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1989 Denver Broncos season

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1989 Denver Broncos season
OwnerPat Bowlen
General managerJohn Beake
Head coachDan Reeves
Offensive coordinatorChan Gailey
Defensive coordinatorWade Phillips
Home fieldMile High Stadium
Results
Record11–5
Division place1st AFC West
Playoff finishWon Divisional Playoffs
(vs. Steelers) 24–23
Won AFC Championship
(vs. Browns) 37–21
Lost Super Bowl XXIV
(vs. 49ers) 10–55
Pro BowlersQB John Elway
DT Greg Kragen
LB Karl Mecklenburg
S Dennis Smith
K David Treadwell
Uniform

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

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NFL draft

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Main article: 1989 NFL draft
1989 Denver Broncos draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 20 Steve Atwater * †  S Arkansas
1 Supp Bobby Humphrey  RB Alabama
2 41 Doug Widell  G Boston College
2 47 Warren Powers  DE Maryland
3 69 Darrell Hamilton  T North Carolina
4 97 Jake McCullough  DE Clemson
5 134 Darren Carrington  S Northern Arizona
6 152 Anthony Stafford  WR Oklahoma
7 180 Melvin Bratton  RB Miami (FL)
8 208 Paul Green  TE USC
9 236 Monte Smith  G North Dakota State
9 241 Wayne Williams  RB Florida
10 264 Anthony Butts  DE Mississippi State
11 292 Richard Shelton  DB Liberty
12 320 John Javis  WR Howard
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

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Personnel

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Staff

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1989 Denver Broncos staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning


Roster

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1989 Denver Broncos roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Practice squad


47 active, 4 inactive, 5 practice squad Reserve


Rookies in italics

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Regular season

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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

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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 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 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 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

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Week 2

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1 234Total
• Broncos 5 1337 28
Bills 0 077 14
  • Date: September 18
  • Location: Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York
  • Game start: 9:00 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 78,176
  • Game weather: 57 °F (14 °C); wind 5 mph (8.0 km/h)
  • Referee: Bob McElwee
  • TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, and Dan Dierdorf
Scoring summary
Q1DENMueller tackled by Brooks in end zoneDEN 2–0
Q1DENTreadwell 22 yard field goalDEN 5–0
Q2DENTreadwell 33 yard field goalDEN 8–0
Q2DENJohnson 19 yard pass from Elway (Treadwell kick)DEN 15–0
Q2DENTreadwell 46 yard field goalDEN 18–0
Q3DENTreadwell 24 yard field goalDEN 21–0
Q3BUFKinnebrew 1 yard run (Norwood kick)DEN 21–7
Q4BUFHarmon 20 yard pass from Kelly (Norwood kick)DEN 21–14
Q4DENHumphrey 5 yard run (Treadwell kick)DEN 28–14

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Week 3

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1 234Total
Raiders 0 0714 21
• Broncos 21 703 31
  • Date: September 24
  • Location: Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado
  • Game start: 2:00 p.m. MST
  • Game weather: 62 °F (17 °C), wind 11 mph (18 km/h)
  • Referee: Jerry Markbreit
  • TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Bill Walsh
Scoring summary
1DENJohn Elway 29 yard run (David Treadwell kick)Broncos 7–0
1DENJeff Alexander 1 yard run (David Treadwell kick)Broncos 14–0
1DENMark Jackson 46 yard pass from John Elway (David Treadwell kick)Broncos 21–0
2DENMark Jackson 11 yard pass from John Elway (David Treadwell kick)Broncos 28–0
3LALionel Washington 22 yard interception return (Jeff Jaeger kick)Broncos 28–7
4LAMervyn Fernandez 75 yard pass from Jay Schroeder (Jeff Jaeger kick)Broncos 28–14
4LALinden King 15 yard fumble return (Jeff Jaeger kick)Broncos 28–21
4DENDavid Treadwell 38 yard field goalBroncos 31–21

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Playoffs

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See also: 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

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AFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Denver Broncos(1) 11 5 0 .688 6–2 9–3 362 226 L1
Kansas City Chiefs 8 7 1 .531 3–5 6–7–1 307 286 W1
Los Angeles Raiders 8 8 0 .500 3–5 6–6 315 297 L2
Seattle Seahawks 7 9 0 .438 4–4 7–5 241 327 L1
San Diego Chargers 6 10 0 .375 4–4 4–8 266 290 W2

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References

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  1. ^ "1989 Denver Broncos draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
  2. ^ "1989 Denver Broncos starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
  3. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Jun-26.
  4. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com
  5. ^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 292
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