# 1989 Denver Broncos season

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
### NFL draft

1989 Denver Broncos draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 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 ||||||

## Regular season

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

| 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
#### Week 2

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Broncos | 5 | 13 | 3 | 7 | 28 |
| Bills | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |

#### Week 3

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Raiders | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 21 |
| • Broncos | 21 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 31 |

### 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

AFC West :
| viewtalkedit | 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 |