? Couldn't we have send the Chargers instead?
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