NFL team season
A ticket for the AFC Championship Game between the Browns and the Broncos.
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 and lost for the second straight time 42-10 to the Washington Redskins.
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
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
Linebacker
Richmond
11
299
Steve Roberts
Defensive end
Washington
11
306
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 –
Director of Player Personnel –
Director of Pro Personnel –
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
Offensive Coordinator – 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 –
Defensive Backs/Secondary – Charlie West
Special teams coaches
Special Teams Coordinator/Linebackers – Mike Nolan
Strength and conditioning
Strength and Conditioning – Al Miller
[1]
Roster [ ]
1987 Denver Broncos final roster
Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
Reserve lists
Practice squad
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
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
Tight Ends
Offensive Linemen
Defensive Linemen
Linebackers
Defensive Backs
Special Teams
Regular season [ ]
Schedule [ ]
Week
Date
Opponent
Result
Game site
Record
Attendance
1
September 13
Seattle Seahawks
W 40–17
Mile High Stadium
1–0
75,999
2
September 20
at Green Bay Packers
T 17–17 (OT)
Milwaukee County Stadium
1–0–1
50,624
–
September 28
at Cleveland Browns
canceled
Cleveland Stadium
1–0–1
4
October 4
Houston Oilers
L 10–40
Mile High Stadium
1–1–1
38,494
5
October 12
Los Angeles Raiders
W 30–14
Mile High Stadium
2–1–1
61,230
6
October 18
at Kansas City Chiefs
W 26–17
Arrowhead Stadium
3–1–1
20,296
7
October 26
at Minnesota Vikings
L 27–34
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
3–2–1
51,011
8
November 1
Detroit Lions
W 34–0
Mile High Stadium
4–2–1
75,172
9
November 8
at Buffalo Bills
L 14–21
Rich Stadium
4–3–1
63,698
10
November 16
Chicago Bears
W 31–29
Mile High Stadium
5–3–1
75,783
11
November 22
at Los Angeles Raiders
W 23–17
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
6–3–1
61,318
12
November 29
at San Diego Chargers
W 31–17
Jack Murphy Stadium
7–3–1
61,880
13
December 6
New England Patriots
W 31–20
Mile High Stadium
8–3–1
75,795
14
December 13
at Seattle Seahawks
L 21–28
Kingdome
8–4–1
61,759
15
December 19
Kansas City Chiefs
W 20–17
Mile High Stadium
9–4–1
75,053
16
December 27
San Diego Chargers
W 24–0
Mile High Stadium
10–4–1
21,189
Game summaries [ ]
Week 1 [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Seahawks
14
3 0 0
17
• Broncos
7
13 14 6
40
Date: September 17Location: Mile High Stadium Game start: 2:00 p.m. MST Game attendance: 75,999Referee: Red CashionTV 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
[2]
Week 2 [ ]
1
2 3 4 OT Total
Broncos
0
3 7 7 0
17
Packers
7
7 0 3 0
17
Date: September 20Location: Milwaukee County Stadium Referee: Dick HantakTelevision network: NBC
Week 4 [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Oilers
7
10 10 13
40
Broncos
0
10 0 0
10
Date: October 4Location: Mile High Stadium
Week 5 [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Raiders
0
14 0 0
14
• Broncos
14
3 6 7
30
Date: October 12Location: Mile High Stadium Game start: 7:00 p.m. MST Game attendance: 61,230Game weather: 53°F; wind 7Referee: Fred SilvaTV 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
[3]
Week 6 [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Broncos
9
10 0 7
26
Chiefs
7
7 3 0
17
Date: October 18Location: Arrowhead Stadium
Week 7 [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Broncos
7
10 0 10
27
• Vikings
7
7 13 7
34
Date: October 26Location: Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Referee: Tom DooleyTV 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 1Location: Mile High Stadium
Week 9 [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Broncos
0
0 7 7
14
• Bills
0
18 3 0
21
Date: November 8Location: Rich Stadium Referee: Dick JorgensenTelevision network: NBC
Week 10 [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Bears
14
0 15 0
29
• Broncos
0
21 0 10
31
Date: November 16Location: Mile High StadiumReferee: Red CashionTV 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 22Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Referee: Jim TunneyTV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen
Week 12 [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Broncos
7
10 14 0
31
Chargers
7
3 0 7
17
Date: November 29Location: Jack Murphy Stadium Referee: Gene BarthTV 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 6Location: Mile High StadiumReferee: Fred SilvaTV 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 goalNE 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 13Location: Kingdome Game weather: Indoors (dome)Referee: Bob McElweeTelevision 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: 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 27Location: Mile High StadiumReferee: Fred SilvaTV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones and Jimmy Cefalo
Scoring summary Q1 DEN Clark 71 yard punt returnDEN 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 [ ]
Playoffs [ ]
Round
Date
Opponent
Result
Game site
Attendance
Divisional Playoffs
January 10
Houston Oilers
W 34–10
Mile High Stadium
75,968
AFC Championship
January 17
Cleveland Browns
W 38–33
Mile High Stadium
75,993
Super Bowl XXII
January 31
Washington Redskins
L 10–42
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 10Location: Mile High Stadium
Conference Championship [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Browns
0
3 21 9
33
• Broncos
14
7 10 7
38
Date: January 17Location: Mile High Stadium
Super Bowl [ ]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Redskins
0
35 0 7
42
Broncos
10
0 0 0
10
Date: January 31Location: Jack Murphy Stadium
Awards and records [ ]
Ricky Nattiel, All-Rookie selection
References [ ]
External links [ ]
Denver Broncos
Founded in 1960
Based in Denver, Colorado
Headquartered in Dove Valley, Colorado
Franchise Stadiums
Mile High Stadium
Empower Field at Mile High
Key personnel
Owner
Estate of Pat Bowlen
President/CEO
Joe Ellis
Executive Vice President/General Manager
John Elway
Head Coach
Vic Fangio
Culture Lore Rivalries Retired numbers Division championships (15) Conference championships (8) League championships (3)
1997 (XXXII)
1998 (XXXIII)
2015 (50)
Media Current league affiliations Former league affiliation
League: American Football League (1960–1969)
Bold indicates Super Bowl victoryItalics indicates Super Bowl appearance