# 1987 Denver Broncos season

The 1987 Denver Broncos season was the team's 28th year in professional football and its 18th with the National Football League (NFL). Games scheduled during the third week of the season were cancelled, and games played from weeks 4 to 6 were played with replacement teams. The Broncos finished first in the AFC West, and were AFC champions for the second straight year. Quarterback John Elway was voted league MVP for 1987. The Broncos reached the Super Bowl for the second consecutive season, but lost for the second straight time, 42–10 to the Washington Redskins.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1987 Denver Broncos draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 27 | Ricky Nattiel | Wide receiver | Florida |
| 3 | 84 | Michael Brooks * | Linebacker | Louisiana State |
| 4 | 111 | Marc Munford | Linebacker | Nebraska |
| 6 | 167 | Warren Marshall | Running back | James Madison |
| 7 | 194 | Wilbur Strozier | Tight end | Georgia |
| 8 | 222 | Dan Morgan | Guard | Penn State |
| 9 | 250 | Bruce Plummer | Center | Mississippi State |
| 10 | 278 | Rafe Wilkinson | Linebacker | Richmond |
| 11 | 299 | Steve Roberts | Defensive end | Washington |
| 11 | 306 | Tommy Neal | Running back | Maryland |
| 12 | 334 | Tyrone Braxton * | Safety | North Dakota State |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Personnel
### NFL replacement players

After the league decided to use replacement players during the NFLPA strike, the following team was assembled:

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 13 | Seattle Seahawks | W 40–17 | 1–0 | Mile High Stadium | 75,999 |
| 2 | September 20 | at Green Bay Packers | T 17–17 (OT) | 1–0–1 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 50,624 |
| 3 | September 28 | at Cleveland Browns | canceled | 1–0–1 | Cleveland Stadium | |
| 4 | October 4 | Houston Oilers | L 10–40 | 1–1–1 | Mile High Stadium | 38,494 |
| 5 | October 12 | Los Angeles Raiders | W 30–14 | 2–1–1 | Mile High Stadium | 61,230 |
| 6 | October 18 | at Kansas City Chiefs | W 26–17 | 3–1–1 | Arrowhead Stadium | 20,296 |
| 7 | October 26 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 27–34 | 3–2–1 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 51,011 |
| 8 | November 1 | Detroit Lions | W 34–0 | 4–2–1 | Mile High Stadium | 75,172 |
| 9 | November 8 | at Buffalo Bills | L 14–21 | 4–3–1 | Rich Stadium | 63,698 |
| 10 | November 16 | Chicago Bears | W 31–29 | 5–3–1 | Mile High Stadium | 75,783 |
| 11 | November 22 | at Los Angeles Raiders | W 23–17 | 6–3–1 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 61,318 |
| 12 | November 29 | at San Diego Chargers | W 31–17 | 7–3–1 | Jack Murphy Stadium | 61,880 |
| 13 | December 6 | New England Patriots | W 31–20 | 8–3–1 | Mile High Stadium | 75,795 |
| 14 | December 13 | at Seattle Seahawks | L 21–28 | 8–4–1 | Kingdome | 61,759 |
| 15 | December 19 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 20–17 | 9–4–1 | Mile High Stadium | 75,053 |
| 16 | December 27 | San Diego Chargers | W 24–0 | 10–4–1 | Mile High Stadium | 21,189 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Game summaries
#### Week 1

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Seahawks | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| • Broncos | 7 | 13 | 14 | 6 | 40 |
* John Elway 22/32, 338 Yds, 4 TD, INT

#### Week 2

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Broncos | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| Packers | 7 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 17 |

#### Week 4

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Oilers | 7 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 40 |
| Broncos | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

#### Week 5

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Raiders | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| • Broncos | 14 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 30 |

#### Week 6

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Broncos | 9 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 26 |
| Chiefs | 7 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 17 |

#### Week 7

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Broncos | 7 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 27 |
| • Vikings | 7 | 7 | 13 | 7 | 34 |

#### Week 8

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Broncos | 17 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 34 |

#### Week 9

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Broncos | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| • Bills | 0 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 21 |

#### Week 10

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 14 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 29 |
| • Broncos | 0 | 21 | 0 | 10 | 31 |

#### Week 11

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Broncos | 10 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 23 |
| Raiders | 0 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 17 |

#### Week 12

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Broncos | 7 | 10 | 14 | 0 | 31 |
| Chargers | 7 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 17 |

#### Week 13

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Patriots | 7 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 20 |
| • Broncos | 0 | 3 | 14 | 14 | 31 |

#### Week 14

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Broncos | 0 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 21 |
| • Seahawks | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 28 |

#### Week 15

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Chiefs | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 17 |
| • Broncos | 7 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 20 |

#### Week 16

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Chargers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| • Broncos | 14 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 24 |

### Standings

AFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Denver Broncos$^{(1)}$ | 10 | 4 | 1 | .700 | 7–1 | 8–3 | 379 | 288 | W2 |
| Seattle Seahawks$^{(5)}$ | 9 | 6 | 0 | .600 | 4–3 | 5–6 | 371 | 314 | L1 |
| San Diego Chargers | 8 | 7 | 0 | .533 | 3–4 | 6–7 | 253 | 317 | L6 |
| Los Angeles Raiders | 5 | 10 | 0 | .333 | 2–6 | 3–8 | 301 | 289 | L3 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 4 | 11 | 0 | .267 | 3–5 | 3–9 | 273 | 388 | W1 |

## Playoffs

| Round | Date | Opponent (seed) | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| Divisional | January 10, 1988 | Houston Oilers (4) | W 34–10 | 1–0 | Mile High Stadium | 75,968 |
| AFC Championship | January 17, 1988 | Cleveland Browns (2) | W 38–33 | 2–0 | Mile High Stadium | 75,993 |
| Super Bowl XXII | January 31, 1988 | Washington Redskins (N3) | L 10–42 | 2–1 | Jack Murphy Stadium | 73,302 |

### Divisional

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Oilers | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| • Broncos | 14 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 34 |

### Conference Championship

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Browns | 0 | 3 | 21 | 9 | 33 |
| • Broncos | 14 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 38 |

### Super Bowl

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Redskins | 0 | 35 | 0 | 7 | 42 |
| Broncos | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

## Awards and records

* Ricky Nattiel, All-Rookie selection