1991 Denver Broncos season

The 1991 Denver Broncos season was the team's 32nd year in professional football and its 22nd with the National Football League (NFL). The team improved on its 5–11 from 1990, winning their third AFC West title in five years, and advanced to the AFC Championship game.

1991 Denver Broncos season
Head coachDan Reeves
General managerJohn Beake
OwnerPat Bowlen
Home fieldMile High Stadium
Results
Record12–4
Division place1st AFC West
Playoff finishWon AFC Divisional Playoff (Oilers) 26–24
Lost AFC Championship Game (at Bills) 7–10
Pro BowlersQB John Elway
RB Gaston Green
LB Karl Mecklenburg
S Steve Atwater
S Dennis Smith

Offseason

NFL Draft
1991 Denver Broncos draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 4 Mike Croel  DE Nebraska
2 30 Reggie Johnson  TE Florida State
3 61 Keith Traylor  DT Central Oklahoma
4 89 Derek Russell  WR Arkansas
5 115 Greg Lewis  RB Washington
6 142 Nick Subis  OT San Diego State
8 200 Kenny Walker  DE Nebraska
9 227 Don Gibson  Defensive Tackle USC
10 253 Curtis Mayfield  Wide Receiver Oklahoma State
11 284 Shawn Moore  Quarterback Virginia
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[1]

Personnel

Staff
1991 Denver Broncos staff
Front office
  • President and Chief Executive Officer – Pat Bowlen
  • Vice President – Dan Reeves
  • General Manager – John Beake
  • Director of Football Operations – Lide Huggins
  • Director of Player Personnel – Reed Johnson

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams Coordinator/Linebackers – Mike Nolan

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning – Al Miller

[2] [3]

Roster
1991 Denver Broncos roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

[4]

Regular season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 1, 1991 Cincinnati Bengals W 45–14 72,855
2 September 8, 1991 at Los Angeles Raiders L 16–13 48,569
3 September 15, 1991 Seattle Seahawks W 16–10 74,152
4 September 22, 1991 San Diego Chargers W 27–19 73,258
5 September 29, 1991 at Minnesota Vikings W 13–6 55,031
6 October 6, 1991 at Houston Oilers L 42–14 59,145
7 Bye
8 October 20, 1991 Kansas City Chiefs W 19–16 75,866
9 October 27, 1991 at New England Patriots W 9–6 43,994
10 November 3, 1991 Pittsburgh Steelers W 20–13 70,973
11 November 10, 1991 Los Angeles Raiders L 17–16 75,896
12 November 17, 1991 at Kansas City Chiefs W 24–20 74,661
13 November 24, 1991 at Seattle Seahawks L 13–10 60,430
14 December 1, 1991 New England Patriots W 20–3 67,116
15 December 8, 1991 at Cleveland Browns W 17–7 73,539
16 December 15, 1991 Phoenix Cardinals W 24–19 74,098
17 December 22, 1991 at San Diego Chargers W 17–14 51,449

Season summary

Week 10
1 234Total
Steelers 3 703 13
• Broncos 0 1730 20
  • Date: November 3
  • Location: Mile High Stadium • Denver, Colorado
  • Game start: 6:00 p.m. MST
  • Game weather: 16°F, wind 8 mph
  • TV announcers: Mike Patrick & Joe Theismann

[5]

Standings
AFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(2) Denver Broncos 12 4 0 .750 5–3 10–4 304 235 W4
(4) Kansas City Chiefs 10 6 0 .625 6–2 8–4 316 252 W1
(5) Los Angeles Raiders 9 7 0 .563 5–3 7–5 298 297 L3
Seattle Seahawks 7 9 0 .438 2–6 6–6 276 261 W1
San Diego Chargers 4 12 0 .250 2–6 3–9 274 342 L1

Playoffs

AFC Divisional Playoff
Denver Broncos 26, Houston Oilers 24
1 2 34Total
Oilers 14 7 0324
Broncos 6 7 31026

at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado

Trailing 24–23 with 2:07 left in the game, quarterback John Elway led the Broncos from their own 2-yard line to the winning 28-yard field goal with 16 seconds remaining. On the drive, he converted on two fourth downs. On fourth down and 6 from the Denver 28, he rushed for 7 yards. Then on fourth down and 10, he completed a 44-yard pass to wide receiver Vance Johnson.

The Oilers jumped to a 14–0 lead with quarterback Warren Moon's two touchdown passes to wide receivers Haywood Jeffires and Drew Hill for 15 and 9 yards, respectively. Elway then completed a 10-yard touchdown to Johnson, but kicker David Treadwell missed the extra point. Moon responded by throwing a 6-yard touchdown to wide receiver Curtis Duncan to give Houston a 21–6 lead, but Denver running back Greg Lewis scored a 1-yard touchdown before halftime. In the second half, the Oilers were limited to only a 25-yard field goal by kicker Al Del Greco, which gave Houston a 24–16 lead in the fourth quarter. The Broncos then marched 80 yards to score on Lewis' 1-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 24–23.

Elway's comeback is now known solely as The Drive II.

AFC Championship Game
Buffalo Bills 10, Denver Broncos 7
1 2 34Total
Broncos 0 0 077
Bills 0 0 7310

at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

  • Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 34 °F (1 °C), clear
  • Game attendance: 80,272
  • Referee: Dale Hamer
  • TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Bill Walsh

Buffalo relied on missed field goals by Denver and some key plays from their defense to narrowly defeat the Broncos in a tough defensive struggle. Although the first half was scoreless, the Broncos advanced into Buffalo territory on all five of their possessions in the first half. However, Denver kicker David Treadwell missed 3 field goals, hitting the goal posts twice and driving the other attempt wide right.

Late in the third quarter, the Broncos faced second down and 10 at their own 19-yard line. Quarterback John Elway threw a middle screen pass intended for running back Steve Sewell, but it was tipped by Bills defensive lineman Jeff Wright into the arms of linebacker Carlton Bailey, who returned the ball 11 yards for Buffalo's only touchdown of the game. Elway was then knocked out of the game after suffering a deep thigh bruise, and was replaced by backup Gary Kubiak. With 4:18 left in the game, Buffalo kicker Scott Norwood made a 44-yard field goal to increase the lead, 10–0. Kubiak, who was playing in his last NFL game before retiring, led the Broncos 85 yards in eight plays and scored a 3-yard touchdown run with 1:43 left. Denver then recovered the ensuing onside kick, but the Bills clinched the victory after defensive back Kirby Jackson forced and recovered a fumble from running back Steve Sewell.

Broncos receiver Vance Johnson finished the game with 8 receptions for 104 yards. Kubiak completed 11 of 12 passes for 136 yards and rushed for 22.

Scoring
BUF – Bailey 11 interception return (Norwood kick) BUF 7–0
BUF – field goal Norwood 44 BUF 10–0
DEN – Kubiak 3 run (Treadwell kick) BUF 10–7

gollark: I feel like "we have constant access to basically all human knowledge and communication with everyone" is actually quite significant, though.
gollark: I wasn't alive then.
gollark: Maybe. I'm not sure how to actually tell.
gollark: Probably should have clarified, sorry.
gollark: Not that they think everything will be fine.

References
  1. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/den/1991_draft.htm
  2. 1991 Denver Broncos Media Guide. pp. 5–19.
  3. 2010 Denver Broncos Media Guide. pp. 603–606. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
  4. "1991 Denver Broncos starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  5. Pro-Football-Reference.com
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