1984 Denver Broncos season

1984 Denver Broncos season
Head Coach	Dan Reeves
Home Field	Mile High Stadium
Results
Record	13–3
Place	1st AFC West
Playoff Finish	Lost AFC Divisional Playoff
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
1983	1985

The 1984 Denver Broncos season was the team's 25th year in professional football and its 15th with the National Football League. The team finished with its then franchise best record of thirteen wins and three losses and were champions of the AFC West. The season ended in a heartbreaking Divisional Playoff loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Pick #	NFL Team	Player	Position	College
46	Denver Broncos	Andre Townsend	Defensive End	Mississippi
78	Denver Broncos	Tony Lilly	Defensive Back	Florida
89	Denver Broncos	Randy Robbins	Defensive Back	Arizona
159	Denver Broncos	Aaron Smith	Linebacker	Utah State
186	Denver Broncos	Clarence Kay	Tight end	Georgia
207	Denver Broncos	Winford Hood	Tackle	Georgia
218	Denver Broncos	Scott Garnett	Defensive tackle	Washington
245	Denver Broncos	Chris Brewer	Running back	Arizona
272	Denver Broncos	Bobby Micho	Tight end	Texas
299	Denver Broncos	Gene Lang	Running back	Louisiana State
326	Denver Broncos	Murray Jarman	Wide receiver	Clemson

Personnel

Staff

1984 Denver Broncos staff
	Front office President and Chief Executive Officer – Pat Bowlen Assistant General Manager – John Beake Coordinator of College Scouting – Reed Johnson Head coaches Head Coach – Dan Reeves Assistant Head Coach/Defense – Joe Collier Offensive coaches Running Backs – Nick Nicolau Wide Receivers – Mike Shanahan Tight Ends – Fran Polsfoot Head Offensive Line – Marvin Bass Offensive Line – Alex Gibbs			Defensive coaches Defensive Line – Stan Jones Linebackers – Myrel Moore Defensive Backs – Charlie West Special teams coaches Special Teams – Fran Polsfoot Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – I. J. Gorman

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Record	Attendance
1	September 2	Cincinnati Bengals	W 20–17	Mile High Stadium	1–0	74,178
2	September 9	at Chicago Bears	L 0–27	Soldier Field	1–1	54,335
3	September 16	at Cleveland Browns	W 24–14	Cleveland Stadium	2–1	61,980
4	September 23	Kansas City Chiefs	W 21–0	Mile High Stadium	3–1	74,263
5	September 30	Los Angeles Raiders	W 16–13	Mile High Stadium	4–1	74,833
6	October 7	at Detroit Lions	W 28–7	Pontiac Silverdome	5–1	55,836
7	October 15	Green Bay Packers	W 17–14	Mile High Stadium	6–1	62,546
8	October 21	at Buffalo Bills	W 37–7	Rich Stadium	7–1	31,204
9	October 28	at Los Angeles Raiders	W 22–19 (OT)	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	8–1	91,020
10	November 4	New England Patriots	W 26–19	Mile High Stadium	9–1	74,908
11	November 11	at San Diego Chargers	W 16–13	Jack Murphy Stadium	10–1	53,162
12	November 18	Minnesota Vikings	W 42–21	Mile High Stadium	11–1	74,716
13	November 25	Seattle Seahawks	L 24–27	Mile High Stadium	11–2	74,922
14	December 2	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 13–16	Arrowhead Stadium	11–3	38,494
15	December 9	San Diego Chargers	W 16–13	Mile High Stadium	12–3	74,867
16	December 15	at Seattle Seahawks	W 31–14	Kingdome	13–3	64,411

Standings

AFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
Denver Broncos	13	3	0	.813	353	241	W-2
Seattle Seahawks	12	4	0	.750	418	282	L-2
Los Angeles Raiders	11	5	0	.688	368	278	L-1
Kansas City Chiefs	8	8	0	.500	314	324	W-3
San Diego Chargers	7	9	0	.438	394	413	L-2

Postseason

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Attendance
Divisional Playoffs	December 30	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 24–17	Mile High Stadium	74,981

AFC Divisional Playoff

The Broncos lost to the Steelers 24–17 at Denver's Mile High Stadium on Sunday, December 30, 1984. The game was televised on NBC. Given Denver's record and their opportunistic defense, Pittsburgh was the decided underdog. Indeed, much talk before the game centered on a possible meeting of two up-and-coming quarterbacks—Denver's John Elway and Miami's Dan Marino--in the AFC Championship Game.

The game turned into a defensive struggle. After the Broncos' first drive ended in a punt, Steelers' quarterback Mark Malone fumbled on two consecutive drives; the first ended in a missed Rich Karlis field goal, but the second was converted into a touchdown pass from Elway to receiver Jim Wright. The Steelers then answered with a scoring drive, as Gary Anderson kicked a 28-yard field goal.

With the teams trading punts, a miscue by the Steelers threatened to blow the game open. Midway through the second quarter, Steelers' punter Craig Colquitt had his punt blocked—the first of his career—and Denver set up at Pittsburgh's four-yard-line. But on third-and-goal, Elway floated a weak pass into the arms of nose tackle Gary Dunn. Now with the momentum, the Steelers were able to put a drive together at the end of the first half, resulting in a one-yard Frank Pollard touchdown run. The Broncos tried to tie the game with time running out in the half, but a long field goal attempt by Karlis fell short.

Leading somewhat surprisingly 10–7, Pittsburgh looked to grind out yards on the ground and keep Elway on the sidelines. But Denver managed two drives to take the lead in the quarter; the first ended with a Karlis chip-shot to tie the game at 10, then Elway hit receiver Steve Watson for a 20-yard strike to take a 17–10 lead. The Steelers then came back with a drive of their own, resulting in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Malone to receiver Louis Lipps. After both defenses held and forced a couple of more punts, Pittsburgh used Pollard and Walter Abercrombie to knife through a tiring Broncos defense. A key pass to Weegie Thompson put the Steelers at the 15-yard-line, where they stalled. However, Anderson missed his second field goal of the afternoon, and Denver took over with about three minutes left.

Having sustained a groin pull and a twisted knee, however, Elway was not as mobile and was experiencing difficulty with his throws. On second down, Elway threw a pass over the middle that was intercepted by Steelers' safety Eric Williams, who then ran the ball down to the 2-yard-line. After a short run and an incomplete pass, Pollard scored the go-ahead touchdown with a 1-yard run.

With a hobbled Elway not being able to lead the team to a first down, the Broncos turned the ball over on downs. They then used all their time-outs while stopping the Steelers, who, somewhat controversially, attempted a field goal on fourth down—only to see Anderson miss his third attempt of the day. Elway then threw to Watson near midfield, but by the time Elway fired the ball out of bounds to stop the clock, only one second remained. A desperation "Hail Mary" pass fell incomplete, and the Steelers won, 24–17.

The Broncos and their fans were bitterly disappointed by the loss, and finished the year 13–4. After a season-long, high-profile rivalry with their AFC West stablemates Seattle, neither team would end up in the AFC Championship Game.

External links

• Broncos on Pro Football Reference
• Broncos Schedule on jt-sw.com