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1991 Denver Broncos season

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1991 Denver Broncos season
OwnerPat Bowlen
General managerJohn Beake
Head coachDan Reeves
Home fieldMile High Stadium
Results
Record12–4
Division place1st AFC West
Playoff finishWon Divisional Playoffs
(vs. Oilers) 26–24
Lost AFC Championship
(at Bills) 7–10
Pro BowlersQB John Elway
RB Gaston Green
LB Karl Mecklenburg
S Steve Atwater
S Dennis Smith
Uniform

The 1991 Denver Broncos season was the team's 32nd year in professional football and its 22nd as a member club in the National Football League (NFL). The team improved on its 5–11 from 1990, winning their third AFC West title in five years, and advanced to the AFC Championship game where it fell to the Buffalo Bills 10 –7. Overall, the Denver Broncos had five players who were selected to participate in the Pro Bowl. This season also brought The Drive II. In the divisional round of the playoffs, versus the Houston Oilers, the Broncos started the game winning drive at their own 2 yard line and ended with a game winning field goal for a 26–24 victory.

Offseason

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NFL Draft

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1991 Denver Broncos draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 4 Mike Croel  DE Nebraska
2 30 Reggie Johnson  TE Florida State
3 61 Keith Traylor  DT Central State (OK)
4 89 Derek Russell  WR Arkansas
5 115 Greg Lewis  RB Washington
6 142 Nick Subis  OT San Diego State
8 200 Kenny Walker  DE Nebraska
9 227 Don Gibson  Defensive tackle USC
10 253 Curtis Mayfield  Wide receiver Oklahoma State
11 284 Shawn Moore  Quarterback Virginia
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[1]

Undrafted free agents

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1991 Undrafted Free Agents of note
Player Position College
John Story Wide Receiver Indiana State

Personnel

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Staff

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1991 Denver Broncos staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning


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Roster

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1991 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, 2 practice squad Reserve


Rookies in italics

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Preseason

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 August 27 vs. Detroit Lions L 3–14 0–1 Fawcett Stadium 23,815
2 August 2 Indianapolis Colts W 10–3 1–1 Mile High Stadium 75,375
3 August 7 at San Francisco 49ers L 6–24 1–2 Candlestick Park 54,170
4 August 19 Miami Dolphins W 21–13 2–2 Candlestick Park 54,170
5 August 23 at Phoenix Cardinals L 10–34 2–3 Sun Devil Stadium 38,372

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Regular season

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Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 1 Cincinnati Bengals W 45–14 1–0 Mile High Stadium 72,855 Recap
2 September 8 at Los Angeles Raiders L 13–16 1–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 48,569 Recap
3 September 15 Seattle Seahawks W 16–10 2–1 Mile High Stadium 74,152 Recap
4 September 22 San Diego Chargers W 27–19 3–1 Mile High Stadium 73,258 Recap
5 September 29 at Minnesota Vikings W 13–6 4–1 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 55,031 Recap
6 October 6 at Houston Oilers L 14–42 4–2 Houston Astrodome 59,145 Recap
7 Bye
8 October 20 Kansas City Chiefs W 19–16 5–2 Mile High Stadium 75,866 Recap
9 October 27 at New England Patriots W 9–6 6–2 Foxboro Stadium 43,994 Recap
10 November 3 Pittsburgh Steelers W 20–13 7–2 Mile High Stadium 70,973 Recap
11 November 10 Los Angeles Raiders L 16–17 7–3 Mile High Stadium 75,896 Recap
12 November 17 at Kansas City Chiefs W 24–20 8–3 Arrowhead Stadium 74,661 Recap
13 November 24 at Seattle Seahawks L 10–13 8–4 Kingdome 60,430 Recap
14 December 1 New England Patriots W 20–3 9–4 Mile High Stadium 67,116 Recap
15 December 8 at Cleveland Browns W 17–7 10–4 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 73,539 Recap
16 December 15 Phoenix Cardinals W 24–19 11–4 Mile High Stadium 74,098 Recap
17 December 22 at San Diego Chargers W 17–14 12–4 Jack Murphy Stadium 51,449 Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Postseason

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Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Recap
Wild Card First-round bye
Divisional January 4, 1992 Houston Oilers (3) W 26–24 1–0 Mile High Stadium Recap
Championship January 12, 1992 Buffalo Bills (1) L 7–10 1–1 Rich Stadium Recap

Season summary

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Week 1 vs Bengals

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Week 2 at Raiders

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Week Two: Denver Broncos (1–0) at Los Angeles Raiders (0–1)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Broncos 3 3 0713
Raiders 0 3 7616

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California

  • Date: September 8
  • Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 65 °F (18 °C)
  • Game attendance: 48,569
  • Box Score, Box Score
Game information

Week 10

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1 234Total
Steelers 3 703 13
• Broncos 0 1730 20
  • Date: November 3
  • Location: Mile High Stadium • Denver, Colorado
  • Game start: 6:00 p.m. MST
  • Game weather: 16 °F (−9 °C), wind 8 mph (13 km/h)
  • Referee: Dick Hantak
  • TV announcers (ESPN): Mike Patrick & Joe Theismann
Scoring summary
1PITGary Anderson 26-yard field goalSteelers 3–0
2PITEric Green 23-yard pass from Neil O'Donnell (Gary Anderson kick)Steelers 10–0
2DENGreg Lewis 1-yard run (David Treadwell kick)Steelers 10–7
2DENJohn Elway 4-yard run (David Treadwell kick)Broncos 14–10
2DENDavid Treadwell 28-yard field goalBroncos 17–10
3DENDavid Treadwell 21-yard field goalBroncos 20–10
4PITGary Anderson 39-yard field goalBroncos 20–13

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Standings

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AFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(2) Denver Broncos 12 4 0 .750 5–3 10–4 304 235 W4
(4) Kansas City Chiefs 10 6 0 .625 6–2 8–4 316 252 W1
(5) Los Angeles Raiders 9 7 0 .563 5–3 7–5 298 297 L3
Seattle Seahawks 7 9 0 .438 2–6 6–6 276 261 W1
San Diego Chargers 4 12 0 .250 2–6 3–9 274 342 L1

Playoffs

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AFC Divisional Playoff

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Denver Broncos 26, Houston Oilers 24
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Oilers 14 7 0324
Broncos 6 7 31026

at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado

Trailing 24–23 with 2:07 left in the game, quarterback John Elway led the Broncos from their own 2-yard line to the winning 28-yard field goal with 16 seconds remaining. On the drive, he converted on two fourth downs. On fourth down and 6 from the Denver 28, he rushed for 7 yards. Then on fourth down and 10, he completed a 44-yard pass to wide receiver Vance Johnson.

The Oilers jumped to a 14–0 lead with quarterback Warren Moon's two touchdown passes to wide receivers Haywood Jeffires and Drew Hill for 15 and 9 yards, respectively. Elway then completed a 10-yard touchdown to Johnson, but kicker David Treadwell missed the extra point. Moon responded by throwing a 6-yard touchdown to wide receiver Curtis Duncan to give Houston a 21–6 lead, but Denver running back Greg Lewis scored a 1-yard touchdown before halftime. In the second half, the Oilers were limited to only a 25-yard field goal by kicker Al Del Greco, which gave Houston a 24–16 lead in the fourth quarter. The Broncos then marched 80 yards to score on Lewis' 1-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 24–23.

Elway's comeback is now known solely as The Drive II.

AFC Championship Game

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Buffalo Bills 10, Denver Broncos 7
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Broncos 0 0 077
Bills 0 0 7310

at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Buffalo relied on missed field goals by Denver and some key plays from their defense to narrowly defeat the Broncos in a tough defensive struggle. Although the first half was scoreless, the Broncos advanced into Buffalo territory on all five of their possessions in the first half. However, Denver kicker David Treadwell missed 3 field goals, hitting the goal posts twice and driving the other attempt wide right.

Late in the third quarter, the Broncos faced second down and 10 at their own 19-yard line. Quarterback John Elway threw a middle screen pass intended for running back Steve Sewell, but it was tipped by Bills defensive lineman Jeff Wright into the arms of linebacker Carlton Bailey, who returned the ball 11 yards for Buffalo's only touchdown of the game. Elway was then knocked out of the game after suffering a deep thigh bruise, and was replaced by backup Gary Kubiak. With 4:18 left in the game, Buffalo kicker Scott Norwood made a 44-yard field goal to increase the lead, 10–0. Kubiak, who was playing in his last NFL game before retiring, led the Broncos 85 yards in eight plays and scored a 3-yard touchdown run with 1:43 left. Denver then recovered the ensuing onside kick, but the Bills clinched the victory after defensive back Kirby Jackson forced and recovered a fumble from running back Steve Sewell.

Broncos receiver Vance Johnson finished the game with 8 receptions for 104 yards. Kubiak completed 11 of 12 passes for 136 yards and rushed for 22.

Scoring
BUF – Bailey 11 interception return (Norwood kick) BUF 7–0
BUF – field goal Norwood 44 BUF 10–0
DEN – Kubiak 3 run (Treadwell kick) BUF 10–7

References

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  1. ^ "1991 Denver Broncos Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  2. ^ 1991 Denver Broncos Media Guide. pp. 5–19.
  3. ^ 2010 Denver Broncos Media Guide. pp. 603–606. Archived from the original on July 9, 2011. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
  4. ^ "1991 Denver Broncos starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  5. ^ "1991 Denver Broncos (NFL)". Pro Football Archives. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  6. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com
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