Rewatch: Dolphins at Broncos 9/29/85

This is the AFC Championship matchup between Dan Marino and John Elway that we didn't get nine months earlier after the Broncos were upset by the Steelers. 

It’s certainly playoff weather. Although we’re only a little more than a week removed from summer, Denver got 8 inches of snow and hit a record low temperature for September at 17 degrees Fahrenheit. At game time it’s 29 degrees and there are piles of snow at either end of the field. 

The game had received the annual “Orange Sunday” designation although it turned out to be more of a White Sunday in retrospect. And as one might expect, NBC’s lead crew of Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen were on hand. 

Touché 

The Broncos are first on the scoreboard. Rulon Jones forces a fumble on the Dolphins’ third possession and recovers at the Miami 25. The offense cashes in with Gene Lang scoring on a 10-yard run. 

However, momentum quickly swings back to the Dolphins. Marino hits Nat Moore for a 69-yard touchdown to tie the game. The Dolphins are back in scoring position again after a sack of Elway, a punt, and a 15-yard late hit penalty on Steve Busick. Another touchdown by Moore is nullified by penalty, but the Dolphins still get the field goal to take the lead. 

In the second quarter, Elway connects with Butch Johnson and Lang for big gains, and then Sammy Winder scores on 7-yard run with 5:32 left before halftime to make it 14-10, Denver. 

Dolphins get pinned back on their own 14 on the ensuing kickoff, but Tony Nathan hauls in a Marino pass and rumbles 75 yards before being brought down by Ken Woodard. The Broncos D rises up and holds the Dolphins to just a field goal, retaining a one-point lead. 

However, the Broncos can't move the ball so Marino gets to run the 2-minute offense, which results in a TD pass to Joe Rose to put the Dolphins in front, 20-14. 

NBC is flashing baseball scores. The Kansas City Royals lost 6-3 to the Twins, putting them a game back of the Angels with a week left in the season. Dick tells us that they’ve got a four-game series with the Angels starting tomorrow. The Royals wind up taking three of four in that series, win the AL West by a game, and go on to win the World Series. It seems a little unusual to hear commentary on pennant races during an NFL broadcast, but this was a very long time ago. 

It’s not halftime yet. The Broncos get inside the Miami 40 on a pass interference penalty and then Elway scrambles to get them in field goal range. Rich Karlis comes on to kick a field goal but hits the left upright and it bounces back onto the field, no good. We’ve seen this before, haven’t we?

But there was a flag on the play. Twelve men on the field for the Dolphins, so the Broncos get five yards and another attempt for Karlis. This time the kick glances off the right upright, but goes through. They don’t keep stats on it but you have wonder where Rich ranks on the all time list for hitting the upright. The successful try narrows Miami’s lead to 20-17 at the half. 

The Broncos go 82 yards in 10 plays to open second half, with Winder scoring his second touchdown of the game to put the Broncos back in the lead. Karlis converts the extra point to make it 24-20. But wait…there is a penalty on number 67, Dean Miraldi, for illegal motion. I probably wouldn’t even be including the detail of the extra point except this time Karlis misses. So the lead is only three. In this back-and-forth game, will that come back to bite the Broncos?

The teams each take a turn with the ball, and then the Dolphins drive to the Broncos 46. It’s 3rd-and-9. Marino finds the legendary Vince Heflin for the first down and he spins away from Louis Wright and Steve Foley and takes it all the way. Heflin is only in action because Mark Clayton left the game with an injury. Mark Duper didn’t play at all and yet Marino is shredding the Broncos pass defense. He finishes this game with 390 yards and 3 touchdowns.

The Dolphins get the ball back after the Broncos fail to move it, and with the aid of a pair of pass interference penalties on third downs, they get into easy field goal range and extend their lead to 30-23.

But the Broncos get a nice kickoff return from Vance Johnson, and aided by a 15-yard penalty on the Dolphins, they set up at midfield to begin their next drive. There are still 8 minutes left on the clock, and plenty of time for the Broncos to tie this one up. However, shortly after Dick runs down the NBC Sunday night lineup of Punky Brewster, Silver Spoons, Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and the NBC Sunday Night Movie, which is “First Blood”, Winder fumbles and it is recovered by Miami.

Miami can’t move the ball and Mecklenburg drops Marino for a sack on third down to force a punt, but precious time has ticked off the clock.

The Broncos move downfield quickly and a pass to Butch Johnson gets them a first-and-10 at the Miami 16. However, they stall there and settle for a field goal rather than going for it on fourth and long. Probably the right move. They’ve cut it to 30-26 and there are still three and a half minutes to play. Dick and Merlin say that Dan Reeves is gambling on his defense. 

The gamble on the defense turns out to be a good one, but the gamble on the special teams - not so much. The Broncos surrender a big kickoff return to Lorenzo Hampton, who brings it back almost to midfield. Even though the Broncos defense forces a three-and-out, Reggie Roby pins the Broncos deep with a punt. So with a 1:39 remaining, the Broncos are 97 yards from the opposing end zone and need to get all of it - remember that missed extra point? 

Elway completes a couple of passes but is then intercepted to end the final threat. Marino is the victor in Elway-Marino I. 

This seems like it will be the first of many duels between these two quarterbacks from the 1983 QB draft class and that they will battle for AFC supremacy for years to come. And yet, Elway-Marino II won’t come for another 13 years, and they will retire having met only three times in the regular season or playoffs. Contrast that with Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, who met 17 times during the 15 years their careers overlapped. 

It might be the weirdest scheduling quirk in sports history and isn’t limited to just the playing careers of Marino and Elway. This game was the only meeting between the Dolphins and Broncos between 1976 and 1997 - a span of 22 seasons. In those days, due to the irregular size of divisions, teams weren’t guaranteed to meet every four seasons the way they are now. Schedules were partially a function of how you finished in your division the prior season. For example, because the Broncos finished first in the AFC West in 1984, the teams from the AFC East that went on their slate in 1985 were the Dolphins (1st in 1984) and the Colts (4th in 1984). Even when the formula shifted from 1st-4th and 2nd-3rd matchups to 1st-3rd and 2nd-4th matchups, the Broncos and Dolphins still didn’t align. Jim Kelly, another member of the 1983 QB class, met Elway head-to-head six times, and his Bills played in the same division as Marino’s Dolphins.

The craziness extends beyond the regular season. One would think that Elway and Marino would have crossed paths in the postseason on a frequent basis. They would have faced off in the 1983 and 1984 playoffs but for the fact that the Broncos didn’t win their first playoff game either time. And then from 1985 to 1996, the Broncos and Dolphins never qualified for the playoffs in the same season, although one or the other qualified every season in that span (with the exception of 1988). It wasn’t until the 1998 season, Elway’s final year, when they finally crossed paths in the postseason. Oddly enough, Elway-Marino III came only three weeks after Elway-Marino II. The whole thing is just bonkers!

What I’m trying to say in so many words is that this Week 4 game is one of the hidden gems in Bronco history, although no one fully realized how special at the time. And despite the cold, it was an exciting, well-played game. Only three turnovers between the two teams. Time of possession was dead even - 29:59 to 30:01. Six lead changes. A 300-yard passer, a pair of 100-yard receivers (Nathan and Moore) and a 100-yard rusher (Winder). 

In 1984, the Broncos didn’t lose their second game until Week 13, but it’s only Week 4 of the 1985 season and they have already dropped their second game. At 2-2, they’re in a four-way tie for second place in the AFC West behind the 3-1 Kansas City Chiefs. 

Rewatch: Broncos at Falcons 9/22/85

This is a game that I probably didn’t get to see back when it was originally broadcast. At the time, we received our television signal from Northern New Mexico via aerial antenna, so the stations were all out of Albuquerque. We usually got the Broncos games, especially if they were in the 2 PM slot. But Albuquerque was truly Dallas Cowboys territory, so on occasion we were deprived of the Broncos game if there was a conflict. At the time, NBC had rights to inter-conference games in which the AFC team was the visitor. On this week it so happened that both the Broncos and Cowboys were slated to play in the early slate of games. And since in both cases NBC had the broadcast (the Cowboys were hosting the AFC Browns), the Broncos game took a back seat in New Mexico.

This game was called by Don Criqui and Bob Trumpy. Sometimes Criqui just calls him Trump. Not sure how that would go over today.

Broncos take the lead when rookie Vance Johnson hauls in a short pass from Elway and then takes the pass 63 yards for a touchdown.

Even though they got the big play, Elway seems a little off his game and is intercepted twice in the early going. The Falcons return the second one for a touchdown to tie the score.

The game is tied at 14 when Elway finds Watson for a 40-yard gain to the Atlanta 1, and Sammy Winder scores to put the Broncos back in front. Falcons QB Steve Bartkowski attempts to execute a two-minute offense, but under pressure is intercepted by Louis Wright, and the Broncos take their lead into halftime. 

This turns out to be the Broncos’ last appearance at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, which is an interesting venue for football. This being a September game, a good portion of the playing surface is dirt due to their shared arrangement with the Atlanta Braves. Multi-purpose stadiums are now a thing of the past, but were fairly commonplace in the 1980s - nearly half of NFL teams shared their stadium with a baseball club, including the Broncos.

Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium

The football setup in Atlanta is clearly not ideal. As seen in the picture above, the near sideline runs from third base to first base, so if you're sitting behind the dugouts or home plate you are a long ways from the football action. In other multi-purpose setups the sideline typically runs parallel to one of the baselines. The far sideline is not quite as bad although a little irregular. Seats near the goal lines are closer than those on the 50-yard line.

Even though their stadium is half-empty, the Falcons have not given up the fight. On the first play from scrimmage in third quarter, Bartkowski goes deep to Billy “White Shoes” Johnson, who has beaten Mike Harden. White Shoes hauls it in for a 62 yard touchdown. He breaks out his wobbly-kneed funky chicken dance and gets flagged for taunting although it is pretty benign by today’s standards. 

The Broncos retake the lead on a couple of Rich Karlis field goals, but a short punt by Chris Norman puts the Falcons back in business with primo field position at the Denver 40. Moments later, Bartkowski finds White Shoes for another touchdown and there is another end zone dance and another flag. The Broncos defeated two 1970s Houston Oilers legends the prior week, but can they defeat a third?

The Falcons take a 28-27 lead on the extra point, and with 15 minutes and 7 seconds remaining, it is still anyone’s game. 

However, things quickly swing back in Denver’s favor. Elway goes deep for Clint Sampson and pass interference is called at the Atlanta 30. On top of that, the Falcons are flagged an additional 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct. The 57 yards of combined penalties set the Broncos up on the Atlanta 15, and they score moments later on a 2-yard run by Gene Lang to retake the lead.

The Falcons start moving the ball again and cross midfield. They have a 3rd and 4 from the Denver 42 and Bartkowski throws deep but Wright has good coverage. So it’s 4th and 4 with about 10 minutes still left in the game. It would seem to make sense to punt it in this situation and pin the Broncos back in their own end. Maybe they force a turnover or get a defensive stop and get the ball back. There is still plenty of time on the clock and they are only down six points. 

But for some reason the Falcons decide to go for it on fourth down. Maybe they had no faith in the defense and figured the only shot they had at winning this game was to simply outscore the Broncos. Bartkowski hits White Shoes on a short pass over the middle but Steve Foley brings him down about two feet shy of a first down. 

The Broncos take over at their own 38 and almost immediately wind up in 3rd & long and it looks like the strategy might pay off for the Falcons. They blitz, but Elway gets it off to Vance Johnson, who makes a nifty grab on the sideline just past the first-down marker and gets his feet down in bounds. The second nice play of the day for Vance and it appears the kid has a future in orange. The Broncos wind up with a field goal and go up 37-28.

The Falcons take one more shot. Bartkowski completes a deep pass to Stacey Bailey but the ball is knocked loose by Tony Lilly and recovered by Harden. The Broncos run some time off the clock and then Elway goes for the kill shot, finding Butch Johnson for the 31-yard game-clinching touchdown. It was Elway’s third TD pass of the game and his ninth of the season. The Broncos wind up with eight scoring drives in the game and the 44 points is the highest single-game output thus far in Elway’s young career.  

The Broncos improve to 2-1 on the season, putting them in a four-way tie atop the AFC West.

Rewatch: Broncos vs. Saints 9/15/85

I couldn't resist coming back for another season after seeing the variety of games available for the 1985 Broncos.

The Saints came to town for Broncos home opener. The Broncos are coming off a road loss to the L.A. Rams to open the season the week before. It's kind of a gray and cloudy day in Denver. There's no audio of the broadcast for the first several minutes, just some groovy music and messages about technical difficulties.  When we finally get sound midway through the first quarter, the Broncos have just taken a 7-0 lead on a John Elway to Butch Johnson touchdown pass, although the actual play has been removed from the video. 

CBS is on the broadcast, and once again they've sent Steamboat-lovin' Verne Lundquist and Elway-hatin' Terry Bradshaw. This will be the Broncos' only appearance on the network in 1985.  

The Saints are beginning the 19th year in the NFL and are still a couple of years away from their first winning season. They are led by Bum Phillips, who is strolling the sideline sporting his trademark cowboy hat, sky-blue trousers, a large belt buckle, and a white western-style shirt. I kind of miss this era of coaching fashion. He's starting his fifth year as the coach in New Orly-ans (as Verne says it) although his son Wade, the Saints defensive coordinator, will take over head duties by the end of the year. Only four years later Wade will come to Denver to head the Broncos' defensive unit. 

Bum Phillips in sideline attire

Bum rose to fame in the late 1970s as head coach of the Houston Oilers, who made the playoffs every year between 1978-1980 although they could never break through to the Super Bowl. A big part of their success was due to Earl Campbell, who averaged nearly 1,700 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns over those three seasons.

Earl joined Bum and the Saints in 1984 and is the biggest name on the roster. However, it's clear in the early going that it's not 1979 anymore.  Verne suggest that Earl appears to be near the end of the line but Terry’s like, “oh, no, he’s really good. I played against him and I just can’t believe that.”

The 1985 season turns out to be the last for both Earl and Bum.

The Broncos score twice more to go up 21-0 in the second quarter. Both of these are missing from the video. It's very odd. The game is just going along and then suddenly you see the Broncos celebrating and you're like, well, something must have happened. Then they give the instant replay and you can see the scoring play. Someone mentioned it in the comments and the uploader of the video said that it must have been removed by YouTube and the NFL for copyright. Maybe so, but why wouldn't they just take down the entire game? It seems like a lot of work to go through and snip out certain plays from a meaningless NFL game from nearly 40 years ago. Hopefully this isn't a trend or it will really but a damper on my rewatches.    

Butch Johnson makes a nice sideline grab in the third quarter and gets both feet in. However, it wouldn’t count under today’s rules as the ball popped out as soon as he hit the ground. Of course, neither would his Super Bowl XII TD catch for the Cowboys against the Broncos. After a pass interference penalty gets the ball to the one-yard line, Elway hits Clarence Kay for a touchdown, which we get to see without interruption. The remover of scoring plays must have given up by this point. The Broncos are up 31-9 so the game is essentially over. 

Other notes:

Saints cornerback Johnnie Poe almost intercepts Elway. “Doggone good play by Johnnie Poe,” says Bradshaw.

Rich Karlis hits the upright on a 48-yard field goal (shades of 1984) but this one bounces through for three points and a 34-16 lead.

Broncos LB Jim Ryan has a letter ripped off his jersey at some point so he plays out the game as Jim Rya.

The Saints pull within 34-23 and make things interesting when they drive to the Broncos 12-yard line midway through the fourth quarter. They go for it on 4th & 7 but Tony Lilly knocks away the pass to the end zone to end the threat with five and a half minutes remaining.

Rain is falling hard in the fourth quarter. Karl Mecklenburg picks up a late sack to give him his first career four-sack game. Elway has four TD passes to match, and also finishes with 28 completions for 353 yards, both of which were career highs at that point of his career.

Why Did You Do This Thing?

Someone might come across my blog and wonder why this guy rewatched nine Broncos games from 40 years ago and then took the time to write about it. 

Watching the old games started out as just something to have on while I was working. And maybe some of it was to fill a void created by the seven going on eight-year playoff drought the Broncos are currently in.

But for me these weren't just random games. The second half of the 1984 NFL season was the foundation for my love of sports. So it was like revisiting my childhood, much like discovering an old box of family movies in the attic. I was young at the time and so I didn't fully understand everything that was going on and didn't have the attention span to sit through an entire game. So seeing them again and filling in the gaps filled me with thoughts and observations for which I needed an outlet.

But it wasn’t just purely sentimental - this was an awesome season! The 1984 season marked the 25-year anniversary of the Broncos and the AFC, and this was the second-best season in team history at that point, although now a little lost in the sands of time. The Broncos had been in a little bit of a dry spell since the 1977 season as far as having postseason success, losing their first playoff game in 1978, 1979, and 1983 and failing to qualify from 1980 to 1982. Heading into the 1984 season, the Broncos weren't expected to have the type of success they did. They shared a division with the Raiders, the defending Super Bowl champs, and the Seahawks, who had easily handled the Broncos in the previous season's wildcard matchup. In fact, even the Chargers had better Super Bowl odds than the Broncos. 

But they went a combined 3-1 against the Raiders and Seahawks, swept the Chargers, and claimed what turned out to be the best division in football in 1984. They won 10 games in a row until they were beaten at home by the Seahawks. It was the longest win streak in team history at that point, and only two teams have put together a longer regular-season winning streak - 11 by the 2012 team, and 13 by the 1998 team.

At that point, it was the most regular-season wins in team history. Since then, it has been matched four times (1996, 2005, 2012, and 2013) but has only been exceeded once (1998).

The defense allowed only 241 points on the season, second best in the NFL that season. At the time, that was the fourth-best in team history for a full season behind the 1977, 1978, and 1976 squads. Since then it has only been surpassed by two Broncos defenses - the 1989 squad allowed 226 and the 1991 unit gave up 235.

The defense also recorded 57 sacks, a team record that still stands. The 1991, 2012, and 2015 teams are tied for second with 52. 

The remarkable number of takeaways has been mentioned in various posts but to recap, the 1984 Broncos:

Set the team record for most takeaways in a season with 55, which still stands.

Recovered 24 opponent fumbles, a team record that still stands. 

Intercepted 31 passes, one behind the 1964 team record. 

Scored 8 touchdowns defensively, a team record that still stands. 

Set a team record for takeaways in a game with 10 against Detroit, which still stands. They also had seven against the Raiders, which is tied for fourth-most. No Bronco team since has had seven or more takeaways in a single game.

Tied the team record for interceptions in a game with seven against Detroit, which still stands. 

There is more emphasis on ball security in today’s NFL, so most of these records will likely never be broken. The Cowboys have led the league in takeaways the past two seasons with 33 and 34. The Broncos’ 55 takeaways didn’t even lead the league in 1984 as the Seahawks managed an eye-popping 63. 

The Broncos didn’t finish in “the final four” in 1984, but I think they were solidly among the top five NFL teams in 1984.

They won the third-most games, behind only the 49ers and Dolphins.

They had the fifth-highest total point differential.

They were tied with the Raiders for fourth in combined offensive/defensive ranking. 

Even if they had beaten the Steelers, the Broncos probably wouldn’t have made it past the Dolphins in the AFC Championship and certainly wouldn’t have beat the 49ers in the Super Bowl, but it was an incredible season nonetheless. 

TOTAL POINT DIFFERENTIAL 

49ers +248

Dolphins +215

Seahawks +136

Redskins +116

Broncos +112

COMBINED OFFENSIVE/DEFENSIVE RANKING (POINTS)

49ers - 3 (#2 offense, #1 defense)

Dolphins - 8 (#1 offense, #7 defense)

Seahawks - 10 (#5 offense, #5 defense)

Broncos - 13 (#11 offense, #2 defense)

Raiders - 13 (#9 offense, #4 defense)

Rewatch: Steelers at Broncos 12/30/84

This is the first Broncos home playoff game in seven years so the crowd is amped for this one. It's only the Broncos 7th playoff game in their 25-year history, but already the third against the Steelers. And you know it's gotta be Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen in the house for this one.

The hallmark of the Broncos defense in 1984 was the turnover, and they came up with two in the early going. Rich Karlis missed a field goal after the first one, but the Steelers immediately fumbled the ball away again. This time the Broncos cashed in, taking a 7-0 lead after John Elway connected with Jim Wright for a touchdown. 

Pittsburgh managed to hold onto the ball on their next possession and moved deep into Denver territory.  Louis Wright nearly has an interception in the end zone, but has the ball knocked out of his hands. The Steelers end up with a field goal to cut the lead to 7-3.

The Broncos break out a gadget play on their next drive. Elway laterals to Gerald Willhite, who then goes deep for Steve Watson. He hauls it in for a 52-yard gain, although the play probably would have scored if Willhite had thrown a better pass. The Broncos still move into prime scoring position and have a first-and-goal at the Steeler eight-yard line. However, they fail to score when Elway throws a bad pass under pressure on third-and-goal coming out of a timeout and is intercepted. 

The Steelers put together a pair of good drives before halftime. Gary Anderson misses a field goal to end the first one, but they get a touchdown out of the second to take a 10-7 lead into halftime. 

The Steelers get the ball to start the second half, but can’t move it. Roger Jackson blocks the punt which rolls out of bounds at the four-yard line. Sammy Winder loses a yard, then a gadget play with Willhite and tackle-eligible Dave Studdard doesn't materialize. After Elway throws incomplete under pressure on third down, the Broncos settle for a 21-yard Karlis field goal. The game is now tied, but another golden opportunity has slipped away. And as the game comes back from commercial break, we see Elway's upper thigh getting wrapped on the sideline due to a groin pull apparently sustained on the third-down attempt. 

The Steelers again fail to move the ball, and the Broncos are back in business after a good punt return by Willhite. Elway is limping after every throw, but it doesn't stop him from firing a bullet to Steve Watson for a 20-yard touchdown. The Broncos are back in the lead with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter. Watson is having one of the finest days of his career: he finishes with 11 catches for 177 yards and a touchdown.

Steve Watson hauls in 3rd quarter touchdown pass

The Steelers answer right back with a touchdown drive and tie it up at 17 when Louis Lipps catches a short pass and powers his way over the goal line. The Broncos can't sustain a drive and are set to punt it back to the Steelers as the fourth quarter begins.

Lipps, who has just been selected to the Pro Bowl as a kick returner, bobbles and then drops the punt at his own 20 yard line. There's a scramble and a pile-up, but the refs signal that Lipps recovered the ball.

The Steelers and the Broncos exchange punts, and then the Steelers start to move the ball. Walter Abercrombie and Frank Pollard are breaking off big gains on the ground, and a pass to Weegie Thompson picks up a first down at the Bronco 11. Weegie Thompson! One of the great NFL names of the 80s. The tide seems to be turning in the Steelers’ favor. The Broncos can’t stop their ground game. The Steelers are over 170 yards rushing for the game. However, true to their bend-but-don’t break form, the Broncos defense stiffens and Gary Anderson comes on to try a chip-shot field goal to put Pittsburgh in the lead.

He shanks it. From 26 yards away. For as much talking up of the kickers as Dick and Merlin did, neither kicker had a very good day, each missing a pair. 

They flash a stat: Broncos have won 6 of 8 games in 1984 decided in final 4 minutes. They’ve done this before. 

The Broncos now have the ball, a little momentum, and one of the best fourth-quarter QBs of all time. All they need to do is run out some clock and get into scoring position. 

But Elway's hurt. He's looked a little worse after every throw. He’s picked off on the second play, and it's returned to the Broncos 2-yard line. This time the Steelers won’t be denied. Pollard scores his second touchdown of the day on a second effort on third and goal to give the Steelers a 24-17 lead.

The Broncos make a last ditch effort with the time left on the clock, but it might as well have been Jack Elway under center. The season is over. We don’t get the Elway and Marino matchup in the AFC Championship Game, although it felt like there would be many more of those to come. However, the closest it ever comes to happening is when they meet in a divisional round game near the end of their careers. 

Ultimately, it's a game of what-ifs for the Broncos.

What if the Willhite to Watson pass went for six? What if they hadn't had to settle for three after the blocked punt? What if the Lipps fumble had bounced their way? What if Elway doesn’t get hurt?

The Steelers rushing attack of Pollard & Abercrombie is the highlight - 169 yards on 40 carries. Even so, the Broncos defense seems like it did the job. The Steelers only had 17 points with three and a half minutes left. However, after a season of living off takeaways at the rate of 3.5 per game, the defense only gets the two early on. Would a couple of second-half takeaways have changed the outcome?

It felt like the Broncos should have scored 28 in this one. But they struggled with the pressure applied by the Steelers pass rush. And once Elway got hurt, it seemed like they were just living on a prayer. What would have happened if they had gone to Gary Kubiak in the fourth quarter?

We don’t know the answers to these questions although it’s fun to wonder about. On this day, the Steelers were just a little better. 

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. 

Rewatch: Broncos at Chiefs 12/2/84

The Broncos were coming off a disappointing loss to the Seahawks in which a game-tying field goal by Rich Karlis hit the upright, snapping their 10-game win streak. Although they had temporarily yielded control of the AFC West to Seattle, a matchup with the last place Kansas City Chiefs seemed to be the perfect way to get back on track. The Chiefs were 5-8 and had dropped four in a row.

But maybe it wouldn’t be quite that simple. Early in the broadcast Charlie Jones and Bob Griese mention that the Broncos are 16-32 all time against the Chiefs and 5-18 on the road. Also, it’s freezing cold. The wind chill is at -2 and only 38,494 are on hand at Arrowhead Stadium.

Denver doesn’t play particularly well in the first half, with most of their offense coming on a 48-yard touchdown pass from John Elway to Steve Watson. But Kansas City isn’t great either. With a minute left in the first half, the Chiefs are backed up in their own end of the field and it’s 3rd-and-12, trailing 10-0.

But then Bill Kenney goes deep for Stephone Paige, connecting on a 41-yard pass, and suddenly the Chiefs are in business. Dennis Smith gets his hands on two other Kenney passes, dropping an interception on one and tipping a third-down pass into Paige’s arms on another. Aided by the good fortune, Kansas City winds up scoring a touchdown to make it a three-point game at the half.

The touchdown didn’t seem to do much to sway the momentum in the Chiefs’ favor. On the first play of the second half, Tom Jackson strips Herman Heard of the ball, and the Broncos recover. They turn it into a Karlis field goal and a 13-7 lead. After a Chiefs punt, the Broncos are quickly in business again thanks to a 46-yard pass interference penalty and a 21-yard run by Elway. On first-and-goal from the KC 10, Sammy Winder carries 9 yards to the 1 yard line, and it seems like the Broncos are poised to put this game away.

However, an incomplete pass to Rick Parros and a run for no gain by Winder quickly make it 4th down. They mention that Denver is 4-for-4 on the season on 4th down conversions. Dan Reeves opts to go for it. Winder is stuffed.

However, the Chiefs still can’t seem to shift the momentum in their favor. They go three-and-out on their remaining two drives of the third quarter.

The Chiefs had possession of the ball on their own 15 as the fourth quarter began. With the benefit of the wind at their backs, the momentum gradually begins to shift in their favor.  Heard rushes of 13 and 9 yards and a 26-yard completion from Kenney to Carlos Carson set up a 46-yard field goal by Nick Lowery to make it 13-10.

The Broncos' drive stalls after six plays and they punt it back to the Chiefs. Kenney finds Carson for a 36-yard completion on 3rd-and-10 and on the next play hits Henry Marshall for 29 yards to the Denver 11-yard line. The Broncos' D keeps them out of the end zone, but Lowery comes on to attempt a  field goal. His kick glances off the upright, but goes through. Tie score.

Again, the Broncos can't move the ball and punt it back to the Chiefs. A 24-yard return by J.T. Smith gives them the ball at midfield with 4:25 remaining. Kenney finds Carson for 12 yards and then Heard rushes once for 11 yards and two more times for a total of eight. Kenney is sacked on 3rd-and-2 by Rick Dennison to end the drive, but Lowery comes on and boots his third field goal of the quarter to give the Chiefs their first lead of the game at the two-minute warning.

There's still time left on the clock for Elway and the Broncos to put something together, and they get a big boost when Gerald Willhite returns the kickoff 40 yards. On this particular YouTube video, there must have been a recording error because there are a few plays missing in here. Suddenly, the Broncos are in field goal territory. They've given us plenty of shots of Karlis and reminded us all what happened the previous week in an almost identical situation.

The barefoot kicker comes on to attempt to force overtime. This kick is longer than the previous week - 42 yards - and we've already mentioned the freezing temperatures. The Broncos are letting the clock run down as far as they can before kicking, but then they wind up having to call timeout because they aren’t ready, perhaps “icing” their own kicker.

Karlis awaits the game-tying attempt

Well, whatever happens, it can’t be as bad as the previous week where he hit the upright, can it?

Actually, it can be. This time he hits the left upright and it bounces back onto the field. Chiefs win.

Although disappointing, the loss doesn't end up having a detrimental effect on the Broncos' playoff hopes. The following week, Kansas City crushes Seattle 34-7, breaking Seattle's win streak and setting up a Week 16 winner-take-all clash between the Broncos and Seahawks. So if the master plan was to let the Chiefs have this one in order to boost their confidence, which they would then use to bring down the Seahawks.....brilliant.

Rewatch: Broncos vs. Vikings 11/18/84

In 1983, Terry Bradshaw, who was on the tail-end of a brilliant 14-year career as quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers, publicly ripped rookie John Elway, who had forced a trade from the Baltimore Colts after being selected first overall in the draft. "In my opinion, he's not the type of guy you win championships with," Bradshaw said. "He never did it when he was at Stanford. I don't think he'll do it in Denver, and personally don't care if he ever does it."

Well then. 

Bradshaw retired after the 1983 season and joined CBS as an NFL analyst.  

This was the only game the Broncos played on CBS in 1984, and the network sent Verne Lundquist and Terry Bradshaw to the Mile High City.  I'm not sure of what went into the assignments of broadcast teams for Week 12. Maybe it was because Verne had a place in Steamboat Springs. But maybe they just couldn't resist the idea of sending Bradshaw to see Elway in person.

The Vikings managed a decent return on the opening kickoff. However, they fumbled on the first play from scrimmage. The Broncos recovered, and a few minutes later went up 7-0 on a Gerald Willhite touchdown. And things never really got better for the Vikings after that. The Broncos led 28-7 midway through the second quarter after converting two other Minnesota turnovers into touchdowns. 

They mentioned that the winning entry for a naming contest for the ‘84 Broncos defense was "The Plundering Herd” - a reference to their uncanny ability to force turnovers. One graphic during the game indicated that the Broncos had turned 46 takeaways into 126 points, which represented 50% of their scoring on the season.

Terry, the Louisiana kid, was still pretty new to the gig and was pretty folksy on the broadcast. He used a lot of southern dialect, such as “they’re gonna chunk it” and “this ol’ boy.” 

 

Meanwhile, Verne referred to "Danny Reeves" about a dozen or so times. I assume this was due to his roots in broadcasting as radio voice of the Dallas Cowboys during the era in which Dan Reeves played for the team.

The game was briefly interesting late in the first half when the Vikings then staged their only threat of the game, driving to the Denver 7 at the two-minute warning. A touchdown would cut it to 28-14 and make it something of a ballgame again. However, Tommy Kramer’s pass deflected off Roger Jackson and into the arms of Randy Robbins for the fourth Bronco takeaway of the half.

Terry was a little concerned at the Broncos end-of-the-half lack of aggressiveness with still time on the clock. But then almost as if Danny Reeves was listening, Elway went deep, hooking up with Steve Watson for 50 yards to set up a TD pass to Ray Alexander and a 35-7 halftime lead. 

The Broncos received the ball to start the second half and made the score 42-7 when Elway tossed his fifth TD pass of the game. So what could have been a 28-14 score quickly turned into 42-7 in just a few minutes of game clock. 

Gary Kubiak took over at quarterback with the Broncos up by 35. They didn't score again, but they didn't need to. The Vikings managed a pair of garbage time touchdowns to make the final score a respectable 42-21, although they needed to use a "gadget play" on the final play of the game to score the second one. "Gadget play" has completely disappeared from the football lexicon, but the term was used quite liberally on broadcasts in the 1980s.

Elway after 50-yard completion to Watson

Verne appropriately questioned Terry on his criticism of Elway. Terry insisted that it was all water under the bridge and that he was a big fan of Elway's.

Apparently not so much.

Five years later during the runup to the Super Bowl XXIV matchup between the 49ers and Broncos, Bradshaw again took a swipe at Elway, saying that Elway had been "babied" and "had it too easy" and again mentioned the lack of championships and he'd never had it tough like Bradshaw had in the early days in Pittsburgh.

Now that the careers of both of these Hall of Fame quarterbacks are in the rearview mirror, I suppose we could do a full analysis of who truly had it easy and who didn't, but we'll have to save that for another day.

Rewatch: Broncos v. Seahawks 11/25/84

For my next rewatch, a huge game at Mile High with a playoff atmosphere. The 11-1 Broncos, riding a 10-game win streak, hosting the 10-2 Seattle Seahawks, with the winner gaining control of the AFC West with three games to go. For a game like this you would expect none other than Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen in the booth for NBC. And yet…it’s Marv Albert and John Brodie in the booth for NBC. I had to do a little research to find out that Dick and Merlin had done NBC’s Thanksgiving broadcast of the Patriots and Cowboys three days earlier and so were apparently off on Sunday. I feel like these days the networks make their top crews do double-duty.

Fortunately, Jerry Seeman was on hand as the referee, so that leant a little bit of gravity to the ensuing battle.

Air is already a precious resource at altitude, and the Seahawks quickly took what remained of it when Dave Krieg went deep to Daryl Turner on the game’s first play for an 80-yard touchdown. The 1984 Broncos had a lot of strengths but also a tendency to give up a lot of passing yards and that would be on full display in this game. 

Marv and John highlighted during the broadcast that the Broncos were in a bit of a youth movement. Franchise legends Randy Gradishar, Riley Odoms, and Rick Upchurch had retired after the 1983 season. The 1984 Broncos featured a league-high 14 rookies. The rookie class of 1984 helped lay the foundation for the success enjoyed by the team throughout the rest of the 1980s. Andre Townsend, Clarence Kay, and Randy Robbins each played in three Super Bowls with the Broncos. Tony Lilly, Gene Lang, and Ricky Hunley each played in two.  No Hall of Famers in that group, but it was a solid draft in terms of building depth. 

Despite falling behind early, the Broncos kept it close thanks to their bend-but-don’t break defense, and managed to go into halftime with the score tied at 10.

In the third quarter, a Krieg hooked up with Steve Largent for a 65-yard completion which set up Seattle’s second touchdown of the day, but on Denver’s ensuing possession, a Gerald Willhite 63-yard catch-and-run set up a Gene Lang touchdown to make it 17-all. 

Seattle put together a 70-yard touchdown drive that concluded early in the fourth quarter. Krieg got Steve Foley to bite on a fake and hit Largent for the go-ahead touchdown.

Seattle and Denver were the top two teams in the NFL in takeaways in 1984, but through three quarters of play there had been only one turnover. 

That changed on the next possession. Elway dumped off a pass to Clarence Kay, and the ball slipped through his hands and fell to the ground. Anyone who is decently versed in the rules of football would immediately recognize this as an incomplete pass. Yet, somehow, the officials ruled it a FUMBLE. Without question, the call would have been overturned with instant replay. Unfortunately, that provision didn’t exist in 1984. The Seahawks quickly took advantage of their good fortune and converted the ill-gotten turnover into a field goal and a 10-point lead with seven minutes remaining. 

Clarence Kay's phantom fumble

The Broncos quickly responded, as Elway needed just two minutes to get the Broncos into the end zone, with Gene Lang again finding paydirt. Rich Karlis came on for the extra point. His kick was low and wobbly but made it just inside the left upright. 27-24, Seahawks.

The Broncos defense forced a Seahawks punt, and the Broncos take possession with three minutes remaining. Elway finds Willhite for 17 yards, and then again for 14. Then he hits Steve Watson for 22. After he scrambles for a a 13-yard gain, the Broncos find themselves at the Seattle 14 with 1:17 remaining. Plenty of time to get the winning touchdown, but they manage only the eight-yard line. Karlis comes on to attempt a tying 25-yard field goal. Should be a chip shot, right? Unfortunately, no. Karlis hits the right upright on the kick and it bounces back onto the field. The Seahawks take possession and run out the clock and head back to Seattle with an 11-2 record, tied atop the AFC West with the Broncos. 

Karlis famously got the flak for missing the kick, but it’s hard to say that the blame for the loss falls on him. Seattle’s only had the three-point lead due to the atrocious officiating call just a few minutes earlier. 

Uprights and officiating aside, it just wasn’t the Broncos day. The hallmark of the 1984 Broncos defense was takeaways, and they had none in this game. They got burned on the first play of the game. Dave Krieg passed for 404 yards and three touchdowns. Steve Largent had a career day, catching 12 passes for 191 yards. 

Fortunately, the Broncos were going to get another crack at Seattle in week 16.

Who Will it be Now?

 A lot of fans are nervous about the Broncos’ head coaching search. I'm kind of not. There's nowhere to go but up after last year.

The big name candidates appear to be out of it and I’m happy about that. Shelling out big cash or draft compensation for Jim Harbaugh or Sean Payton only to yield power to their tremendous egos is not the direction I had in mind. Not that I'm being consulted on the hire... but perhaps I should be.  

DeMeco Ryans, the 49ers defensive coordinator, is rumored to be the leading candidate but they can’t hire him until the conclusion of the 49ers season which might still be a couple of weeks away if they advance to the Super Bowl. I’m a little bit nervous given his limited experience and the Denver's recent run of bad luck with first-time head coaches. I heard that ownership really likes the 49ers model, but that reminds me of back in 2009 when the Broncos thought hiring Josh McDaniels would bring them Patriots-like success.

I haven't heard much speculation that current Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero might get the promotion to head coach. I guess he already turned down the interim position when Nathaniel Hackett was fired although I don't know how that plays into this decision. I might be more inclined to be excited about the Ryans hire if Evero was staying on as the defensive coordinator. Because I've had enough with head coaches who insist on calling their own plays. Just delegate it to the coordinator and focus on being the head coach. Please!

The problem with Ryans and Evero is that they have options. Jobs with the Texans, Cardinals, and Colts are also still open. Ryans has ties to Houston so he's also a leading candidate there. Evero has also interviewed with all three teams.

Jerry Rosburg, who finished out the year is the interim head coach, is definitely interested. The team terminated his contract the other day but it was unclear if this was just a technicality or if it meant the team was not interested in him coming back next season.

I was most interested in Dan Quinn as he follows more closely the John Fox/Gary Kubiak mold which brought the Broncos a lot of success from 2011 to 2016. All who had previous experience and success as a head coach in the NFL. But apparently Quinn chose to stay in Dallas so he's no longer an option.

Jim Caldwell also fits that mold, having had success as a head coach both with the Colts and the Lions. And a lot of NFL experience. The drawback would be that he's 68 years old and hasn't had a coaching job the last three years.

David Shaw, most recently the head coach at Stanford, is apparently a sleeper in this race. He has some experience in the NFL with the Raiders and the Ravens, but he's been at the collegiate level the past 17 seasons. The transition from college to the pros is often rocky for coaches, so I'm not sure how I feel about his candidacy.

The only other known candidate to interview is Raheem Morris, who was the Rams' defensive coordinator the past two seasons. He has head coaching experience with the Buccaneers and Falcons, though without much success. I've heard almost no buzz on him being near the top of the Broncos' list.

It seems like it's headed in the direction of Ryans, but if he takes another job then who knows. With Quinn out of the picture, I guess I'm hoping for Caldwell. He wouldn't be the long-term solution but hopefully would stabilize things and break the string of losing seasons. 

Every Time I Won Free Tickets to Something, Part 1

It was the summer of 1988. As a kid, I was a week or so from starting 7th grade out to Cap. As a nation, we were three weeks from the summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea. As a family, we were in Denver for some reason, probably school shopping or a temple trip.

One thing we did a lot while driving around Denver was listen to 850 KOA news/talk. For the uninitiated, KOA is the 50,000 watt voice of the west. We did not have such things as talk radio in the valley. We were limited to KGIW of Alamosa and KOB out of Albuquerque which supplied us with all the Gloria Estefan and Billy Ocean we could handle.

We were driving around one afternoon and they announced they were giving away tickets. The men’s Olympic basketball team was on a national tour before heading overseas and the seventh of eight stops would be the following night at Denver’s McNichols Arena. 

Every contest has its parameters, and this particular competition was limited to the younger demographic. They wanted to give two tickets to someone 14 and under. I was super into basketball at the time but probably would have never taken the initiative to call on my own. I was an out-of-towner, after all. These city folk certainly weren’t going to give the tickets to a kid from the valley.

But my parents gave me the nudge so I went into Emma’s house and picked up the phone to give it a shot. I don’t remember all the details but I remember being on hold for what seemed like a very long time and occasionally someone would get on and give me an update. The reason why I was holding for so long was because I was going to have to go on the air and tell the hosts why I should get the tickets. I didn’t have a very good answer, just a generic “because I really like basketball” but apparently they weren’t picky because they gave me the information to go down and pick the tickets up at the station the next day. 

One of the main mid-day shows on KOA at the time was a therapist somewhat in the vein of Dr. Laura which wasn’t of particular interest to me but my parents loved it. Anyways, upon arriving at their offices we may have ridden up the elevator with her. I don’t remember exactly how that conclusion was reached but it provided a little bit of fun for the adults to talk about later. 

So my dad and I went to McNichols Arena that night, August 24, 1988. This was the last Olympic team restricted to amateur athletes. The most famous name among them was “The Admiral” David Robinson, who would return four years later as part of the 1992 Dream Team. It was still pretty exciting as these were some of the top collegiate players at the time including Danny Manning of the national champion Kansas Jayhawks.

Their opponent was “NBA all-stars” although that term was used a little loosely. This  wasn’t Magic Johnson and Larry Bird we were talking about. The roster changed depending on the city the game was taking place in, and so this night’s team was heavy on Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz players. We were treated to a competitive and entertaining game - it went to overtime with the Olympians prevailing 105-103. 

Later out to Cap, I recounted this experience to my new student council peers and basically they thought I was making it up. I guess that’s the way my whole life has been - just a collection of experiences far too fantastic to be believable.

Rewatch: Broncos at Lions 10/7/84

Live from the Pontiac Silverdome it's Don Criqui and Bob Trumpy bringing you the 1-4 Lions and 4-1 Broncos! I'm a little bit interested to know if there was ever a Broncos game on NBC in the mid-to-late 80s that wasn't called by either Criqui and Trumpy, Enberg and Olsen, or Charlie Jones and whoever he was paired with. I'm sure there was but it must have been rare because I don't remember.

The quality of this recording was not great and neither was the game. But I'm still thankful to have been able to watch it.

Lions QB Gary Danielson was kind of off to a hot start statistically in 1984. They mentioned how he came into the game with zero interceptions on the year. That's about to change...in a big way. 

Broncos get an early touchdown drive and then after the Lions' Billy Sims bobbles a pitchout and it pops in the air with help from Louis Wright, Rulon Jones grabs it and rumbles in for a touchdown to make it 14-0 which would be all the Broncos would need to win this one.

Rulon Jones reaches for loose ball

Kind of a brutal second quarter. Lions center Steve Mott suffers what turns out to be a season-ending injury late in the first half and has to be carted off. After the 3rd or 4th Lions turnover, John Elway goes deep to Steve Watson for a TD and a ref gets plowed over at the goal line by a Lions DB.

The Lions were really aggressive at the end of the first half - bringing in their backup QB, Mike Machurek, to throw a hail Mary with under 30 seconds remaining. I don't feel like we'd see that today.  In any case, Dennis Smith picks it off for the 5th turnover.

Not much happened in the second half. Neither offense was doing much of anything. The Broncos couldn't move the ball and the Lions couldn't hold onto it. Ken Woodard picked off a pass and returned it for a touchdown, the fourth interception of Danielson on the day, to put the Broncos up 28-7.

The only thing that was suspenseful about this game was the turnover count. I knew before watching that the Broncos defense set a team record with 10 turnovers in this game, but we passed the two minute warning and they were only at 8. How was this thing going to happen?

Here's how. Machurek is back in the game at QB and throws two interceptions in the final minute to give him three on the game, nearly matching Danielson's total. First, Tony Lilly picks him off, but then fumbles it back to the Lions on the return. Then Karl Mecklenburg comes up with an interception and has some running room. It looks like he has a chance to go the distance for the Broncos' third defensive touchdown of the game, but is brought down after a 63 yard return on what turns out to be the final play of the game.

Other Broncos defenses have received more acclaim, such as the Orange Crush of the late 1970s and the No Fly Zone of 2015. However, the 1984 unit was special in its own way and has kind of been forgotten through the years. Although they gave up a lot of yards, they only allowed 15 points per game on the season, which ranked second in the NFL that year. 

But their trademark was turnovers. Thirty-eight years later, this unit still holds team records for total takeaways in a single season (55), turnover differential (+21), most recoveries of opponent fumbles in a season (24), most defensive touchdowns in a season (8), most yards on interception returns in a season (510), and most turnovers in a single game (10).  Additionally, they hold the team single-season sack record with 57.

Winding Up the 2022 Broncos

Last month I wrote a post exploring the potential of the 2022 Broncos offense to be the worst in franchise history. And after 12 games, they were right on target. However, the trend reversed somewhat in the final five games.

Now we're at year end I thought it worthwhile to see how they wound up on a few of the metrics.

Points per game. They were at 13.8 after 12 games, but after averaging 24 points over their final five games, they raised the season average to 16.8 per game. That lifts them above the 14.0 average of the 1966 team as well as three others, so this wound up as only the fifth-worst average in team history.

Total touchdowns. They only had 14 through 12 games, but somehow scored 15 in their final five games to get them to 29 on the season. Still not great, but well beyond the franchise's low mark set in 1971.

They failed to reach 18 points in only one of their final five games (the Christmas day debacle), which was enough to match them with the 1966 team for the most sub-18 point games in a single season. However, the 1966 team played three fewer games.

Three squads shared the record for lowest high point game with 27, shared by the 1971, 1982, and 1992 teams. The 2022 Broncos beat that mark twice in the final five games, including in the season finale, when they topped 30 for the first time all season. 

It is notable that the defensive and special teams units scored zero touchdowns in 2022. I haven't verified if this is a first.

They still finished last in the NFL in total points. So although not the worst in team history, it was the worst in the league for this season.

Although this was a discouraging year and I was pretty down on my team for most of all of it, the win over the Chargers on Sunday felt really good. I'm glad they could end the season on a high note.

The Broncos achieved a couple of milestones with the victory. It was the 500th win in the team's 63-year history, and also the 300th home win. And they avoided a couple of bad footnotes - if they had lost it would have been the first 13-loss season in team history and the first time being swept by the AFC West.

Rewatch: Broncos at Raiders 10/28/84

Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen welcomed us to the L.A. Coliseum along with the 90,000 plus in attendance. They purported that it was the largest crowd to see an NFL game to date that season, although it appears a 49ers-Raiders game from earlier that season eclipsed it by a few hundred.

Both teams were 7-1 entering the game, but both starting QBs were on the sidelines due to injury for this one, so it was Gary Kubiak vs. Marc Wilson. 

The Broncos didn’t have a great first half and trailed 12-0, but the Raiders’ sloppy play kept them in the game. 

First, a Raiders interception of Gary Kubiak was nullified by a roughing the passer penalty, then the Raiders’ Greg Pruitt muffed a punt which the Broncos recovered and turned into three points. On the ensuing drive, Marcus Allen fumbled it away, and the Broncos kicked another field goal to make it 12-6 at halftime. 

When Jim Nantz and Phil Simms were teaming up for CBS broadcasts of Broncos’ games in the mid-2000s, Nantz would often bring up Simms’ Super Bowl MVP performance when the Giants beat the Broncos. I always found it a little annoying. Well, it turns out Nantz didn’t invent the technique of flattering your broadcast partner. Dick Enberg never seemed to miss an opportunity to bring up Deacon Jones and the famed Rams defensive line that Olsen was a part of. 

In the second half, the two teams traded touchdowns, but the Broncos botched the extra point after their touchdown to make it 19-12. The missed point after was partially due to an injury to Denver guard/long snapper Keith Bishop who was not on the field for the attempt.

The rest of the game was a series of events that often left me thinking, “I know the Broncos pull this out in the end….but how?”

The first of these came on a Raiders’ punt. The ball bounced past Broncos returner Zach Thomas and the Raiders pounced on it inside the Broncos 10 yard line. However, the ruling on the field was that Thomas did not touch the ball. The instant replay on the broadcast was inconclusive - the video quality was just not good enough back then and there wouldn’t be any provision in the rules for a replay review by the officials until 1986. Dick and Merlin suggested that Thomas may have touched it based on how he reacted after it got past him, but nevertheless the Broncos kept possession. 

A few minutes later, Chris Bahr had a chance to put the Raiders up by two scores but missed the field goal. However, Sammy Winder fumbled moments later to give the ball right back. From this point, the Raiders were attempting to run the clock. If they could manage at least a field goal on the drive, they would lead by 10 with two minutes to play, an almost insurmountable margin. However, Dennis Smith stripped Marcus Allen, and the Broncos recovered at the Raiders 15. 

The Broncos marched downfield, and Kubiak hit Steve Watson for six points. If the Broncos hadn’t missed the earlier point-after try, they would have been in a position to take the lead. Keith Bishop, though injured, came in to snap the ball for this extra point. Rich Karlis connected, and the game went to overtime tied at 19. 

The Broncos’ luck seemed to run out when Malcolm Barnwell beat Louis Wright for a 41-yard completion early in overtime to get the Raiders in scoring position. Dick & Merlin wondered aloud if Tom Flores should send out the field goal unit right away. However, they opted for another play and Mike Harden stripped Frank Hawkins of the ball, and the Broncos recovered. 

After the teams exchanged punts, and the Broncos moved into position for a game-winning field goal, but Karlis missed from 44. Raider Shelby Jordan patted Karlis on the helmet following the miss. 

The two teams again exchanged punts, with the Broncos’ punt coming with only 1:18 remaining.

However, this one also bounces off Greg Pruitt, and the Broncos’ Roger Jackson recovered. 

When Pruitt muffed the punt at the end of the first half, there was a non-call for interference on Ricky Hunley. This time, however, the refs flag the Broncos because Pruitt had signaled for a fair catch. 

At this point the game seems destined to end in a tie. However, just moments later Marc Wilson is intercepted by the same Roger Jackson who just had his heroic fumble recovery nullified. The Broncos run a single play to set up Karlis for a 35-yard field goal attempt, and with Keith Bishop again coming in to snap the ball, Karlis boots it through as time expires. 

Jackson’s interception was the Broncos’ seventh turnover of the game. Although not a team record, the Broncos have not had that many in a single game in the last 38 years. 

This game is the one that hooked me on the NFL as a kid. I’m so thankful for the miracle of YouTube making it possible for me to go back and watch again. Otherwise the main memories I had retained from childhood were Kubiak hitting Watson for the touchdown in the fourth quarter and Karlis getting the helmet pat after missing the field goal. It wasn’t the best played game and was a little short on star power with Elway on the sidelines. But it certainly had everything else you could ask for as a fan. Heated rivalry? Check. Historic venue? Check. Legendary broadcasters? Check. Twists and turns? Check. Controversial calls? Check. Late game drama? Check.

Rewatch: Chargers at Broncos 12/9/84

For my next rewatch, I perused the games that came up in a YouTube search for “1984 Broncos” and decided that the Chargers/Broncos tilt from 11/11/84 made sense if I wanted to keep it in a chronological order.

However, there were several things said early on in the broadcast that had me confused. There was a lot of playoff talk, such as the Broncos were on the brink of clinching the AFC West. In Week 11? Then they were doing score updates from around the league and the Chiefs were just polishing off a 34-7 upset win over the Seahawks. But during my rewatch of the 11/4/84 Broncos game there had been several updates on a Seahawks rout of the Chiefs. Surely they didn’t play in back-to-back weeks?

It was then that I realized that the video was mislabeled. I was watching the Week 15 Chargers/Broncos matchup. I suppose it was an easy enough mistake to make on the titling as both of the teams’ games from 1984 ended with an identical final score. 

The outcomes of their two games would lead you to believe these teams were pretty evenly matched - both were decided by a field goal - yet the Chargers were headed for a last-place finish in the AFC West while the Broncos were in control of their own destiny for the AFC West title when the game kicked off. This Broncos team had a tendency to play tight games - seven of their 14 games to date had been decided by three points. 

In the first half, the Broncos set a team record with their 51st sack of the season. They finished 1984 with 57 sacks and the record still stands today.  

The Broncos didn’t do much offensively early on. Four first quarter drives resulted in two punts and two turnovers, which the Chargers converted into a pair of Rolf Benirschke field goals. However, after Benirschke missed a 53-yarder that would have made it 9-0, the Broncos responded with a drive that resulted in a Rich Karlis field goal that cut the Chargers’ lead to 6-3.

Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen were on the call for this game and one of the main story lines they had to work with was the barefoot kicker Karlis, who was coming off consecutive games in which tying field goal attempts had bounced off the upright in losses to Seattle and Kansas City, dropping the Broncos’ record from 11-1 to 11-3. But after the Broncos put together a drive in the final two minutes of the half, Karlis was good on a 50-yard attempt as time expired to tie his career long and seemed to prove he wasn’t shaken by the unfortunate misses.

The Broncos put together an efficient eight play, 85-yard drive in the third quarter that ended with Sammy Winder scoring on a 4-yard run to give them their first lead of the game at 13-6. Earlier in the game Winder went over 1,000 yards for the season, the first 1,000 yard rushing season for the Broncos since Otis Armstrong in 1976. The seven-year drought remains the longest for the Broncos since they joined the NFL.

The Chargers responded with a long drive that gave them first and goal at the Broncos 1-yard line. Two rushing attempts at the end of the third quarter and two more at the beginning of the fourth resulted in zero yards, and the Broncos took over on offense after the successful goal-line stand. However, Winder fumbled on the second play and San Diego recovered. This time, they tried a pass and scored to tie the game at 13. 

The Broncos offense responded with another long drive which included a 4th & 1 conversion and Merlin Olsen’s retelling of the story from earlier in the season in which Broncos WR Clint Sampson was “hit so hard in the Buffalo game they thought initially he might even be dead.” The Broncos got to the San Diego 5 but Elway was sacked and fumbled on a third down blitz. The Chargers recovered, their fourth turnover of the game. 

Although the 1984 Broncos set a franchise record with a +21 turnover differential that still stands today, they were -4 in this particular game. 

However, the Chargers didn’t capitalize, and the Broncos again drove deep into Chargers territory. Karlis came on to boot his third field goal of the game with just over two minutes remaining and put together the Ghost of Uprights Past once and for all. San Diego quarterback Dan Fouts didn’t play in this game and with USFL-bound Ed Luther leading the two-minute drill, the Chargers went nowhere. 

During the final minutes of this game, NBC showed updates of the Rams’ Eric Dickerson going over 2,000 yards for the season and breaking O.J. Simpson’s regular-season record.

Karlis and Benirschke post-game

Cameras focused on the two kickers, Karlis and Benirschke, on the field after game. Apparently they were good friends and Benirschke had helped Karlis through a rough couple of weeks. 

The Broncos’ victory tied them for the AFC West lead with Seahawks at 12-3, and the two teams would play the following week for the division title. The Chargers record against AFC West opponents dropped to 0-7, and they would finish 0-8 after a week 16 loss to Kansas City. Yet they would finish the year with a 7-9 record due to a 7-1 record outside the division.