1989 Denver Broncos season

Last updated

1989 Denver Broncos season
Owner Pat Bowlen
General managerJohn Beake
Head coach Dan Reeves
Offensive coordinator Chan Gailey
Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips
Home field Mile High Stadium
Results
Record11–5
Division place1st AFC West
Playoff finishWon Divisional Playoffs
(vs. Steelers) 24–23
Won AFC Championship
(vs. Browns) 37–21
Lost Super Bowl XXIV
(vs. 49ers) 10–55
Pro Bowlers QB John Elway
DT Greg Kragen
LB Karl Mecklenburg
S Dennis Smith
K David Treadwell
Uniform
Broncos 1968-96 uniforms.png

The 1989 Denver Broncos season was the team's 30th year in professional football and its 20th with the National Football League (NFL). The head coach was Dan Reeves while Chan Gailey was the offensive coordinator and Wade Phillips was the defensive coordinator. In the postseason Denver won a nail biter over the Pittsburgh Steelers 24–23 then cruised over the Cleveland Browns 37–21 in the AFC Championship Game.

Contents

The season ended with the Broncos being blown out 55–10 in Super Bowl XXIV by the San Francisco 49ers.

Offseason

NFL draft

1989 Denver Broncos draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
120 Steve Atwater  * †  S Arkansas
1Supp Bobby Humphrey   RB Alabama
241 Doug Widell   G Boston College
247 Warren Powers   DE Maryland
369Darrell Hamilton  T North Carolina
497 Jake McCullough   DE Clemson
5134 Darren Carrington   S Northern Arizona
6152 Anthony Stafford   WR Oklahoma
7180 Melvin Bratton   RB Miami (FL)
8208 Paul Green   TE USC
9236 Monte Smith   G North Dakota State
9241 Wayne Williams   RB Florida
10264 Anthony Butts   DE Mississippi State
11292 Richard Shelton   DB Liberty
12320John Javis  WR Howard
      Made roster    †    Pro Football Hall of Fame     *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[1]

Personnel

Staff

1989 Denver Broncos staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning


Roster

1989 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

Practice squad


47 active, 4 inactive, 5 practice squadReserve


Rookies in italics

[2]

Regular season

One of Denver's new major additions was rookie running back Bobby Humphrey, who rushed for 1,151 yards, caught 22 passes for 156 yards, and scored 8 touchdowns. Humphrey gave the Broncos a powerful running attack that they lacked in their previous Super Bowl seasons. The defense had a new weapon as well: rookie free safety Steve Atwater. Together with veteran defensive backs Dennis Smith, Wymon Henderson and Tyrone Braxton, the Broncos secondary combined for 14 interceptions. Braxton lead the team with 6, which he returned for 103 yards and a touchdown, while also recovering 2 fumbles. Another new addition was defensive end Ron Holmes, who recorded 9 sacks. Holmes, along with veteran linebackers Karl Mecklenburg (7.5 sacks and 4 fumble recoveries) and Simon Fletcher (12 sacks) gave Denver one of the top defensive lines in the AFC.

Veteran receiver Vance Johnson had the best season of his career, catching 76 passes for 1,095 yards and 7 touchdowns, while also returning 12 punts for 118 yards. However, quarterback John Elway played inconsistently during the regular season, throwing just as many interceptions as touchdowns (18) and recording only a 73.7 passer rating.

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendanceRecap
1September 10 Kansas City Chiefs W 34–201–0 Mile High Stadium 74,284 Recap
2September 18at Buffalo Bills W 28–142–0 Rich Stadium 78,176 Recap
3September 24 Los Angeles Raiders W 31–213–0 Mile High Stadium 75,754 Recap
4October 1at Cleveland Browns L 13–163–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 78,637 Recap
5October 8 San Diego Chargers W 16–104–1 Mile High Stadium 75,222 Recap
6October 15 Indianapolis Colts W 14–35–1 Mile High Stadium 74,680 Recap
7October 22at Seattle Seahawks W 24–21 (OT)6–1 Kingdome 62,353 Recap
8October 29 Philadelphia Eagles L 24–286–2 Mile High Stadium 75,065 Recap
9November 5 Pittsburgh Steelers W 34–77–2 Mile High Stadium 74,739 Recap
10November 12at Kansas City Chiefs W 16–138–2 Arrowhead Stadium 76,245 Recap
11November 20at Washington Redskins W 14–109–2 RFK Stadium 52,975 Recap
12November 26 Seattle Seahawks W 41–1410–2 Mile High Stadium 75,117 Recap
13December 3at Los Angeles Raiders L 13–16 (OT)10–3 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 87,560 Recap
14December 10 New York Giants L 7–1410–4 Mile High Stadium 63,283 Recap
15December 16at Phoenix Cardinals W 37–011–4 Sun Devil Stadium 56,071 Recap
16December 24at San Diego Chargers L 16–1911–5 Jack Murphy Stadium 50,524 Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 2

1234Total
• Broncos5133728
Bills007714
  • Date: September 18
  • Location: Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York
  • Game start: 9:00 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 78,176
  • Game weather: 57 °F (14 °C); wind 5 mph (8.0 km/h)
  • Referee: Bob McElwee
  • TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, and Dan Dierdorf
Scoring summary
Q1DEN Mueller tackled by Brooks in end zoneDEN 2–0
Q1DEN Treadwell 22 yard field goalDEN 5–0
Q2DENTreadwell 33 yard field goalDEN 8–0
Q2DEN Johnson 19 yard pass from Elway (Treadwell kick)DEN 15–0
Q2DENTreadwell 46 yard field goalDEN 18–0
Q3DENTreadwell 24 yard field goalDEN 21–0
Q3BUF Kinnebrew 1 yard run (Norwood kick)DEN 21–7
Q4BUF Harmon 20 yard pass from Kelly (Norwood kick)DEN 21–14
Q4DEN Humphrey 5 yard run (Treadwell kick)DEN 28–14

[3]

Week 3

1234Total
Raiders0071421
• Broncos2170331
  • Date: September 24
  • Location: Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado
  • Game start: 2:00 p.m. MST
  • Game weather: 62 °F (17 °C), wind 11 mph (18 km/h)
  • Referee: Jerry Markbreit
  • TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Bill Walsh
Scoring summary
1DEN John Elway 29 yard run (David Treadwell kick)Broncos 7–0
1DEN Jeff Alexander 1 yard run (David Treadwell kick)Broncos 14–0
1DEN Mark Jackson 46 yard pass from John Elway (David Treadwell kick)Broncos 21–0
2DENMark Jackson 11 yard pass from John Elway (David Treadwell kick)Broncos 28–0
3LA Lionel Washington 22 yard interception return (Jeff Jaeger kick)Broncos 28–7
4LA Mervyn Fernandez 75 yard pass from Jay Schroeder (Jeff Jaeger kick)Broncos 28–14
4LA Linden King 15 yard fumble return (Jeff Jaeger kick)Broncos 28–21
4DENDavid Treadwell 38 yard field goalBroncos 31–21

[4]

Playoffs

RoundDateOpponent (seed)ResultRecordVenueAttendanceRecap
DivisionalJanuary 7, 1990 Pittsburgh Steelers (5)W 24–231–0 Mile High Stadium 75,868 Recap
AFC ChampionshipJanuary 14, 1990 Cleveland Browns (2)W 37–212–0 Mile High Stadium 76,005 Recap
Super Bowl XXIV January 28, 1990 San Francisco 49ers (N1)L 10–552–1 Louisiana Superdome 72,919 Recap

Standings

AFC West
WLTPCTDIVCONFPFPASTK
Denver Broncos (1)1150.6886–29–3362226L1
Kansas City Chiefs 871.5313–56–7–1307286W1
Los Angeles Raiders 880.5003–56–6315297L2
Seattle Seahawks 790.4384–47–5241327L1
San Diego Chargers 6100.3754–44–8266290W2

[5]

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References

  1. ↑ "1989 Denver Broncos draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
  2. ↑ "1989 Denver Broncos starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
  3. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Jun-26.
  4. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com
  5. ↑ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN   0-7611-2480-2, p. 292
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