1985 Denver Broncos season

American football team season December 2013 February 2026 Denver Broncos 1985 11–5 2nd AFC West Dan Reeves John Beake Pat Bowlen Mile High Stadium Did not qualify Broncos seasons thumb|right|150px|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. 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.All Time Best NFL Teams Who Missed The Playoffs https://champsorchumps.us/records/best-nfl-regular-season-records-to-miss-playoffs 2023-10-22 champsorchumps.us en Off Season NFL draft 1985 NFL draft 1985 Denver Broncos 1 26 Steve Sewell Running back Oklahoma yes 2 31 Vance Johnson Wide receiver Arizona yes 2 54 Simon Fletcher Defensive end Houston yes 4 110 Keli McGregor Tight end Colorado State no 5 139 Billy Hinson Guard Florida 7 194 Dallas Cameron Defensive tackle Miami (FL) 8 222 Eric Riley Defensive back Florida State 9 249 Daryl Smith Defensive back North Alabama 10 269 Buddy Funck Quarterback New Mexico 10 278 Ron Anderson Linebacker Southern Methodist 11 306 Gary Rolle Wide receiver Florida 12 334 Dan Lynch Guard Washington State no Personnel Staff 1985 Denver Broncos President and chief executive officer – Pat Bowlen General manager – John Beake Coordinator of college scouting – Reed Johnson Vice president/head coach – Dan Reeves Assistant head coach/defense – Joe Collier Special assistant – Marvin Bass Offensive coordinator/wide receivers and quarterbacks – Mike Shanahan Running backs – Nick Nicolau Tight ends/assistant offensive line – Doc Urich Offensive line – Alex Gibbs Defensive line – Stan Jones Linebackers – Myrel Moore Defensive backs – Charlie West Special teams/defensive assistant – Chan Gailey Strength/conditioning – Al Miller 2010 Denver Broncos Media Guide 357 http://media.denverbroncos.com/media+guide/ March 13, 2011 Roster 1985 Denver Broncos  7 John Elway  8 Gary Kubiak 34 Nathan Poole 30 Steve Sewell y 47 Gerald Willhite 23 Sammy Winder 86 Butch Johnson 82 Vance Johnson y 84 Clint Sampson 81 Steve Watson wide receiver 85 Mike Barber tight end 88 Clarence Kay 87 James Wright tight end 54 Keith Bishop American football G 64 Billy Bryan C 63 Mark Cooper American football T 78 Winford Hood G 60 Paul Howard American football G 76 Ken Lanier T 67 Dean Miraldi G/T 70 Dave Studdard T 68 Rubin Carter American football NT 79 Barney Chavous DE 73 Simon Fletcher American football y DE 75 Rulon Jones DE 71 Greg Kragen NT 61 Andre Townsend DE 58 Steve Busick ILB 59 Darren Comeaux ILB 55 Rick Dennison ILB 98 Ricky Hunley ILB 57 Tom Jackson American football, born 1951 OLB 77 Karl Mecklenburg ILB 50 Jim Ryan linebacker OLB 52 Ken Woodard OLB 43 Steve Foley defensive back FS 31 Mike Harden CB 25 Daniel Hunter cornerback CB 22 Tony Lilly FS 48 Randy Robbins American football SS 49 Dennis Smith American football SS 45 Steve Wilson defensive back CB 20 Louis Wright American football CB  3 Rich Karlis K  1 Chris Norman American football P 62 Mike Freeman guard C IR 72 Marsharne Graves T IR -- Alfondia Hill WR IR 51 Billy Hinson y G IR 33 Gene Lang American football RB IR 21 Eric Riley y cornerback CB IR 83 John Sawyer American football TE IR 56 Aaron Smith linebacker LB IR 10 Larry Ray Willis y WR IR Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 8 at Los Angeles Rams L 16–20 Anaheim Stadium 0–1 52,522 2 September 15 New Orleans Saints W 34–23 Mile High Stadium 1–1 74,488 3 September 22 at Atlanta Falcons W 44–28 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 2–1 37,903 4 September 29 Miami Dolphins L 26–30 Mile High Stadium 2–2 73,614 5 October 6 Houston Oilers W 31–20 Mile High Stadium 3–2 74,699 6 October 13 at Indianapolis Colts W 15–10 Hoosier Dome 4–2 60,128 7 October 20 Seattle Seahawks W 13–10 (OT) Mile High Stadium 5–2 74,899 8 October 27 at Kansas City Chiefs W 30–10 Arrowhead Stadium 6–2 68,246 9 November 3 at San Diego Chargers L 10–30 Jack Murphy Stadium 6–3 57,312 10 November 11 San Francisco 49ers W 17–16 Mile High Stadium 7–3 73,173 11 November 17 San Diego Chargers W 30–24 (OT) Mile High Stadium 8–3 74,376 12 November 24 at Los Angeles Raiders L 28–31 (OT) Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 8–4 63,181 13 December 1 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 31–23 Three Rivers Stadium 9–4 56,797 14 December 8 Los Angeles Raiders L 14–17 (OT) Mile High Stadium 9–5 75,042 15 December 14 Kansas City Chiefs W 14–13 Mile High Stadium 10–5 69,209 16 December 20 at Seattle Seahawks W 27–24 Kingdome 11–5 56,283 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Season summary Week 11 Chargers 7 7 0 10 0 Broncos 7 0 0 17 6 November 17 Mile High Stadium Fred Silva NBC yes Q1 14:43 SD Anderson 98 yard kickoff return (Thomas kick) SD 7–0 Q1 3:10 DEN Watson 4 yard pass from Elway (Karlis kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 13:36 SD James 6 yard pass from Fouts (Thomas kick) SD 14–7 Q4 14:07 DEN Lang 2 yard run (Karlis kick) Tie 14–14 Q4 13:45 DEN Lang 4 yard run (Karlis kick) DEN 21–14 Q4 10:09 SD Thomas 36 yard field goal DEN 21–17 Q4 1:18 SD Spencer 2 yard run (Thomas kick) SD 24–21 Q4 0:05 DEN Karlis 34 yard field goal Tie 24–24 OT 10:15 DEN Wright 60 yard blocked field goal return DEN 30–24 yes The Football Database. Retrieved 2018-Oct-06. Week 14 vs Raiders Denver Broncos 1985 2; text-align:center collapsed Week 14: Los Angeles Raiders (9–4) at Denver Broncos (9–4) December 8 4:00 p.m. EST Raiders 0 0 14 0 3 Broncos 7 7 0 0 0 Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado 75,042 31 F C Fred Wyant NBC Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen Box Score, Box Score First quarter DEN – James Wright 5-yard pass from John Elway (Rich Karlis kick), 1:27. Broncos 7–0. Drive: Second quarter DEN – Sammy Winder 1-yard run (Rich Karlis kick), 0:30. Broncos 14–0. Drive: Third quarter LA – Todd Christensen 3-yard pass from Marc Wilson (Chris Bahr kick), 8:31. Broncos 14–7. Drive: LA – Marcus Allen 15–yard run (Chris Bahr kick), 4:45. Tie 14–14. Drive: Fourth quarter No scoring Overtime LA – Chris Bahr 26-yard field goal, 10:05. Raiders 17–14. Drive: Top passers LA – Marc Wilson – 13/28, 93 yards, TD, 4 INT DEN – John Elway – 18/36, 158 yards, TD, 3 INT Top rushers LA – Marcus Allen – 25 rushes, 135 yards, TD DEN – Sammy Winder – 14 rushes, 41 yards, TD Top receivers LA – Todd Christensen – 6 receptions, 53 yards, TD DEN – Steve Watson – 5 receptions, 56 yards Standings References External links 1985 Denver Broncos season at jt-sw.com 1985 Denver Broncos at Pro-Football-Reference.com Denver Broncos Category:Denver Broncos seasons Denver Bronco Category:Long stubs with short prose