1986 Denver Broncos season
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| 1986 Denver Broncos season | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Head Coach | Dan Reeves |
| Home Field | Mile High Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 11-5 |
| Place | 1st AFC West |
| Playoff Finish | Lost Super Bowl XXI |
| Timeline | |
| Previous Season | Next Season |
| 1985 | 1987 |
In 1986 the Denver Broncos finished the regular season with a record of 11-5, won the AFC Championship over the Cleveland Browns, and lost Super Bowl XXI to the New York Giants.
Contents |
[edit] Season summary
The Broncos won their first six games of the season, before being felled by the then-5-1 New York Jets on Monday Night Football. They won two more games to improve to 8-1, tied with the Jets for the best record in the league. Although they would go 3-4 down the stretch, alternating wins and losses, Denver still finished ahead of the Seahawks and Chiefs in first place in the AFC West. They won their divisional playoff game against the Patriots at home 22-17. They then played the Cleveland Browns in Cleveland for the AFC Championship. The game culminated in the famous "Drive", where John Elway led a 98-yard drive for a touchdown pass to Mark Jackson to tie the game and send it to overtime, where they won by a field goal, 23-20.
They played the Giants in Super Bowl XXI, losing 20-39, the first of Elway's five Super Bowls and the first of his three losses. Despite leading 10-9 at halftime, the Broncos collapsed in the second half as the Giants scored 30 points to Denver's ten.
[edit] Team stats
Denver scored 378 points during the year, sixth in the NFL. They gave up 327 points, 15th in the league.
The Broncos were 17th in the league in total offense, with 5,489 yards. They had 3,811 passing yards and 1,678 rushing yards. They had 22 passing touchdowns and 17 rushing touchdowns.
They were 17th in the league with 3,755 passing yards given up and 15th with 1,891 rushing yards given up. They were 21st in overall defense with 5,646 yards given up.
The team's 11-5 record is their sixth-best 16-game season in franchise history.
[edit] Player Stats
John Elway had 280 completions for 3,485 yards, 19 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He also had 52 rushes for 257 yards, third highest on the team, and one rushing touchdown. He was fifth in the league in completions, ninth in total yards, and tenth in touchdowns.
Mark Jackson had 38 receptions for 738 yards and one touchdown. Steve Watson had 45 receptions for 699 yards and three touchdowns. Vance Johnson had 31 receptions for 363 yards and two touchdowns. Clint Sampson had 21 receptions for 259 yards. Orson Mobley had 22 reception for 332 yards and one touchdown.
The primary running back Sammy Winder had 240 rushes for 789 yards and 9 touchdowns, seventh highest in the league. He also had five touchdown receptions, giving him 14 total touchdowns for the season, fourth in the league. Gerald Willhite had 85 rushes for 365 yards and five rushing touchdowns and 64 receptions for 529 yards and 3 receiving touchdowns.
Rich Karlis kicked 20 field goals out of 28 attempted, including the game winning field goal in the AFC Chanpionship Game. He kicked 44 out of 45 extra points.
Keith Bishop, Elway, Rulon Jones, Karl Mecklenburg, Dennis Smith, and Winder made the Pro Bowl.
[edit] References
- Pro Football Reference.com Accessed 2 December 2005
| Denver Broncos Seasons |
|---|
| 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 |
