1984 Denver Broncos season The 1984 Denver Broncos season was the team ' s 25th year in professional football and its 15th with the National Football League . The team finished with its then franchise best record of thirteen wins and three losses and were champions of the AFC West . The season ended in a heartbreaking Divisional Playoff loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers . Postseason . AFC Divisional Playoff . The Broncos lost to the Steelers 24 – 17 at Denver ' s Mile High Stadium on Sunday , December 30 , 1984 . The game was televised on NBC . Given Denver ' s record and their opportunistic defense , Pittsburgh was the decided underdog . Indeed , much talk before the game centered on a possible meeting of two up - and - coming quarterbacks — Denver ' s John Elway and Miami ' s Dan Marino - - in the AFC Championship Game . The game turned into a defensive struggle . After the Broncos ' first drive ended in a punt , Steelers ' quarterback Mark Malone fumbled on two consecutive drives ; the first ended in a missed Rich Karlis field goal , but the second was converted into a touchdown pass from Elway to receiver Jim Wright . The Steelers then answered with a scoring drive , as Gary Anderson kicked a 28 - yard field goal . With the teams trading punts , a miscue by the Steelers threatened to blow the game open . Midway through the second quarter , Steelers ' punter Craig Colquitt had his punt blocked — the first of his career — and Denver set up at Pittsburgh ' s four - yard - line . But on third - and - goal , Elway floated a weak pass into the arms of nose tackle Gary Dunn . Now with the momentum , the Steelers were able to put a drive together at the end of the first half , resulting in a one - yard Frank Pollard touchdown run . The Broncos tried to tie the game with time running out in the half , but a long field goal attempt by Karlis fell short . Leading somewhat surprisingly 10 – 7 , Pittsburgh looked to grind out yards on the ground and keep Elway on the sidelines . But Denver managed two drives to take the lead in the quarter ; the first ended with a Karlis chip - shot to tie the game at 10 , then Elway hit receiver Steve Watson for a 20 - yard strike to take a 17 – 10 lead . The Steelers then came back with a drive of their own , resulting in a 10 - yard touchdown pass from Malone to receiver Louis Lipps . After both defenses held and forced a couple of more punts , Pittsburgh used Pollard and Walter Abercrombie to knife through a tiring Broncos defense . A key pass to Weegie Thompson put the Steelers at the 15 - yard - line , where they stalled . However , Anderson missed his second field goal of the afternoon , and Denver took over with about three minutes left . Having sustained a groin pull and a twisted knee , however , Elway was not as mobile and was experiencing difficulty with his throws . On second down , Elway threw a pass over the middle that was intercepted by Steelers ' safety Eric Williams , who then ran the ball down to the 2 - yard - line . After a short run and an incomplete pass , Pollard scored the go - ahead touchdown with a 1 - yard run . With a hobbled Elway not being able to lead the team to a first down , the Broncos turned the ball over on downs . They then used all their time - outs while stopping the Steelers , who , somewhat controversially , attempted a field goal on fourth down — only to see Anderson miss his third attempt of the day . Elway then threw to Watson near midfield , but by the time Elway fired the ball out of bounds to stop the clock , only one second remained . A desperation " Hail Mary " pass fell incomplete , and the Steelers won , 24 – 17 . The Broncos and their fans were bitterly disappointed by the loss , and finished the year 13 – 4 . After a season - long , high - profile rivalry with their AFC West stablemates Seattle , neither team would end up in the AFC Championship Game .