1989 Denver Broncos season

American football team season December 2013 February 2026 Denver Broncos 1989 11–5 1st AFC West Dan Reeves Chan Gailey Wade Phillips John Beake Pat Bowlen Mile High Stadium Won Divisional Playoffs(vs. Steelers) 24–23Won AFC Championship(vs. Browns) 37–21 Lost Super Bowl XXIV(vs. 49ers) 10–55 QB John ElwayDT Greg KragenLB Karl MecklenburgS Dennis SmithK David Treadwell 250px Broncos seasons 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. The season ended with the Broncos being blown out 55–10 in Super Bowl XXIV by the San Francisco 49ers. Offseason NFL draft 1989 NFL draft 1989 Denver Broncos 1 20 Steve Atwater S Arkansas yes yes yes 1 Supp Bobby Humphrey RB Alabama yes 2 41 Doug Widell G Boston College yes 2 47 Warren Powers DE Maryland yes 3 69 Darrell Hamilton T North Carolina 4 97 Jake McCullough DE Clemson yes 5 134 Darren Carrington S Northern Arizona yes 6 152 Anthony Stafford WR Oklahoma 7 180 Melvin Bratton RB Miami (FL) yes 8 208 Paul Green TE USC yes 9 236 Monte Smith G North Dakota State yes 9 241 Wayne Williams RB Florida 10 264 Anthony Butts DE Mississippi State 11 292 Richard Shelton DB Liberty yes 12 320 John Javis WR Howard https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/den/1989_draft.htm 1989 Denver Broncos draftees Pro-Football-Reference.com November 12, 2014 Undrafted free agents + 1989 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegePat HegartyQuarterbackUTEPChris RuleQuarterbackColorado State Personnel 1989 Denver Broncos President and chief executive officer – Pat Bowlen General manager – John Beake Director of football operations – Lide Huggins Director of player personnel – Reed Johnson Administrative assistant to head coach and general manager – Joe DeCamillis Vice-president/head coach – Dan Reeves Special assistant – Marvin Bass Offensive coordinator/wide receivers – Chan Gailey Quarterbacks – Mike Shanahan (hired Oct 16) Running backs – Mo Forte Tight ends/assistant offensive line – Pete Mangurian Offensive line – George Henshaw Defensive coordinator – Wade Phillips Defensive line – Earl Leggett Linebackers – Mike Nolan Defensive backs – Charlie Waters Special teams – Harold Richardson Strength/conditioning – Al Miller Assistant strength and conditioning – Barney Chavous Final roster 1989 Denver Broncos 47 4 5  7 John Elway  8 Gary Kubiak 40 Jeff Alexander American football FB 35 Ken Bell American football KR/PR 32 Mel Bratton y FB 26 Bobby Humphrey y 30 Steve Sewell 23 Sammy Winder 80 Mark Jackson wide receiver 82 Vance Johnson KR 84 Ricky Nattiel KR 83 Mike Young American football 88 Clarence Kay 87 Pat Kelly American football 89 Orson Mobley 54 Keith Bishop American football G/LS 66 Jim Juriga G 72 Keith Kartz C 76 Ken Lanier T 60 Gerald Perry American football T 57 Mike Ruether C 65 Monte Smith y G 67 Doug Widell y G 92 Alphonso Carreker DE 68 Brad Henke DE/DT 90 Ron Holmes DE 71 Greg Kragen NT 91 Warren Powers defensive end y DE 61 Andre Townsend DE/NT 56 Michael Brooks linebacker OLB 58 Scott Curtis American football ILB 55 Rick Dennison ILB 73 Simon Fletcher American football OLB 97 Bruce Klosterman OLB 59 Tim Lucas American football OLB 77 Karl Mecklenburg ILB 51 Marc Munford ILB 27 Steve Atwater y FS 34 Tyrone Braxton CB 29 Darren Carrington CB 25 Kip Corrington FS 36 Mark Haynes CB 24 Wymon Henderson CB 48 Randy Robbins American football SS 49 Dennis Smith American football SS  2 Mike Horan American football P  9 David Treadwell K 64 Billy Bryan C IR 96 Jake McCullough y DE IR 74 Andrew Provence DT IR 94 Randy Thornton LB IR 86 Paul Green American football y TE 69 Darrell Hamilton y T 19 Pat Hegarty American football y QB 78 Jeff Mickel y T 52 Ron Sancho y LB https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/den/1989_roster.htm 1989 Denver Broncos starters and roster Pro-Football-Reference.com November 12, 2014 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 Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap 1 September 10 Kansas City Chiefs W 34–20 1–0 Mile High Stadium 74,284 Recap 2 September 18, 1989 at Buffalo Bills W 28–14 2–0 Rich Stadium 78,176 Recap 3 September 24 Los Angeles Raiders W 31–21 3–0 Mile High Stadium 75,754 Recap 4 October 1 at Cleveland Browns L 13–16 3–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 78,637 Recap 5 October 8 San Diego Chargers W 16–10 4–1 Mile High Stadium 75,222 Recap 6 October 15 Indianapolis Colts W 14–3 5–1 Mile High Stadium 74,680 Recap 7 October 22 at Seattle Seahawks W 24–21 (OT) 6–1 Kingdome 62,353 Recap 8 October 29 Philadelphia Eagles L 24–28 6–2 Mile High Stadium 75,065 Recap 9 November 5 Pittsburgh Steelers W 34–7 7–2 Mile High Stadium 74,739 Recap 10 November 12 at Kansas City Chiefs W 16–13 8–2 Arrowhead Stadium 76,245 Recap 11 November 20, 1989 at Washington Redskins W 14–10 9–2 RFK Stadium 52,975 Recap 12 November 26 Seattle Seahawks W 41–14 10–2 Mile High Stadium 75,117 Recap 13 December 3 at Los Angeles Raiders L 13–16 (OT) 10–3 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 87,560 Recap 14 December 10 New York Giants L 7–14 10–4 Mile High Stadium 63,283 Recap 15 December 16, 1989 at Phoenix Cardinals W 37–0 11–4 Sun Devil Stadium 56,071 Recap 16 December 24 at San Diego Chargers L 16–19 11–5 Jack Murphy Stadium 50,524 Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Game summaries Week 2 Broncos 5 13 3 7 Bills 0 0 7 7 September 18 Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York 9:00 p.m. EST 78,176 57 F; wind 5 mph on Bob McElwee Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, and Dan Dierdorf ABC yes Q1 DEN Mueller tackled by Brooks in end zone DEN 2–0 Q1 DEN Treadwell 22 yard field goal DEN 5–0 Q2 DEN Treadwell 33 yard field goal DEN 8–0 Q2 DEN Johnson 19 yard pass from Elway (Treadwell kick) DEN 15–0 Q2 DEN Treadwell 46 yard field goal DEN 18–0 Q3 DEN Treadwell 24 yard field goal DEN 21–0 Q3 BUF Kinnebrew 1 yard run (Norwood kick) DEN 21–7 Q4 BUF Harmon 20 yard pass from Kelly (Norwood kick) DEN 21–14 Q4 DEN Humphrey 5 yard run (Treadwell kick) DEN 28–14 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Jun-26. Week 3 Raiders 0 0 7 14 Broncos 21 7 0 3 September 24 Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado 2:00 p.m. MST 62 F, wind 11 mph on Jerry Markbreit Dick Enberg and Bill Walsh NBC yes 1 DEN John Elway 29 yard run (David Treadwell kick) Broncos 7–0 1 DEN Jeff Alexander 1 yard run (David Treadwell kick) Broncos 14–0 1 DEN Mark Jackson 46 yard pass from John Elway (David Treadwell kick) Broncos 21–0 2 DEN Mark Jackson 11 yard pass from John Elway (David Treadwell kick) Broncos 28–0 3 LA Lionel Washington 22 yard interception return (Jeff Jaeger kick) Broncos 28–7 4 LA Mervyn Fernandez 75 yard pass from Jay Schroeder (Jeff Jaeger kick) Broncos 28–14 4 LA Linden King 15 yard fumble return (Jeff Jaeger kick) Broncos 28–21 4 DEN David Treadwell 38 yard field goal Broncos 31–21 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com Week 14 Giants 0 14 0 0 Broncos 0 0 0 7 December 10 Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado 2:00 p.m. MST 31 F, wind 12 mph on Jerry Markbreit Pat Summerall and John Madden CBS yes 2 NYG Ottis Anderson 3 yard run (Bjorn Nittmo kick) Giants 7–0 2 NYG David Meggett 57 yard pass from Phil Simms (Bjorn Nittmo kick) Giants 14–0 4 DEN Mike Young 32 yard pass from John Elway (David Treadwell kick) Giants 14–7 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com Playoffs 1989–90 NFL playoffs Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Attendance Recap Divisional January 7, 1990 Pittsburgh Steelers (5) W 24–23 1–0 Mile High Stadium 75,868 Recap AFC Championship January 14, 1990 Cleveland Browns (2) W 37–21 2–0 Mile High Stadium 76,005 Recap Super Bowl XXIV January 28, 1990 San Francisco 49ers (N1) L 10–55 2–1 Louisiana Superdome 72,919 Recap Standings NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, 0-7611-2480-2, p. 292 References External links Denver Broncos – 1989 media guide 1989 Denver Broncos on Pro-Football-Reference.com 1989 Denver Broncos at JT-SW.com Denver Broncos Category:American Football Conference championship seasons Category:Denver Broncos seasons Category:AFC West championship seasons Denver Broncos