1986 Denver Broncos season

1986 Denver Broncos season
Head coach	Dan Reeves
General manager	John Beake
Owner	Pat Bowlen
Home field	Mile High Stadium
Results
Record	11–5
Division place	1st AFC West
Playoff finish	Won AFC Divisional Playoff (Patriots) 22–17 Won AFC Championship Game (Browns) 23–20 Lost Super Bowl XXI (Giants) 20–39

In 1986 Denver Broncos season was the franchise's 27th year in professional football and its 17th with the National Football League (NFL). They finished the regular season with a record of 11–5, returned to the playoffs after a one-year absence, won the AFC Championship over the Cleveland Browns, and lost Super Bowl XXI to the New York Giants.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round #	Pick	Player	Position	College
4	104	Jim Juriga	Guard	Illinois
5	134	Tony Colorito	Nose Tackle	USC
6	151	Orson Mobley	Tight End	Salem
6	161	Mark Jackson	Wide Receiver	Purdue
7	188	Ray T. Phillips	Linebacker	North Carolina State
8	217	Bruce Klosterman	Linebacker	South Dakota State
9	244	Joe Thomas	Wide Receiver	Mississippi Valley State
10	271	Victor Hall	Tight End	Jackson State
11	301	Thomas Denby	Running Back	South Carolina

Personnel

Staff

1986 Denver Broncos staff
	Front office President and Chief Executive Officer – Pat Bowlen General Manager – John Beake Director of Player Personnel – Reed Johnson Head coaches Head Coach – Dan Reeves Assistant Head Coach/Defense – Joe Collier Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks/Wide Receivers – Mike Shanahan Running Backs – Nick Nicolau Tight Ends – Chan Gailey Offensive Line – Alex Gibbs Special Assistant – Marvin Bass Special Offensive Assistant – Kay Dalton			Defensive coaches Defensive Line – Stan Jones Linebackers – Myrel Moore Defensive Backs – Charlie West Special teams coaches Special Teams – Chan Gailey Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Al Miller

Roster

1986 Denver Broncos roster
	Quarterbacks  7 John Elway  8 Gary Kubiak Running backs 35 Ken Bell KR 24 Tony Boddie 33 Gene Lang FB 30 Steve Sewell 47 Gerald Willhite FB/PR 23 Sammy Winder Wide receivers 80 Mark Jackson 82 Vance Johnson 84 Clint Sampson 81 Steve Watson		Tight ends 85 Joey Hackett 88 Clarence Kay 87 Bobby Micho 89 Orson Mobley Offensive linemen 54 Keith Bishop G 64 Billy Bryan C 63 Mark Cooper G 62 Mike Freeman G/C 78 Winford Hood G 60 Paul Howard G 76 Ken Lanier T 74 Dan Remsberg T 70 Dave Studdard T		Defensive linemen 68 Rubin Carter NT 69 Tony Colorito NT 73 Simon Fletcher DE 90 Freddie Gilbert DE 75 Rulon Jones DE 71 Greg Kragen NT 61 Andre Townsend DE Linebackers 59 Darren Comeaux OLB 55 Rick Dennison ILB 98 Ricky Hunley ILB 57 Tom Jackson OLB 77 Karl Mecklenburg ILB 50 Jim Ryan OLB 52 Ken Woodard OLB		Defensive backs 43 Steve Foley FS 31 Mike Harden CB 36 Mark Haynes CB 25 Daniel Hunter CB 22 Tony Lilly FS 48 Randy Robbins SS 49 Dennis Smith SS 45 Steve Wilson CB 20 Louis Wright CB Special teams  2 Mike Horan P  3 Rich Karlis K  4 Chris Norman P 13 Jack Weil P Rookies in italics

^[1]

Regular season

The Broncos won their first six games of the season, before being felled by the then-5-1 New York Jets on Monday Night Football. They won two more games to improve to 8–1, tied with the Jets for the best record in the league. Although they would go 3–4 down the stretch, alternating wins and losses, Denver still finished ahead of the Seahawks and Chiefs in first place in the AFC West.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Record	Attendance
1	September 7	Los Angeles Raiders	W 38–36	Mile High Stadium	1–0	75,695
2	September 15	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 21–10	Three Rivers Stadium	2–0	57,305
3	September 21	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 33–7	Veterans Stadium	3–0	63,839
4	September 28	New England Patriots	W 27–20	Mile High Stadium	4–0	75,804
5	October 5	Dallas Cowboys	W 29–14	Mile High Stadium	5–0	76,082
6	October 12	at San Diego Chargers	W 31–14	Jack Murphy Stadium	6–0	55,662
7	October 20	at New York Jets	L 10–22	The Meadowlands	6–1	73,759
8	October 26	Seattle Seahawks	W 20–13	Mile High Stadium	7–1	76,089
9	November 2	at Los Angeles Raiders	W 21–10	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	8–1	90,153
10	November 9	San Diego Chargers	L 3–9	Mile High Stadium	8–2	75,012
11	November 16	Kansas City Chiefs	W 38–17	Mile High Stadium	9–2	75,745
12	November 23	at New York Giants	L 16–19	Giants Stadium	9–3	75,116
13	November 30	Cincinnati Bengals	W 34–28	Mile High Stadium	10–3	58,705
14	December 7	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 10–37	Arrowhead Stadium	10–4	47,019
15	December 13	Washington Redskins	W 31–30	Mile High Stadium	11–4	75,905
16	December 20	at Seattle Seahawks	L 16–41	Kingdome	11–5	63,697

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total Raiders 16 6 14 0 36 • Broncos 7 14 7 10 38 Date: September 7 Location: Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado Game start: 2:00 p.m. MDT Game weather: 49°F • Wind 9 Referee: Jim Tunney TV announcers (NBC): Don Criqui (play-by-play), Bob Trumpy (color commentator)

Scoring summary 1 DEN Steve Watson 35-yard pass from John Elway (Rich Karlis kick) Broncos 7–0 1 LA Marcus Allen 24-yard pass from Marc Wilson (Chris Bahr kick) Tie 7–7 1 LA Todd Christensen 16-yard pass from Marc Wilson (Chris Bahr kick) Raiders 14–7 1 DEN Safety, John Elway tackled by Greg Townsend in end zone Raiders 16–7 2 LA Chris Bahr 43-yard field goal Raiders 19–7 2 DEN John Elway 23-yard pass from Steve Sewell (Rich Karlis kick) Raiders 19–14 2 LA Chris Bahr 42-yard field goal Raiders 22–14 2 DEN Gene Lang 1-yard run (Rich Karlis kick) Raiders 22–21 3 LA Marcus Allen 2-yard run (Chris Bahr kick) Raiders 29–21 3 DEN Ken Woodard 16-yard fumble return (Rich Karlis kick) Raiders 29–28 3 LA Rod Barksdale 57-yard pass from Marc Wilson (Chris Bahr kick) Raiders 36–28 4 DEN Rich Karlis 51-yard field goal Raiders 36–31 4 DEN Gene Lang 7-yard pass from John Elway (Rich Karlis kick) Broncos 38–36

^[2]

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total • Broncos 0 7 7 7 21 Steelers 0 0 3 7 10 Date: September 15 Location: Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh Game start: 9:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 57,305 Game weather: 64°F; wind 7 Referee: Bob McElwee Television network: ABC

Scoring summary Q2 DEN Watson 21 yard pass from Elway (Karlis kick) DEN 7–0 Q3 PIT Anderson 42 yard field goal DEN 7–3 Q3 DEN Sewell 34 yard pass from Elway (Karlis kick) DEN 14–3 Q4 PIT Erenberg 7 yard run (Anderson kick) DEN 14–10 Q4 DEN Winder 13 yard pass from Elway (Karlis kick) DEN 21–10

^[3]

Week 12

Standings

AFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Denver Broncos(2)	11	5	0	.688	5–3	8–4	378	327	L1
Kansas City Chiefs(5)	10	6	0	.625	5–3	9–5	358	326	W3
Seattle Seahawks	10	6	0	.625	5–3	7–5	366	293	W5
Los Angeles Raiders	8	8	0	.500	4–4	7–5	323	346	L4
San Diego Chargers	4	12	0	.250	1–7	4–8	335	396	L2

Playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Attendance
Divisional Playoffs	January 4	New England Patriots	W 22–17	Mile High Stadium	76,105
AFC Championship	January 11	at Cleveland Browns	W 23–20 (OT)	Cleveland Stadium	79,915
Super Bowl XXI	January 25	New York Giants	L 20–39	Rose Bowl	101,063

They won their divisional playoff game against the Patriots at home 22–17. They then played the Cleveland Browns in Cleveland for the AFC Championship. The game culminated in the famous "Drive", where John Elway led a 98-yard drive for a touchdown pass to Mark Jackson to tie the game and send it to overtime, where they won by a field goal, 23–20.

AFC Divisional Playoff

AFC: Denver Broncos 22, New England Patriots 17

AFC Championship Game

This game is best remembered for The Drive when the Broncos drove 98 yards to tie the game with 37 seconds left in regulation, and Denver kicker Rich Karlis made the game-winning 33-yard field goal 5:38 into overtime.

The Browns scored first when quarterback Bernie Kosar threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to running back Herman Fontenot at the end of an 86-yard drive. But the Broncos then scored 10 unanswered points: Karlis' 19-yard field goal and running back Gerald Willhite's 1-yard rushing touchdown. Cleveland kicker Mark Moseley's 29-yard field goal before halftime tied the score, 10–10. The teams exchanged punts before Kosar completed a 48-yard touchdown pass to Brian Brennan with 5:43 remaining in regulation. Elway then led his team from their own 2-yard line to tie the game on wide receiver Mark Jackson's 5-yard touchdown reception with 37 seconds left in regulation. Karlis' game-winning field goal in overtime capped a 60-yard drive after the Browns were forced to punt.

The Drive Play by Play

The Browns had jumped to a 20–13 lead and the Broncos had muffed the ensuing kickoff when Elway took over, first-and-10 on their own 2-yard line, with 5:32 to play in the game.

1. – First down and 10, Denver 2-yard line. Sammy Winder 5-yard pass from Elway.

2. – Second down and 5, Denver 7-yard line. Winder 3-yard run.

3. – Third down and 2, Denver 10-yard line. Winder 2-yard run.

4. – First down and 10, Denver 12-yard line. Winder 3-yard run.

5. – Second down and 7, Denver 15-yard line. Elway 11-yard run.

6. – First down and 10, Denver 26-yard line. Steve Sewell 22-yard pass from Elway.

7. – First down and 10, Denver 48-yard line. S. Watson 12-yard pass from Elway.

Two-minute warning

8. – First down and 10, Cleveland 40-yard line (1:59 remaining). Incomplete pass by Elway, intended for Vance Johnson.

9. – Second down and 10, Cleveland 40-yard line (1:52 remaining). Dave Puzzilli sack of Elway, 8-yard loss.

10. – Third down and 18, Cleveland 48-yard line (1:47 remaining). Mark Jackson 20-yard pass from Elway.

11. – First down and 10, Cleveland 28-yard line (1:19 remaining). Incomplete pass by Elway, intended for Watson.

12. – Second down and 10, Cleveland 28-yard line (1:10 remaining). Steve Sewell 14-yard pass from Elway.

13. – First down and 10, Cleveland 14-yard line (:57 remaining). Incomplete pass by Elway, intended for Watson.

14. – Second down and 10, Cleveland 14-yard line (:42 remaining). John Elway 9-yard run (scramble).

15. – Third down and 1, Cleveland 5-yard line (:39 remaining). Mark Jackson 5-yard pass from Elway for the touchdown. Rich Karlis then adds the extra point to tie the game.

Super Bowl XXI

They played the Giants in Super Bowl XXI, losing 20–39, the first of Elway's five Super Bowls and the first of his three losses. Despite leading 10–9 at halftime, the Broncos collapsed in the second half as the Giants scored 30 points to Denver's ten.

Super Bowl XXI: New York Giants 39, Denver Broncos 20

Statistics

Team stats

Denver scored 378 points during the year, sixth in the NFL. They gave up 327 points, 15th in the league.

The Broncos were 17th in the league in total offense, with 5,489 yards. They had 3,811 passing yards and 1,678 rushing yards. They had 22 passing touchdowns and 17 rushing touchdowns.

They were 17th in the league with 3,755 passing yards given up and 15th with 1,891 rushing yards given up. They were 21st in overall defense with 5,646 yards given up.

The team's 11–5 record is their sixth-best 16-game season in franchise history.

Player stats

• John Elway had 280 completions for 3,485 yards, 19 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He also had 52 rushes for 257 yards, third highest on the team, and one rushing touchdown. He was fifth in the league in completions, ninth in total yards, and tenth in touchdowns.
• Mark Jackson had 38 receptions for 738 yards and one touchdown. Steve Watson had 45 receptions for 699 yards and three touchdowns. Vance Johnson had 31 receptions for 363 yards and two touchdowns. Clint Sampson had 21 receptions for 259 yards. Orson Mobley had 22 reception for 332 yards and one touchdown.
• The primary running back Sammy Winder had 240 rushes for 789 yards and 9 touchdowns, seventh highest in the league. He also had five touchdown receptions, giving him 14 total touchdowns for the season, fourth in the league. Gerald Willhite had 85 rushes for 365 yards and five rushing touchdowns and 64 receptions for 529 yards and 3 receiving touchdowns.
• Rich Karlis kicked 20 field goals out of 28 attempted, including the game winning field goal in the AFC Championship Game. He kicked 44 out of 45 extra points.

Awards and honors

• Keith Bishop, AFC Pro Bowl selection
• John Elway, AFC Pro Bowl selection
• Rulon Jones, AFC Pro Bowl selection
• Karl Mecklenburg, AFC Pro Bowl selection
• Dennis Smith, AFC Pro Bowl selection
• Sammy Winder, AFC Pro Bowl selection

References

External links

• 1986 Denver Broncos at Pro-Football-Reference.com