1985 Denver Broncos season

Last updated

1985 Denver Broncos season
Owner Pat Bowlen
General manager John Beake
Head coach Dan Reeves
Home stadium Mile High Stadium
Results
Record11–5
Division place2nd AFC West
PlayoffsDid not qualify
A ticket for a December 1985 game between the Broncos and the Kansas City Chiefs. Kansas City Chiefs at Denver Broncos 1985-12-14 (ticket).jpg
A ticket for a December 1985 game between the Broncos and the Kansas City Chiefs.

The 1985 Denver Broncos season was the team's 26th year in professional football and its 16th with the National Football League (NFL). Despite finishing with eleven wins and five losses, the Broncos failed to make the playoffs. The Broncos were coming off a loss to the Steelers in the divisional round, and were picked by many to make the Super Bowl at the end of the 1985 season. The Broncos started out well, as they started 6–2 and 8–3. However, two losses in overtime to arch rival Los Angeles resulted in the Broncos needing to win their final two games of the season to try to sneak into the playoffs. They did just that, beating Kansas City 14–13 and Seattle 27–24. However, even though the Broncos finished 11–5, they failed to reach the playoffs by virtue of a tiebreaker with the New England Patriots. The tiebreaker was based on the teams' common opponents record; and the Patriots beat the Broncos in that category by finishing 4–2 against the Raiders, Seahawks, Dolphins, and Colts, while the Broncos finished just 3–3 against the same four teams.

Contents

A week four loss at home vs. Miami and the sweep by the Raiders cost the Broncos the tiebreaker vs. the Patriots, but a 30-10 loss to the 8-8 Chargers in early November was just as damaging.

The 1985 Broncos are one of two teams in NFL history since the 1970 merger to end the season with eleven or more wins and not qualify for the playoffs - the other is the 2008 Patriots. [1]

Off Season

NFL draft

1985 Denver Broncos draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
126 Steve Sewell   Running back Oklahoma
231 Vance Johnson   Wide receiver Arizona
254 Simon Fletcher   Defensive end Houston
4110 Keli McGregor   Tight end Colorado State
5139 Billy Hinson   Guard Florida
7194 Dallas Cameron   Defensive tackle Miami (FL)
8222 Eric Riley   Defensive back Florida State
9249 Daryl Smith   Defensive back North Alabama
10269 Buddy Funck   Quarterback New Mexico
10278Ron Anderson  Linebacker Southern Methodist
11306 Gary Rolle   Wide receiver Florida
12334 Dan Lynch   Guard Washington State
      Made roster    †    Pro Football Hall of Fame     *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1985 Denver Broncos staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

[2]

Roster

1985 Denver Broncos roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

 Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

 Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams (ST)

Reserve

Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
1September 8at Los Angeles Rams L 16–20 Anaheim Stadium 0–152,522
2September 15 New Orleans Saints W 34–23 Mile High Stadium 1–174,488
3September 22at Atlanta Falcons W 44–28 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 2–137,903
4September 29 Miami Dolphins L 26–30Mile High Stadium2–273,614
5October 6 Houston Oilers W 31–20Mile High Stadium3–274,699
6October 13at Indianapolis Colts W 15–10 Hoosier Dome 4–260,128
7October 20 Seattle Seahawks W 13–10 (OT)Mile High Stadium5–274,899
8October 27at Kansas City Chiefs W 30–10 Arrowhead Stadium 6–268,246
9November 3at San Diego Chargers L 10–30 Jack Murphy Stadium 6–357,312
10 November 11 San Francisco 49ers W 17–16Mile High Stadium7–373,173
11November 17 San Diego Chargers W 30–24 (OT)Mile High Stadium8–374,376
12November 24at Los Angeles Raiders L 28–31 (OT) Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 8–463,181
13December 1at Pittsburgh Steelers W 31–23 Three Rivers Stadium 9–456,797
14December 8 Los Angeles Raiders L 14–17 (OT)Mile High Stadium9–575,042
15December 14 Kansas City Chiefs W 14–13Mile High Stadium10–569,209
16December 20at Seattle Seahawks W 27–24 Kingdome 11–556,283
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 11

Team1234OTTotal
Chargers77010024
• Broncos70017630
  • Date: November 17
  • Location: Mile High Stadium
  • Referee: Fred Silva
  • Television network: NBC
Scoring summary
Q114:43SD Anderson 98 yard kickoff return (Thomas kick)SD 7–0
Q13:10DEN Watson 4 yard pass from Elway (Karlis kick)Tie 7–7
Q213:36SD James 6 yard pass from Fouts (Thomas kick)SD 14–7
Q414:07DEN Lang 2 yard run (Karlis kick)Tie 14–14
Q413:45DENLang 4 yard run (Karlis kick)DEN 21–14
Q410:09SDThomas 36 yard field goalDEN 21–17
Q41:18SD Spencer 2 yard run (Thomas kick)SD 24–21
Q40:05DENKarlis 34 yard field goalTie 24–24
OT10:15DEN Wright 60 yard blocked field goal returnDEN 30–24

[3]

Week 14 vs Raiders

Week 14: Los Angeles Raiders (9–4) at Denver Broncos (9–4)
Quarter1234OTTotal
Raiders00140317
Broncos7700014

at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado

  • Date: December 8
  • Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 31 °F (−1 °C)
  • Game attendance: 75,042
  • Referee: Fred Wyant
  • TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen
  • Box Score, Box Score
Game information

Standings

AFC West
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
Los Angeles Raiders (1)1240.7505–39–3354308W6
Denver Broncos 1150.6885–38–4380329W2
Seattle Seahawks 880.5004–46–6349303L2
San Diego Chargers 880.5003–57–7467435L1
Kansas City Chiefs 6100.3753–54–8317360W1

References

  1. ↑ "All Time Best NFL Teams Who Missed The Playoffs". champsorchumps.us. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  2. ↑ 2010 Denver Broncos Media Guide. p. 357. Retrieved March 13, 2011.
  3. ↑ The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Oct-06.
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