1987 Denver Broncos season

The 1987 Denver Broncos season was the team's 28th year in professional football and its 18th with the National Football League (NFL). Games scheduled during the third week of the season were cancelled, and games played from weeks 4 to 6 were played with replacement teams. The Broncos finished first in the AFC West, and were AFC Champions for the second straight year. Quarterback John Elway was voted league MVP for 1987. The Broncos reached the Super Bowl for the second consecutive season, but lost for the second straight time, 42–10 to the Washington Redskins.

1987 Denver Broncos season
Owner	Pat Bowlen
General manager	John Beake
Head coach	Dan Reeves
Home field	Mile High Stadium
Results
Record	10–4–1
Division place	1st AFC West
Playoff finish	Won Divisional Playoffs (vs. Oilers) 34–10 Won AFC Championship (vs. Browns) 38–33 Lost Super Bowl XXII (vs. Redskins) 10–42
Pro Bowlers	QB John Elway G Keith Bishop LB Karl Mecklenburg
Uniform

A ticket for the AFC Championship Game between the Browns and the Broncos.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1987 NFL draft

1987 Denver Broncos draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	27	Ricky Nattiel	Wide receiver	Florida
3	84	Michael Brooks *	Linebacker	Louisiana State
4	111	Marc Munford	Linebacker	Nebraska
6	167	Warren Marshall	Running back	James Madison
7	194	Wilbur Strozier	Tight end	Georgia
8	222	Dan Morgan	Guard	Penn State
9	250	Bruce Plummer	Center	Mississippi State
10	278	Rafe Wilkinson	Linebacker	Richmond
11	299	Steve Roberts	Defensive end	Washington
11	306	Tommy Neal	Running back	Maryland
12	334	Tyrone Braxton *	Safety	North Dakota State
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1987 Denver Broncos staff

Front office President and chief executive officer – Pat Bowlen General manager – John Beake Director of player personnel – Reed Johnson Director of pro personnel – Lide Huggins Head coaches Vice president/head coach – Dan Reeves Assistant head coach/defense – Joe Collier Special assistant – Marvin Bass Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks – Mike Shanahan Running backs – Nick Nicolau Wide receivers/tight ends – Chan Gailey Offensive line – Alex Gibbs

Defensive coaches Defensive line – Stan Jones Assistant defensive line – Rubin Carter Linebackers – Myrel Moore Defensive backs – Charlie West Special teams coaches Special teams – Mike Nolan Strength and conditioning Strength/conditioning – Al Miller

Roster

1987 Denver Broncos roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  7 John Elway 12 Ken Karcher  8 Gary Kubiak Running backs (RB) 35 Ken Bell KR 24 Tony Boddie 33 Gene Lang FB 30 Steve Sewell 23 Sammy Winder Wide receivers (WR) 83 Sam Graddy 80 Mark Jackson 82 Vance Johnson 84 Ricky Nattiel 81 Steve Watson Tight ends (TE) 89 Mitch Andrews 88 Clarence Kay 46 Bobby Micho 89 Orson Mobley

Offensive linemen (OL) 54 Keith Bishop G 62 Mike Freeman C 79 Stefan Humphries G 72 Keith Kartz T 76 Ken Lanier T 68 Larry Lee C 74 Dan Remsberg T 70 Dave Studdard T Defensive linemen (DL) 65 Walt Bowyer DE 90 Freddie Gilbert DE 75 Rulon Jones DE 71 Greg Kragen NT 61 Andre Townsend DE

Linebackers (LB) 56 Michael Brooks OLB 55 Rick Dennison ILB 73 Simon Fletcher OLB 98 Ricky Hunley ILB 97 Bruce Klosterman ILB 58 Tim Lucas OLB 77 Karl Mecklenburg ILB 51 Marc Munford ILB 50 Jim Ryan LB Defensive backs (DB) 34 Tyrone Braxton FS 28 Jeremiah Castille CB 27 Kevin Clark 31 Mike Harden CB/FS 36 Mark Haynes CB 22 Tony Lilly FS 38 Bruce Plummer CB 48 Randy Robbins SS 49 Dennis Smith SS 45 Steve Wilson CB Special teams  2 Mike Horan P  3 Rich Karlis K

Reserve 69 Tony Colorito NT (IR) 78 Winford Hood T (IR) 66 Jim Juriga T (IR) 29 Warren Marshall RB (IR) 85 Rick Massie WR (IR) 93 Richard Reed LB (IR) 58 Rafe Wilkinson LB (IR) 47 Gerald Willhite RB (IR) Rookies in italics

NFL replacement players

After the league decided to use replacement players during the NFLPA strike, the following team was assembled:

1987 Denver Broncos replacement roster
Quarterbacks 26 Marshall Barnes 12 Ken Karcher 14 Dean May 16 Monte McGuire Running backs 28 Scott Caldwell 32 Joe Dudek 34 Walt Goffigan 41 Zeph Lee 43 Bruce McIntyre 24 Percy Keith 29 John Sterling 42 Mark Templeton Wide receivers 82 Laron Brown 84 Eric Hodges 83 Rick Massie 87 Michel James 80 Shane Swanson  4 Bob Thompson Tight ends 86 Mitch Andrews 89 Kerry Locklin 88 Russell Payne 85 Erich Rumple		Offensive linemen 73 Kevin Belcher T -- Robin Ham 76 Archie Harris T 69 David Jones 71 Jack Peavey C 60 Rick Pryor 66 Carlos Scott -- Tyrone Sorrells 61 Isaac Williams Defensive linemen -- Kyle Ambrose 79 Steve Bryan 65 Theron Harrison 74 Bill Lobenstein DE 68 Ron McLean 91 Jeff Tupper DE 99 Ray Woodard 77 Mitchell Young		Linebackers 51 Stan David 59 Kirk Dodge 95 Tim Joiner 56 Mike Knox 58 Tim Lucas 52 Dan MacDonald 57 Matt Smith 55 Bryant Winn Defensive backs 27 Kevin Clark 37 Steve Fitzhugh 25 Roger Jackson 20 Daryll Jones 45 Leonard Jones 40 Martin Rudolph 39 Darryl Russell 38 Larry Shepherd 46 Kennedy Webster Special teams 15 Mike Clendenen K 6 Ralph Giacomarro P 19 John Pieper

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 13	Seattle Seahawks	W 40–17	1–0	Mile High Stadium	75,999
2	September 20	at Green Bay Packers	T 17–17 (OT)	1–0–1	Milwaukee County Stadium	50,624
3	September 28	at Cleveland Browns	canceled	1–0–1	Cleveland Stadium
4	October 4	Houston Oilers	L 10–40	1–1–1	Mile High Stadium	38,494
5	October 12	Los Angeles Raiders	W 30–14	2–1–1	Mile High Stadium	61,230
6	October 18	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 26–17	3–1–1	Arrowhead Stadium	20,296
7	October 26	at Minnesota Vikings	L 27–34	3–2–1	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	51,011
8	November 1	Detroit Lions	W 34–0	4–2–1	Mile High Stadium	75,172
9	November 8	at Buffalo Bills	L 14–21	4–3–1	Rich Stadium	63,698
10	November 16	Chicago Bears	W 31–29	5–3–1	Mile High Stadium	75,783
11	November 22	at Los Angeles Raiders	W 23–17	6–3–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	61,318
12	November 29	at San Diego Chargers	W 31–17	7–3–1	Jack Murphy Stadium	61,880
13	December 6	New England Patriots	W 31–20	8–3–1	Mile High Stadium	75,795
14	December 13	at Seattle Seahawks	L 21–28	8–4–1	Kingdome	61,759
15	December 19	Kansas City Chiefs	W 20–17	9–4–1	Mile High Stadium	75,053
16	December 27	San Diego Chargers	W 24–0	10–4–1	Mile High Stadium	21,189
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total Seahawks 14 3 0 0 17 • Broncos 7 13 14 6 40 Date: September 17 Location: Mile High Stadium Game start: 2:00 p.m. MST Game attendance: 75,999 Referee: Red Cashion TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen

Scoring summary Q1 SEA Turner 20 yard pass from Krieg (Johnson kick) SEA 7–0 Q1 DEN Sewell 72 yard pass from Elway (Karlis kick) Tie 7–7 Q1 SEA Warner 10 yard pass from Krieg (Johnson kick) SEA 14–7 Q2 SEA Johnson 25 yard field goal SEA 17–7 Q2 DEN Karlis 37 yard field goal SEA 17–10 Q2 DEN Karlis 42 yard field goal SEA 17–13 Q2 DEN Watson 4 yard pass from Elway (Karlis kick) DEN 20–17 Q3 DEN Mobley 5 yard pass from Elway (Karlis kick) DEN 27–17 Q3 DEN Johnson 59 yard pass from Elway (Karlis kick) DEN 34–17 Q4 DEN Karlis 25 yard field goal DEN 37–17 Q4 DEN Karlis 29 yard field goal DEN 40–17

• John Elway 22/32, 338 Yds, 4 TD, INT

Week 2

1 2 3 4 OT Total Broncos 0 3 7 7 0 17 Packers 7 7 0 3 0 17 Date: September 20 Location: Milwaukee County Stadium Referee: Dick Hantak Television network: NBC

Week 4

1 2 3 4 Total • Oilers 7 10 10 13 40 Broncos 0 10 0 0 10 Date: October 4 Location: Mile High Stadium Referee: Jim Tunney Television network: NBC

Week 5

1 2 3 4 Total Raiders 0 14 0 0 14 • Broncos 14 3 6 7 30 Date: October 12 Location: Mile High Stadium Game start: 7:00 p.m. MST Game attendance: 61,230 Game weather: 53 °F (12 °C); wind 7 mph (11 km/h) Referee: Fred Silva TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, and Dan Dierdorf

Scoring summary Q1 DEN Dudek 7 yard run (Clendenen kick) DEN 7–0 Q1 DEN Dudek 3 yard run (Clendenen kick) DEN 14–0 Q2 LA Perry 3 yard pass from Evans (Hardy kick) DEN 14–7 Q2 LA Calhoun 55 yard interception return (Hardy kick) Tie 14–14 Q2 DEN Clendenen 31 yard field goal DEN 17–14 Q3 DEN Massie 10 yard pass from Karcher (kick failed) DEN 23–14 Q4 DEN Poole 1 yard run (Clendenen kick) DEN 30–14

Week 6

1 2 3 4 Total • Broncos 9 10 0 7 26 Chiefs 7 7 3 0 17 Date: October 18 Location: Arrowhead Stadium Referee: Jerry Markbreit TV announcers (NBC): Don Criqui and Bob Trumpy

Week 7

1 2 3 4 Total Broncos 7 10 0 10 27 • Vikings 7 7 13 7 34 Date: October 26 Location: Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Referee: Tom Dooley TV announcers (ABC): Gary Bender and Lynn Swann

Week 8

1 2 3 4 Total Lions 0 0 0 0 0 • Broncos 17 7 0 10 34 Date: November 1 Location: Mile High Stadium Referee: Jerry Seeman Television network: CBS

Week 9

1 2 3 4 Total Broncos 0 0 7 7 14 • Bills 0 18 3 0 21 Date: November 8 Location: Rich Stadium Referee: Dick Jorgensen Television network: NBC

Week 10

1 2 3 4 Total Bears 14 0 15 0 29 • Broncos 0 21 0 10 31 Date: November 16 Location: Mile High Stadium Referee: Red Cashion TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf

Week 11

1 2 3 4 Total • Broncos 10 10 0 3 23 Raiders 0 14 3 0 17 Date: November 22 Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Referee: Jim Tunney TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen

Scoring summary Q1 DEN Karlis 49 yard field goal DEN 3–0 Q1 DEN Johnson 24 yard pass from Elway (Karlis kick) DEN 10–0 Q2 DEN Karlis 31 yard field goal DEN 13–0 Q2 LA Jackson 35 yard run (Bahr kick) DEN 13–7 Q2 DEN Elway 1 yard run (Karlis kick) DEN 20–7 Q2 LA Jackson 1 yard run (Bahr kick) DEN 20–14 Q3 LA Bahr 34 yard field goal pass DEN 20–17 Q4 DEN Karlis 20 yard field goal DEN 23–17

Week 12

1 2 3 4 Total • Broncos 7 10 14 0 31 Chargers 7 3 0 7 17 Date: November 29 Location: Jack Murphy Stadium Referee: Gene Barth TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones and Jimmy Cefalo

Week 13

1 2 3 4 Total Patriots 7 10 3 0 20 • Broncos 0 3 14 14 31 Date: December 6 Location: Mile High Stadium Referee: Fred Silva TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen

Scoring summary Q1 NE Dupard 10 yard run (Franklin kick) NE 7–0 Q2 DEN Karlis 24 yard field goal NE 7–3 Q2 NE Collins 4 yard pass from Ramsey (Franklin kick) NE 14–3 Q2 NE Franklin 36 yard field goal NE 17–3 Q3 DEN Boddie 1 yard run (Karlis kick) NE 17–10 Q3 DEN Massie 7 yard pass from Elway (Karlis kick) Tied 17–17 Q3 NE Franklin 27 yard field goal NE 20–17 Q4 DEN Jackson 2 yard pass from Elway (Karlis kick) DEN 24–20 Q4 DEN Haynes 14 yard interception return (Karlis kick) DEN 31–20

Week 14

1 2 3 4 Total Broncos 0 0 14 7 21 • Seahawks 0 14 7 7 28 Date: December 13 Location: Kingdome Game weather: Indoors (dome) Referee: Bob McElwee Television network: ESPN

Scoring summary Q2 5:50 SEA Warner 3 yard run (Johnson kick) SEA 7–0 Q2 0:22 SEA Butler 35 yard pass from Krieg (Johnson kick) SEA 14–0 Q3 12:28 DEN Winder 11 yard run (Karlis kick) SEA 14–7 Q3 10:36 DEN Massie 39 yard pass from Elway (Karlis kick) Tied 14–14 Q3 9:30 SEA Butler 40 yard pass from Krieg (Johnson kick) SEA 21–14 Q4 12:39 SEA Williams 7 yard pass from Krieg (Johnson kick) SEA 28–14 Q4 0:25 DEN Winder 1 yard run (Karlis kick) SEA 28–21

Week 15

1 2 3 4 Total Chiefs 0 3 7 7 17 • Broncos 7 10 3 0 20 Date: December 19 Location: Mile High Stadium

Week 16

1 2 3 4 Total Chargers 0 0 0 0 0 • Broncos 14 0 0 10 24 Date: December 27 Location: Mile High Stadium Referee: Fred Silva TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones and Jimmy Cefalo

Scoring summary Q1 DEN Clark 71 yard punt return DEN 7–0 Q1 DEN Winder 1 yard rush (Karlis kick) DEN 14–0 Q4 DEN Karlis 26 yard field goal DEN 17–0 Q4 DEN Hunley 52 yard interception return (Karlis kick) DEN 24–0

Standings

AFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Denver Broncos(1)	10	4	1	.700	7–1	8–3	379	288	W2
Seattle Seahawks(5)	9	6	0	.600	4–3	5–6	371	314	L1
San Diego Chargers	8	7	0	.533	3–4	6–7	253	317	L6
Los Angeles Raiders	5	10	0	.333	2–6	3–8	301	289	L3
Kansas City Chiefs	4	11	0	.267	3–5	3–9	273	388	W1

Playoffs

Main article: 1987–88 NFL playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent (seed)	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
Divisional	January 10, 1988	Houston Oilers (4)	W 34–10	1–0	Mile High Stadium	75,968
AFC Championship	January 17, 1988	Cleveland Browns (2)	W 38–33	2–0	Mile High Stadium	75,993
Super Bowl XXII	January 31, 1988	Washington Redskins (N3)	L 10–42	2–1	Jack Murphy Stadium	73,302

Divisional

1 2 3 4 Total Oilers 0 3 0 7 10 • Broncos 14 10 3 7 34 Date: January 10 Location: Mile High Stadium

Conference Championship

1 2 3 4 Total Browns 0 3 21 9 33 • Broncos 14 7 10 7 38 Date: January 17 Location: Mile High Stadium

Super Bowl

1 2 3 4 Total • Redskins 0 35 0 7 42 Broncos 10 0 0 0 10 Date: January 31 Location: Jack Murphy Stadium

Awards and records

• Ricky Nattiel, All-Rookie selection

External links

• Denver Broncos – 1987 media guide
• 1987 Denver Broncos at Pro-Football-Reference.com