The Drive
The Drive was an offensive series in the fourth quarter of the 1986 AFC Championship Game played on January 11, 1987, at Cleveland Municipal Stadium between the Denver Broncos and Cleveland Browns. Broncos quarterback John Elway, in a span of 5 minutes and 2 seconds, led his team 98 yards in 15 plays to tie the game with 37 seconds left in regulation. Denver won the game in overtime by making a 33-yard field goal, pulling off a 23–20 win over the Cleveland Browns. The 98-yard drive ranks as pro football's prototypical clutch performance. Elway  and his team spanned almost all of the 100-yard football field. According to an article by "Sports Illustrated" columnist and Colorado resident Rick Reilly, when Elway started the drive, Broncos offensive guard Keith Bishop said of the Browns, "We got 'em right where we want 'em!" Cleveland could not force a fourth down against Denver. Play-by-play. The Browns had jumped to a 20–13 lead and Denver had muffed the ensuing kickoff when Elway took over, first-and-10 on their own 2-yard line, with 5:32 to play in regulation. Two-minute warning In popular culture. The Drive  was featured in the movie "Hot Tub Time Machine", but due to the butterfly effect, Jackson was distracted by a squirrel and failed to catch a pass and Cleveland went on to win. It was inaccurately portrayed as being in 1986 (the game was played on January 11, 1987, though it was at the end of the 1986 NFL season). The movie implied that it was played at night; however, when Karlis kicked the winning field goal in OT, it was still daytime in Cleveland (the AFC title game was the early conference championship game that year, as the NFC  title game between the New York Giants and Washington Redskins took place later and saw nearly the entire game played after the sun had set).