Rewatch: Broncos @ Steelers 9/15/86

The Broncos and Steelers on Monday Night Football, live from Pittsburgh, PA. Frank Gifford is in the booth with his new partner…Al Michaels! A young Al Michaels, just beginning a four-decade run of prime time NFL broadcasts. 

This is a fairly dull game in comparison to the Broncos’ season-opening win over the Raiders. The Broncos maintain a 7-0 lead into the third quarter. When the Steelers finally get a field goal, Michaels gleefully notes that Pittsburgh’s first points came at the 100 minute and 6 second mark of their season. They were blanked 30-0 in their opening game against the Seahawks. 

The Broncos respond with a quick 6-play, 80-yard drive, capped by John Elway faking a handoff to Sammy Winder and throwing deep to Steve Sewell for a 34-yard touchdown. 

However, the Steelers offense has awakened and they answer with their second consecutive scoring drive. Rich Erenberg scores from 7 yards out on a fourth-and-1 and it's a 14-10 ballgame with just under ten minutes left in regulation.

On the first play of the ensuing drive, the Broncos turn to another one of Danny Reeves' famous gadget plays. Elway tosses it to Gerald Willhite, who winds up and throws a strike to a wide, wide open Steve Watson for an apparent 79-yard touchdown. It's called back for an illegal forward pass, but the replays show that everything was clean. The line of scrimmage was the Denver 21 yard line, Elway threw it from about the 13, and Willhite caught it at about the 11. He took a few steps forward before releasing the ball, but was still well behind the line of scrimmage. The NFL has instituted instant replay for the 1986 season, and this seems like a great candidate for a reversal. But nothing happens.

Only after the Broncos run another play do the officials stop the action to discuss. Eventually, they decide that nothing can be done because the Broncos had already run another play. 

The Broncos wind up punting. Al Michaels lets us know that the replay booth said they hadn't been sure of what the call was on the field, and that's why no action was taken. Although it seemed pretty clear to me that the call was illegal forward pass on number 47, because that’s what the referee said when he turned on his mic.

Oh well. The Pittsburgh crowd is now fired up as the Steelers move into Denver territory, sensing the opportunity to turn the game in their favor. However, the drive ends with the Steelers’ David Hughes fumbling it away at the 35-yard line. The Broncos don't do anything with it, so the Steelers get another shot, but this time Mark Malone is intercepted by Tony Lilly, putting the Broncos in excellent field position. On the first play after the two-minute warning, Elway tosses it to Winder, who finds his way to the end zone for the clinching score.

My family acquired our first VCR at some point during the NFL offseason, and so my childhood problem of only being able to stay up until halftime of Monday night games was solved! This was the first of many games I taped through the years.

After the Broncos offense has returned to the sidelines following the final score, we hear Elway’s voice, “I want to say hi to my mom and wife” and then the camera goes to him on the sideline. He says, “Hi mom, Hi Janet, Hi Jessi. Woo!” I remember rewinding this greeting over and over again because a) I could, these VCRs are amazing b) it was hilarious and c) it was maybe the first quasi-personal interaction I had with Elway. We didn’t get Denver TV stations at the time, so we didn't get any of the extra coverage outside of the on-field action. 

Hello from Pittsburgh

Controversy would have ensued if the Steelers had taken advantage of the failed instant replay and rallied for a win. They did note that the Broncos were one of four teams to vote against instant replay, with the Steelers abstaining. Clearly the NFL didn't have the kinks worked out yet and it took years of stops and starts and tinkering to arrive at the system we have in place now. But even though we have challenge flags and automatic review of scoring plays and advanced cameras, there are still calls that get missed in the modern NFL.

History Repeats?

Today the Denver Broncos will play the Buffalo Bills in an AFC wildcard game. Why is it called wildcard when half the teams in this round won their division? Well, that question is beyond the scope of this post. The game kicks off at 11:00 AM MST in Buffalo. Where will I be for the first Broncos playoff game in nine years? At church, of course. The meeting schedule changed with the new year, and so church begins at 11:30. We’ll get home around 3:00, long after the game as concluded. So I’ll miss the live broadcast.

The last time the Broncos and the Bills met in the playoffs was January 1992, and I faced a similar scenario. It was the AFC Championship, I believe set to kick off at 10:30 AM. Our ward’s meeting schedule began at 9:00 for most of my life, but for this year it was changed to 11:00. I was in my teens at the time, and while it was disappointing to miss the live broadcast, I just set the old VCR. And then I would watch it afterwards, not knowing the result before I started. At least that was my plan.

Such a plan only works if you don’t accidentally hear something before you get home to rewind and watch the tape. In this case, someone in our ward went home during our meeting block and checked the score. And then came back in the door and loudly announced, which I overheard. So my plan to get full enjoyment of the game was spoiled!

The Broncos were not favored in this particular game. This was the peak era of Buffalo Bills football. They were the defending AFC champions, with back-to-back 13-3 seasons in the book. Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, Bruce Smith. The Broncos were coming off the Drive II where they narrowly escaped with a win over the Houston Oilers. They were a solid team, but beating the Bills on the road would not be easy. Yet when I heard that the Bills were holding onto a narrow 7-0 lead, I was encouraged. What to do??

I had a friend named Mike, who had keys to his family’s minivan. We wound up skipping the last hour of church and went out to listen to the fourth quarter on the radio. The Broncos nearly pulled the upset. Even though John Elway was out of the game, Gary Kubiak engineered a late drive to narrow it to 10-7. And then they recovered the onside kick. Could it be another miracle win, taking its place alongside “The Drive” and “The Fumble”? Alas, no. The Broncos fumbled near midfield, and the Bills held on for a close win. I think it was years later before I went back and watched the tape.

I don’t have a way to record the game today. I’m not signing up for YouTube TV at a rate of $90 a month so I can DVR. I do have the internet to keep me posted on the results, and I guess if I want to watch later there’s the NFL plus premium subscription for $15 that could facilitate that. It’s kicking off right now and I’m not sure what I’ll do. 

I don’t expect these Broncos to win this game, but sometimes you’re pleasantly surprised. We’ll see what happens!

A Word on the 2024 Broncos

And now a break from our regularly scheduled rewatching of mid-1980s Broncos games to check in on the current edition of the team.

Tomorrow they host the 15-1 Kansas City Chiefs in the season finale. If the Broncos win, they are in as the #7 seed in the AFC playoffs and head to Buffalo next weekend for their first playoff game since Super Bowl 50. Tall order? Not especially. The Chiefs are resting most of their top guys, meaning that the Broncos will likely claim victory over KC’s junior varsity.

I would have preferred it not be this way. The Broncos clinched their first winning season since 2016 on December 15 with a comeback win over the Colts. They were 9-5 and their win streak was at four games. All they needed was one more win to clinch a playoff spot, and at that point, rising as high as the #5 seed was not out of the question. Instead, they blew a halftime lead to the Chargers on the Thursday before Christmas and then lost in overtime last week to the Bengals. This kept playoff hopes alive for the Bengals as well as the Dolphins, who will claim the #7 seed with a victory over the hopeless Jets should the Broncos falter. 

It’s hard to say this isn’t backing into the playoffs. A win over the Chiefs will count in the standings regardless of who plays or doesn’t, but it does feel a little cheap. Also, five years ago the Broncos would already have been out of luck at this point but a 17-game season and a 14-team playoff have made this possible. 

The other issue is the fact that the 2024 Broncos are a bit of a paper tiger. Their record is a sterling 7-0 against teams with losing records, but only 1-6 against teams with winning records. They’ve split their games against two 8-8 teams, the Bengals and the Falcons. The best team they’ve beaten all year is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who currently have the same record as the Broncos. 

However it happens, it will be good to break this ugly streak of eight seasons missing the playoffs and talking about something besides what new coach they should hire. And it’s nice to see that Bo Nix has turned out to be reasonably competent and we’re not trying to figure out how to run him out of town. We have something to build on, which is less depressing than rolling out different combinations every year and hoping it works out. They still lack serious offensive threats - i.e. Pro Bowl level talent at running back, tight end, and receiver, and one has to wonder how good their defense actually is after some of these late-season showings. 

This season has been encouraging and it’s been fun to watch games that actually seem to matter, although this team is a long ways from competing for AFC supremacy with the Ravens, Chiefs, and Bills. 

Rewatch: Broncos vs. Raiders 9/7/86

The 1986 season starts off with a blockbuster between the 1984 and 1985 AFC West champs -  the last three games between the rivals have been decided in overtime. The Broncos get a touchdown on the opening drive, but the Raiders otherwise dominate in the early going. They score just about every way you can - getting two touchdowns, a safety, and a field goal on the first play of the second quarter to take 19-7 lead. 

And then comes what is perhaps the iconic play of the Broncos’ 1986 regular season. They have third-and-five at the Raiders 23. Elway hands to Sewell, who starts right, pauses, and then throws back across the field to a wide-open Elway, who hauls in the pass and ambles the remaining 15 yards for the touchdown. I don't know how many times I've seen it replayed through the years. Dozens upon dozens.

Elway with first (and only) career receiving TD

Don Criqui and Bob Trumpy are on the broadcast for NBC. Criqui says we'll see it again and again (prophetic) but Trumpy kind of poops on it. The ball wasn’t very well thrown. It's six points but it's a trick play and you can't just keep doing that. He seemed really unhappy about it and his partner probably had to tell him to go for a walk during the commercial break.    

Raiders answer with a field goal to go up 22-14. The Broncos pull within a point right before the half on a 1-yard run by Gene Lang after getting a big break on the previous play. Stacey Toran of the Raiders was called for pass interference on third-and-long on a ball that was out of the reach of Clarence Kay. 

The broadcast highlights the Broncos third quarter struggles of the previous season, in which they were outscored 103-39. The Broncos do finally get a touchdown when Ken Woodard forces a Marcus Allen fumble and returns it for the score, but it’s sandwiched between a pair of Raiders touchdowns. After three quarters, it’s Los Angeles 36, Denver 28 and it kind of seems like it might just be the Raiders’ day.

The Broncos have managed to keep it close with a heavy dose of Mile High Magic. So far they have touchdowns off of a gadget play, a generous pass interference penalty, and a turnover. And as the fourth quarter begins, Rich Karlis comes on and boots a career-long 51 yarder after going 0-for-5 from 50 or more in 1985. Napoleon McCallum then fumbles the ensuing kickoff, setting up the Broncos with another opportunity.

Denver gets deep into Raider territory and they put up a quote where Elway said that the Raiders might have a better defense than the Bears. And then he promptly hits Lang for a TD, giving the Broncos 37 points on the day and probably ending further comparisons. 

There is still plenty of time left and the Broncos are holding a narrow 38-36 lead. The Raiders are threatening with three and a hlaf minutes to play. Marc Wilson connects with Dokie Williams for a first down at the Denver 10, but he fumbles, turning it back to Denver.

This recording leaves in a lot of the ads. Sometimes it’s fun to remember the world of the 1980s that we once lived in. Commercials for the Yugo sent me on a bit of a rabbit hole researching the worst imported car ever. There has even been a book written about it.  AT&T used to present “you make the call” where it would replay a game situation and ask you, the fan, what should happen if you were the coach or the referee. The one they show here is from the Patriots-Bengals game the previous season, perhaps not ironically the one that wound up sealing the Broncos’ fate. Do the Patriots go for it on 4th-and-1 holding a narrow lead and a playoff spot on the line?  If you said yes, you’re right, as Robert Weathers sprints all the way to the end zone to clinch the victory.

The Broncos are facing their own version of “you make the call” at the two-minute warning. They have a 3rd-and-9 at their own 22. Trumpy asks Criqui if the Broncos should run it and rely on the defense or throw and try to convert. Criqui says throw it. 

They do indeed throw it and Steve Watson hauls in Elway’s pass for 36 yards, which essentially clinches the game. Even though Denver winds up punting three plays later, the pass forced the Raiders to burn their final two timeouts and shifted field position, rendering the Raiders' last-gasp possession nearly useless. The Broncos win in what remains the highest scoring Broncos-Raiders game ever. The one that came the closest was the Raiders’ 59-14 win during the Josh McDaniels era. 

This was the sixth consecutive game between these two teams decided by three points or less. I miss these days when these games were not only competitive but also quite meaningful in deciding the division title.

Reflection on the 1985 Broncos

Broncos players were surely glued to the TV on the final Sunday of the regular season and hoping to see a loss by the Patriots or the Jets, who were each facing an AFC Central opponent. 

The AFC Central champion Cleveland Browns kept it close in the first half before the Jets finished the game with 27 unanswered points to win 37-10 and clinch one of the remaining spots. 

Meanwhile, the Patriots jumped to a 20-6 halftime lead over the Cincinnati Bengals, only to have Cincinnati claw their way back into the game in the second half. New England held a narrow 27-23 advantage with two minutes remaining and faced a 4th-and-1 at the Bengal 42. The handoff went to Robert Weathers, who went all the way to the end zone to put the game, and the final AFC playoff berth, out of reach. 

The Patriots were the Cinderella story of the 1985 playoffs. They went on the road and upended the Jets in the wildcard game, then upset the top-seeded Raiders the following week in the LA Coliseum. They then dominated the defending AFC champs in the Orange Bowl to earn a trip to the Louisiana Superdome.

It’s hard to say how the Broncos would have fared if they had earned one of the wildcard berths. Winning three games on the road would have been tough, yet the Patriots managed the pull it off. No one in the AFC was invincible in 1985. The Dolphins were not as dominant as their Super Bowl team had been, and the Broncos played them evenly in an early-season matchup. The Raiders were a good team, but could they have beaten the Broncos a third time after squeaking out two narrow regular season victories? The toughest potential game for the Broncos may have been facing the Jets in the Meadowlands, a place where they would lose two games in 1986.

In the end, it wouldn’t have mattered. The 1985 season belonged to the Chicago Bears, and it’s unlikely any AFC opponent would have prevailed on Super Sunday. The Patriots lost 46-10 in what was the worst loss in Super Bowl history at that point. 

Even though they were still a year away from truly competing for an AFC title, the ‘85 Broncos were an impressive squad. Facing slim playoff hopes after losing at home to the Raiders, they came from behind to win in each of their final two games. They could have laid down and taken the 9-7 record, but had the character to go out and force the Jets and Patriots to earn their way into the playoffs. And so the Broncos became the first team to win 11 regular season games and miss the playoffs, which seems like an injustice because the Browns needed only an 8-8 record to clinch their spot.  Only one other team has stayed home with as many wins, when the 2008 Patriots stayed home at 11-5 while the Chargers won the AFC West with an 8-8 record.

These Broncos felt like a playoff team in so many ways but also had so many shortcomings. They totaled just 39 points on the season in the third quarter, with none over the final two months of the season. They finished just 1-4 against 1985 playoff teams. They failed to hold halftime leads over the Raiders and lost both games in overtime. They were forced to rely too heavily on the passing game once their running backs were depleted.  

However, the Broncos were beginning to earn respect around the league. Sammy Winder had been the only Pro Bowl representative for the 13-3 team from the prior year, but in 1985 four Broncos earned invitations. They were all from the defensive side of the ball - Karl Mecklenburg, Rulon Jones, Dennis Smith, and Louis Wright. In addition, Mecklenburg and Jones earned All-NFL recognition after combining for 23 sacks on the season. 

On offense, John Elway established himself as an elite NFL passer, and set team records in attempts, completions, and yardage. The talent around him was capable though not superb. Ten different players caught 19 or more passes with Steve Watson leading the way with 61. Sammy Winder totaled only 714 rushing yards on the year but led the team with eight touchdowns and set a team record with rushing touchdowns in five consecutive games. There was hope for the future as Vance Johnson set team rookie records with 51 receptions for 721 yards and had the team’s only 100-yard receiving performance of the season. Steve Sewell also played well in limited duty as a rookie, with a combined 499 yards rushing and receiving and 5 touchdowns. 

On the surface it might appear that the Broncos took a step back from their 1984 season, but in many ways the 1985 squad was better equipped to compete for a conference championship. The cards just didn't fall their way.

Rewatch: Broncos @ Seahawks 12/20/85

It's Monday Night Football…on Friday! This was a rare treat brought to us by the NFL and ABC in the mid-80s where they would play on Friday night in Week 16. It’s an early kickoff - 5:00 on the west coast - so it’s a late arriving crowd. 

This is the second of three consecutive seasons of the Broncos and Seahawks concluding their regular seasons with a non-Sunday game in the Kingdome. This time around, only the Broncos have something at stake. The Jets and Patriots both lost in week 15, so the Broncos can clinch a playoff spot with a win and either a Jets or Patriots loss on Sunday. The Seahawks’ record stands at 8-7 so there will be no playoffs for them, although they do have a chance at the rare 2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2 feat. Their entire season has alternated two wins and two losses. If the pattern follows, the Seahawks will lose this game.

Frank Gifford, working his 300th broadcast on ABC, declares, “The Kingdome. It's a beauty!” The camera pans the interior of the stadium which even by 80s standards was a bit of an eyesore. Perhaps realizing what he just said he follows it with, “Not a whole lot of cosmetics…”

Steve Largent goes over 10,000 career receiving yards on the first Seahawks possession. On the next play, Dave Krieg goes deep for Daryl Turner for a 41-yard touchdown. However, it will be Turner's last catch of the game and season. He has 23 touchdowns in 69 career receptions.

It’s five days before Christmas so they are saying Happy Holidays a lot. We get a shot of Santa. Apparently the northwest was in the midst of an epic fog storm which made visibility extremely poor and travel nearly impossible for several days. They talk extensively throughout the first half of the difficulty the crew had in just getting to Seattle for the game because very few flights were getting into or out of Seattle.

ABC is providing generous holiday helpings of the Seattle cheerleaders - aka "The Seagals" - whenever there is a lull in the on-field action. I love any cheerleader group that uses a pun for their name - see also the Buffalo Jills. The Seagals are basically wearing one-piece swimsuits with big sleeves.

One of many sideline shots provided by ABC

The Broncos punt for their third consecutive drive to start the game and the Seahawks recover and return it for a touchdown. The Broncos are in deep trouble as they are now trailing 17-0 on the road.

The Broncos finally get something going with just over six minutes remaining when Elway connects with Clint Sampson for a 46-yard gain. Two plays later he has Mike Barber open for the touchdown, but Barber trips on a seam in the Kingdom rug. But on 3rd and 10, and Elway hits Steve Watson for the touchdown. 

In addition to the Seagals, there is also a band on the sidelines. Not like a rock band, but a band with chairs and music stands and brass instruments. I'm not sure if they were a regular fixture at Seahawks games or if this was a special occasion. Anyways, it was something fun you could do in the 80s with all the extra space afforded by these multipurpose stadiums.

The Seagals accompanied by a band

The Broncos get the ball back with under two minutes left and it really seems like they want to provide the audience with a chance to get a jump on halftime. After a sack and a penalty, they have a 3rd and 18. But Elway completes a pass downfield to Clint Sampson, who bounces off the tackler for a few extra yards. Suddenly, the Broncos have the ball at the Seattle 32 with 36 seconds left. Passes to Steve Sewell and Butch Johnson get them inside the 10, and Rich "Carlos" comes on to kick a field goal and make the score 17-10.

Clint Sampson breaks free for extra yards

The recording of the game doesn't provide the in-depth look at the knee that ABC was promising at halftime. Not sure how deep they were going to be able to get in 15 minutes. 

The Seahawks get the ball first in the second half but have to punt it. The Broncos really seem to want to end their streak of scoreless third quarters and get a little frisky with their play calls. Elway completes a pass to Mark Cooper, the offensive lineman, that gets them to the Seattle 38.  The drive stalls and Chris Norman comes out to punt. However, instead of kicking, Norman winds up and throws deep to Ricky Hunley, who can't come down with it.

On their next possession, they get to the Seattle 35 and face a 4th and 8. They again eschew the punt and Elway passes to Gerald Willhite, who picks up 16 yards. He's having a good game with 3 catches for 45 yards.

However, the third quarter ends with the Broncos again failing to score. The last time the Broncos scored in the third quarter was in their first game with Seattle on October 20. The last time they scored a touchdown in the third quarter was October 6 against the Oilers.

Willhite winds up with the touchdown after they switch ends of the field, and the game is tied at 17. 

Mike Harden intercepts Krieg on the second play of the ensuing drive. The Broncos are poised to take their first lead of the game, but Rich Karlis is wide left on a 34-yard field goal attempt and the score remains tied. 

The Seahawks put together their first drive of any substance since the second quarter, and a 38-yard run by Curt Warner gets them to the Denver 3. There is much discussion about the knee injury that cost him the 1984 season. The Seahawks aren’t so worried about the knee and hand the ball to him on the next four plays. He finally gets in by leaping over the top on fourth and goal from the Denver 1. With 5:20 left, the Seahawks have regained a 7-point lead. Is the Broncos season near an end?

However, the Broncos respond. Elway spins away from a sack and Steve Watson drifts behind the defense. Elway fires a pass that travels 60 yards in the air to Steve Watson, who hauls it in at the Seattle 5. The throw clinches Elway's first career 400-yard game. Winder carries the ball to the 2 and Willhite takes it to the 1. Sewell is stopped shy of the goal line and the Broncos now face their own fourth-and-goal. They go for it, with Sewell scoring. The extra point ties it at 24 with 2:35 left. 

The Seahawks go three and out before the 2 minute warning. The win probability has shifted to Denver.  

The Broncos start on the Seattle 40 following the punt. Elway dumps it to Sewell who takes it for a 27-yard gain. However, Jeff Bryant dived and hit Elway below the knee on the play. He gets up hobbling. Didn't Bryant watch the halftime show about the knee? 

Gary Kubiak comes on in relief and runs three plays, getting them close enough for a 43-yard Karlis field goal with 55 seconds left. Elway is out on the field to offer congratulations so it's apparently not that serious.

Elway and Kubiak teamed up for winning drive

The game is not over. The Seahawks still have a shot. They get it across midfield and have a 1st and 10 with 21 seconds left. On 3rd and 10 they get it to the 35 and Norm Johnson comes out for a 52-yard attempt. If he kicks it through, these two teams are headed to their second overtime game of the season. But he hits the upright. Broncos win, 27-24. Battling back from 17 points down on the road to get the win? Denver, are you kidding me? 

Elway was known for having a knack for the late comeback with 44 career regular season fourth-quarter comebacks or game winning drives. This marks his 7th such game of the 1985 season. He had no more than 4 in any other season throughout his career. 

Near the two minute warning, Frank described scenario that I didn’t fully understand even after listening carefully a few more times. It seems like he’s saying that if Denver and the three AFC East teams all end up at 11-5 then it is going to come down to margin of victory and potentially the Dolphins could lose out on not only their division but a wildcard. But if Miami is out of a wildcard, then who gets it? It would have to be Denver. But they’ve been feeding us the line that only a Jets or a Patriots loss will be good enough to get the Broncos the wildcard.

Since I didn’t understand, I decided to research the entire scenario, which is what totally normal people do. Here’s what I think Frank was suggesting.

If the Jets and Patriots win on Sunday and the Dolphins lose, all four teams will finish 11-5. 

In that scenario, the Jets are the AFC East champions by virtue of the third tiebreaker because they have a 9-3 conference record and the Patriots and Dolphins would each be 8-4. 

So the next thing would be to apply tiebreakers to determine who among Miami, New England, and Denver gets the wildcard spots. 

The first tiebreaker does not apply because Denver and New England didn’t play each other so there was no head-to-head sweep among the three teams. This would mean the Broncos’ loss to the Dolphins is basically “thrown out” of the tiebreaker. 

The second tiebreaker is conference record and all three teams would be 8-4.

The third tiebreaker does not apply because the only common opponent among the three teams is the Colts, and there must be at least four common opponents. 

So we’re at the fourth tiebreaker, which is plus or minus points in conference games. Denver finished +27 for the season. The Patriots are +33 so in this scenario the Broncos couldn’t pass them. Miami has a pretty wide margin in this category at +63, but this provides the one more avenue for the Broncos to reach the playoffs should the Jets and Patriots both win. If the Dolphins lose their final game by 37 or more points, the Broncos are in. The one problem is that the Dolphins are playing the Buffalo Bills, who are 2-13 on the season. But anything is possible, right?

Rewatch: Broncos vs. Chiefs 12/14/85

The Chiefs visit Denver for a late-season Saturday afternoon game. Don Criqui and Bob Trumpy are on hand to bring us the action. 

The season is over for Kansas City. A seven-game losing streak following a 3-1 start ended their hopes of competing in the AFC West. They tell us that head coach John Mackovic will be evaluated after the season. 

Meanwhile, the Broncos’ playoff hopes are hanging by the thread. They must win their final two games and need either the Dolphins, Patriots, Jets, or Raiders to lose their final two to secure a spot. 

The good news is that one small piece of that puzzle has already slid into place. The Jets lost to the Bears in the early Saturday game.

Garcia Lane is returning back punts for the Chiefs, the only actual instance I know of a person with the first name Garcia, other than the fictional whistleblower guy in the movie The Pelican Brief.

The first half moves along quickly, with no penalty flags thrown until well into the second quarter. Don and Bob don't quite know what to make of a quiet Denver crowd, but there isn’t a lot happening. The Broncos get deep into Kansas City territory once but Elway is intercepted in the end zone. 

Elway sets the single season passing yardage record for Denver, surpassing Craig Morton's 1981 mark of 3,195 yards. Interestingly, Broncos receivers have collectively gone the entire season without a 100-yard receiving game. 

They mention that the Chiefs have a 14-year playoff drought going. Their last appearance was in 1971, when they lost to the Dolphins in the longest game in NFL history on Christmas Day. That loss concluded a very successful decade from 1962 to 1971 in which the Chiefs went 90-42-8 with three AFL titles and a Super Bowl victory.

The Broncos score just before the half when Elway beats the Kansas City blitz and fires to Vance Johnson for the touchdown and take a 7-3 lead into halftime.

The Chiefs narrow the margin to 7-6 in the third quarter. Bob Trumpy is concerned about the Broncos’ listless performance. "Looking stiff." "No life." "Waiting to lose."

Elway connects with Vance Johnson on a 48-yard pass play that gets them to the Kansas City 30. There are still more than four minutes left in the quarter. Could the scoreless third quarter streak finally be coming to an end?

Vance Johnson breaking free for 48 yards

They send Sammy Winder up the middle for a gain of 2. The fans boo, I'm assuming due to the play call. On 2nd and 8, Elway chucks the ball up under pressure and it is intercepted by Albert Lewis at the 2-yard line.

And so the streak of scoreless third quarters reaches 8 games, or half of an NFL season.

The Broncos have the ball as the fourth quarter opens.  They cross midfield on a 20-yard completion to Steve Watson. But two plays later, Elway is intercepted by Lloyd Burruss on 3rd and 10. It's Elway's fourth interception of the game. 

The Chiefs' drive stalls at the Bronco 37. The punt is a touchback so the Broncos take over at their own 20 with just over nine minutes remaining and still clinging to a one-point lead.

There's a skip in the recording because the next thing we see is the Chiefs have the ball at the Denver 8. Wait, what did we miss?

Turns out, just another Elway interception. He was intercepted by Lewis on the first play of the Broncos' drive, setting the Chiefs up at the Denver 28. None of the previous four interceptions had cost the Broncos anything more than a little field position. But this gave the Chiefs their best field position of the day. A 7-yard touchdown pass from Todd Blackledge to Stephone Paige and the Nick Lowery extra point puts Kansas City back in front, 13-7.

I realized while watching that this was the "Janet Elway" game. I remember the story from years ago and had to look it up to refresh the details. From an article written by T.J. Simers of the LA Times:

The Denver faithful were booing Elway, as they did so often during those early years, and after a fifth interception, a fan stood and let Janet Elway’s husband really have it.

“You can get your . . . wife pregnant, but you can’t . . . do anything else, ya bum.”

Janet Elway popped the guy. Slapped him right in the face before a number of Elway’s college buddies jumped in to save the heckler’s life.

For context, John and Janet's daughter Jessica was two months old, having been born in October, about a week before the previous meeting between Denver and Kansas City. I imagine this was big news around town.

Football players are real people, which is hard to remember. I don't know why John Elway was having an off day. He was still a young quarterback and continuing to deal with the pressure and expectations of an inpatient fan base. Maybe it had been a rough week with the baby. Who really knows?

The same goes for the entire Broncos team. Bob Trumpy was rightfully critical of their lackadaisical performance. But in their defense, they were only six days removed from a really tough overtime loss in which they had surrendered a two-touchdown lead to the rival Raiders, one that had likely cost them the AFC West title. They still had slim hopes of making the playoffs as a wild card, but as described above, they were going to need a lot of help. Perhaps the players could see the writing on the wall. Even if they are professionals, I imagine it's hard to get up for a game if there is a sense that the season is already lost. They are only human. 

However, falling behind seems to have given the Broncos a spark. Elway completes a 12-yarder to Steve Sewell. Then a 14-yarder to Watson. Then a 29-yarder to Vance Johnson, and with that catch Vance becomes the Broncos' first 100-yard receiver of the season. 

It really does seem like the Broncos are done messing around and are going to take control. But on a 3rd-and-3 from the Kansas City 8, Elway pitches to Sewell and the ball winds up on the ground. The Chiefs recover. It's the fifth consecutive Denver drive to end with a turnover.

Only 2:30 remains in the game, but the Broncos have all their timeouts remaining. But if the Chiefs can manage a first down or two they might be able to run out the clock. 

They can't get a first down and as an added bonus they stop the clock twice. At the two-minute warning it's 4th and 2 and the Broncos have only used one timeout. The Chiefs punt it back to the Broncos with 1:53 left.

The first play is a 42-yard catch-and-run by Steve Watson that gets them inside the Kansas City 20. Elway converts a 4th and inches at the Kansas City 8. Winder scores three plays later on a 3rd and goal from the 1.

The extra point is up and through to give the Broncos a 14-13 lead with 22 seconds left. The Broncos survive, moving their record to 10-5. A win next week against the Seahawks, paired with a Jets loss, will be enough to get them to the AFC playoffs.

This one takes its place in a long list of Broncos games from the Reeves era that were pretty ugly for three and a half quarters yet because John Elway was the quarterback they came away with a win. After the Chiefs took the lead with seven minutes remaining, John Elway completed 8 of 8 passes for 122 yards.