# 1985 Denver Broncos season

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.

## Off Season
### NFL draft

1985 Denver Broncos draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 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 ||||||

## 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 |

#### Week 14 vs Raiders

| 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 :
| viewtalkedit | 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 |