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1985 Denver Broncos season
1985 Denver Broncos season
Owner	Pat Bowlen
General manager	John Beake
Head coach	Dan Reeves
Home field	Mile High Stadium
Results
Record	11–5
Division place	2nd AFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
	← 1984; Broncos seasons; 1986 →;

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. 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.^[1]

Off Season

NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1985 Denver Broncos draft
1	26	Steve Sewell	Running back	Oklahoma
2	31	Vance Johnson	Wide receiver	Arizona
2	54	Simon Fletcher	Defensive end	Houston
4	110	Keli McGregor	Tight end	Colorado State
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
Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

**1985 Denver Broncos staff**
	Front office President and chief executive officer – Pat Bowlen General manager – John Beake Coordinator of college scouting – Reed Johnson Head coaches Vice president/head coach – Dan Reeves Assistant head coach/defense – Joe Collier Special assistant – Marvin Bass Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator/wide receivers and quarterbacks – Mike Shanahan Running backs – Nick Nicolau Tight ends/assistant offensive line – Doc Urich Offensive line – Alex Gibbs			Defensive coaches Defensive line – Stan Jones Linebackers – Myrel Moore Defensive backs – Charlie West Special teams coaches Special teams/defensive assistant – Chan Gailey Strength and conditioning Strength/conditioning – Al Miller

^[2]

Roster

**1985 Denver Broncos roster**
Quarterbacks (QB) 7 John Elway 8 Gary Kubiak 14 Scott Stankavage Running backs (RB) 33 Gene Lang FB 30 Steve Sewell 47 Gerald Willhite 23 Sammy Winder Wide receivers (WR) 82 Vance Johnson 84 Clint Sampson 81 Steve Watson Tight ends (TE) 85 Mike Barber 88 Clarence Kay		Offensive linemen (OL) 54 Keith Bishop G 64 Billy Bryan C 63 Mark Cooper G 78 Winford Hood G 60 Paul Howard G 76 Ken Lanier T Defensive linemen (DL) 79 Barney Chavous DE 68 Rubin Carter DT 75 Rulon Jones DE 71 Greg Kragen NT 61 Andre Townsend DE		Linebackers (LB) 58 Steve Busick 55 Rick Dennison 73 Simon Fletcher OLB 57 Tom Jackson OLB 77 Karl Mecklenburg ILB 50 Jim Ryan OLB 52 Ken Woodard Defensive backs (DB) 43 Steve Foley FS 31 Mike Harden CB 22 Tony Lilly FS 48 Randy Robbins SS 49 Dennis Smith SS 45 Steve Wilson CB 20 Louis Wright CB Special teams 3 Rich Karlis K 4 Chris Norman P		Reserve 62 Mike Freeman C (IR) Rookies in italics

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

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Chargers	7	7	0	10	0	24
• Broncos	7	0	0	17	6	30

Date: November 17
Location: Mile High Stadium
Referee: Fred Silva
Television network: NBC

^[3]

Week 14 vs Raiders

Week 14: Los Angeles Raiders (9–4) at Denver Broncos (9–4)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Raiders	0	0	14	0	3	17
Broncos	7	7	0	0	0	14

at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado

Date: December 8
Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
Game weather: 31 °F (−1 °C)
Game attendance: 75,042
Referee: Fred Wyant
TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen
Box Score, Box Score

Game information

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

AFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Los Angeles Raiders⁽¹⁾	12	4	0	.750	5–3	9–3	354	308	W6
Denver Broncos	11	5	0	.688	5–3	8–4	380	329	W2
Seattle Seahawks	8	8	0	.500	4–4	6–6	349	303	L2
San Diego Chargers	8	8	0	.500	3–5	7–7	467	435	L1
Kansas City Chiefs	6	10	0	.375	3–5	4–8	317	360	W1