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.
