# 1990 Denver Broncos season

The 1990 season was the Denver Broncos' 31st year in professional football and their 21st with the National Football League (NFL). After reaching Super Bowl XXIV, the Broncos struggled and finished with their worst post-merger record in a 16-game season, 5–11. This mark would be eclipsed by the 2010 edition of the team, which finished 4–12. 8 of their 11 losses were by 8 points or less.

## Off Season
### NFL Draft

1990 Denver Broncos draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 2 | 52 | Alton Montgomery | S | Houston |
| 4 | 82 | Jeroy Robinson | ILB | Texas A&M |
| 5 | 111 | Jeff Davidson | G | Ohio State |
| 5 | 136 | Le-Lo Lang | CB | Washington |
| 6 | 164 | Ronnie Haliburton | OLB | LSU |
| 7 | 192 | Shannon Sharpe * $^†$ | TE | Savannah State |
| 8 | 219 | Brad Leggett | C | USC |
| 9 | 247 | Todd Ellis | QB | South Carolina |
| 10 | 275 | Anthony Thompson | OLB | East Carolina |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 9 | at Los Angeles Raiders | L 9–14 | 0–1 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 54,206 |
| 2 | September 17 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 24–23 | 1–1 | Mile High Stadium | 75,277 |
| 3 | September 23 | Seattle Seahawks | W 34–31 (OT) | 2–1 | Mile High Stadium | 75,290 |
| 4 | September 30 | at Buffalo Bills | L 28–29 | 2–2 | Rich Stadium | 74,393 |
| 5 | October 8 | Cleveland Browns | L 29–30 | 2–3 | Mile High Stadium | 74,814 |
| 6 | October 14 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 17–34 | 2–4 | Mile High Stadium | 74,285 |
| 7 | October 21 | at Indianapolis Colts | W 27–17 | 3–4 | Hoosier Dome | 59,850 |
| 8 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 9 | November 4 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 22–27 | 3–5 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 57,331 |
| 10 | November 11 | at San Diego Chargers | L 7–19 | 3–6 | Jack Murphy Stadium | 59,557 |
| 11 | November 18 | Chicago Bears | L 13–16 | 3–7 | Mile High Stadium | 75,013 |
| 12 | November 22 | at Detroit Lions | L 27–40 | 3–8 | Pontiac Silverdome | 73,896 |
| 13 | December 2 | Los Angeles Raiders | L 20–23 | 3–9 | Mile High Stadium | 74,162 |
| 14 | December 9 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 20–31 | 3–10 | Arrowhead Stadium | 74,347 |
| 15 | December 16 | San Diego Chargers | W 20–10 | 4–10 | Mile High Stadium | 64,919 |
| 16 | December 23 | at Seattle Seahawks | L 12–17 | 4–11 | Kingdome | 55,845 |
| 17 | December 30 | Green Bay Packers | W 22–13 | 5–11 | Mile High Stadium | 46,943 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Game summaries
#### Week 2 vs Chiefs

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Chiefs | 3 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 23 |
| Broncos | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 24 |
at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado
* Date: September 17
* Game time: 7:00 p.m. MST
* Game weather: 62 °F (17 °C)
* Game attendance: 75,277
* Referee: Jim Tunney
* TV: ABC
* Box Score, Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
KC – Nick Lowery 39-yard field goal, 3:18. Chiefs 3–0. Drive:
DEN – Bobby Humphrey 37-yard run (David Treadwell kick), 0:48. Broncos 7–3. Drive:
Second quarter
KC – Nick Lowery 29-yard field goal, 11:33. Broncos 7–6. Drive:
DEN – Bobby Humphrey 6-yard run (David Treadwell kick), 7:07. Broncos 14–6. Drive:
KC – Nick Lowery 31-yard field goal, 0:04. Broncos 14–9. Drive:
Third quarter
DEN – John Elway 2-yard run (David Treadwell kick), 6:49. Broncos 21–9. Drive:
Fourth quarter
KC – Stephone Paige 16-yard pass from Steve DeBerg (Nick Lowery kick), 8:01. Broncos 21–16. Drive:
KC – Stephone Paige 83-yard pass from Steve DeBerg (Nick Lowery kick), 1:44. Chiefs 23–21. Drive:
DEN – David Treadwell 22-yard field goal, 0:00. Broncos 24–23. Drive:
Top passers
KC – Steve DeBerg – 26/45, 395 yards, 2 TD
DEN – John Elway – 14/30, 263 yards
Top rushers
KC – Christian Okoye – 20 rushes, 69 yards
DEN – Bobby Humphrey – 19 rushes, 132 yards, 2 TD
Top receivers
KC – Stephone Paige – 10 receptions, 206 yards, 2 TD
DEN – Vance Johnson – 6 receptions, 150 yards :
* Steve Atwater hit on Christian Okoye

#### Week 12 at Lions

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Broncos | 7 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 27 |
| Lions | 21 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 40 |
at Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan
* Date: November 22
* Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST
* Game weather: Indoors (dome)
* Game attendance: 73,896
* Referee: Dick Hantak
* TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Bill Walsh
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
DET – Richard Johnson 11-yard pass from Bob Gagliano (Eddie Murray kick), 10:11. Lions 7–0. Drive:
DEN – Melvin Bratton 1-yard run (David Treadwell kick), 6:45. Tie 7–7. Drive:
DET – Barry Sanders 7-yard run (Eddie Murray kick), 4:32. Lions 14–7. Drive:
DET – Richard Johnson 43-yard pass from Bob Gagliano (Eddie Murray kick), 0:50. Lions 21–7. Drive:
Second quarter
DET – Eddie Murray 24-yard field goal, 1:32. Lions 24–7. Drive:
DEN – David Treadwell 24-yard field goal, 8:40. Lions 24–10. Drive:
DEN – Wymon Henderson 48-yard interception return (David Treadwell kick), 7:40. Lions 24–17.
DET – Eddie Murray 32-yard field goal, 1:55. Lions 27–17. Drive:
Third quarter
DEN – David Treadwell 32-yard field goal, 9:32. Lions 27–20. Drive:
DET – Barry Sanders 35-yard pass from Bob Gagliano (Eddie Murray kick), 6:32. Lions 34–20. Drive:
Fourth quarter
DEN – Melvin Bratton 1-yard run (David Treadwell kick), 14:14. Lions 34–27. Drive:
DET – Eddie Murray 43-yard field goal, 3:43. Lions 37–27. Drive:
DET – Eddie Murray 45-yard field goal, 2:51. Lions 40–27. Drive:
Top passers
DEN – John Elway – 24/36, 246 yards, INT
DET – Bob Gagliano – 18/30, 248 yards, 3 TD, INT
Top rushers
DEN – Bobby Humphrey – 16 rushes, 53 yards
DET – Barry Sanders – 23 rushes, 147 yards, TD
Top receivers
DEN – Ricky Nattiel – 3 receptions, 50 yards
DET – Richard Johnson – 5 receptions, 83 yards, 2 TD :

#### Week 14 at Chiefs

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Broncos | 0 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 20 |
| Chiefs | 7 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 31 |
at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
* Date: December 9
* Game time: 4:00 p.m.
* Game weather: 44 °F (7 °C)
* Game attendance: 74,347
* Referee: Gordon McCarter
* Box Score, Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
KC – Stephone Paige 48-yard pass from Steve DeBerg (Nick Lowery kick), 11:54. Chiefs 7–0. Drive:
Second quarter
DEN – Shannon Sharpe 5-yard pass from John Elway (kick failed), 7:46. Chiefs 7–6. Drive:
DEN – Mike Young 16-yard pass from John Elway (David Treadwell kick), 1:28. Broncos 13–7. Drive:
KC – Nick Lowery 33-yard field goal, 0:03. Broncos 13–10. Drive:
Third quarter
KC – Barry Word 1-yard run (Nick Lowery kick), 6:32. Chiefs 17–13. Drive:
Fourth quarter
KC – Danta Whitaker 1-yard pass from Steve DeBerg (Nick Lowery kick), 14:37. Chiefs 24–13. Drive:
DEN – Bobby Humphrey 2-yard run (David Treadwell kick), 9:51. Chiefs 24–20. Drive:
KC – Robb Thomas 27-yard pass from Steve DeBerg (Nick Lowery kick), 2:28. Chiefs 31–20. Drive:
Top passers
DEN – John Elway – 24/36, 328 yards, 2 TD, INT
KC – Steve DeBerg – 18/27, 254 yards, 3 TD
Top rushers
DEN – Bobby Humphrey – 21 rushes, 56 yards, TD
KC – Barry Word – 16 rushes, 72 yards, TD
Top receivers
DEN – Mark Jackson – 5 receptions, 90 yards
KC – Stephone Paige – 3 receptions, 75 yards, TD :

### Standings

AFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(2)}$ Los Angeles Raiders | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 6–2 | 9–3 | 337 | 268 | W5 |
| $^{(5)}$ Kansas City Chiefs | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 5–3 | 7–5 | 369 | 257 | W2 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 4–4 | 7–5 | 306 | 286 | W2 |
| San Diego Chargers | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 2–6 | 5–9 | 315 | 281 | L3 |
| Denver Broncos | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 3–5 | 4–8 | 331 | 374 | W1 |