1989 Denver Broncos season

1989 Denver Broncos season
Head coach	Dan Reeves
General manager	John Beake
Owner	Pat Bowlen
Home field	Mile High Stadium
Results
Record	11–5
Division place	1st AFC West
Playoff finish	Won Divisional Playoff (Steelers) 24–23 Won AFC Championship (Browns) 37–21 Lost Super Bowl XXIV (49ers) 10–55

The 1989 Denver Broncos season was the team's 30th year in professional football and its 20th with the National Football League (NFL). The head coach was Dan Reeves while Chan Gailey was the offensive coordinator and Wade Phillips was the defensive coordinator.

Offseason

NFL draft

1989 Denver Broncos draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	20	Steve Atwater *	Safety	Arkansas
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

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Personnel

Staff

1989 Denver Broncos staff
	Front office President and Chief Executive Officer – Pat Bowlen General Manager – John Beake Director of Football Operations – Lide Huggins Director of Player Personnel – Reed Johnson Head coaches Head Coach – Dan Reeves Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers – Chan Gailey Running Backs – Mo Forte Tight Ends/Assistant Offensive Line – Pete Mangurian Offensive Line – George Henshaw Special Assistant – Marvin Bass			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Wade Phillips Defensive Line – Earl Leggett Linebackers – Mike Nolan Defensive Backs – Charlie Waters Special teams coaches Special Teams – Harold Richardson Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Al Miller Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Barney Chavous

Roster

1989 Denver Broncos roster
	Quarterbacks  7 John Elway  8 Gary Kubiak Running backs 40 Jeff Alexander FB 32 Mel Bratton FB 26 Bobby Humphrey 30 Steve Sewell 23 Sammy Winder Wide receivers 80 Mark Jackson 82 Vance Johnson 84 Ricky Nattiel 85 Chris Woods 83 Mike Young		Tight ends 88 Clarence Kay 87 Pat Kelly 89 Orson Mobley Offensive linemen 54 Keith Bishop G 66 Jim Juriga T 72 Keith Kartz C 76 Ken Lanier T 60 Gerald Perry T 57 Mike Ruether C 65 Monte Smith G 67 Doug Widell G		Defensive linemen 92 Alphonso Carreker DE 68 Brad Henke DE/NT 90 Ron Holmes DE 71 Greg Kragen NT 96 Jake McCullough DE/NT 91 Warren Powers DE 61 Andre Townsend DE/NT Linebackers 56 Michael Brooks OLB 58 Scott Curtis ILB 55 Rick Dennison ILB 73 Simon Fletcher OLB 97 Bruce Klosterman OLB 59 Tim Lucas OLB 77 Karl Mecklenburg ILB 51 Marc Munford ILB		Defensive backs 27 Steve Atwater FS 34 Tyrone Braxton CB 29 Darren Carrington CB 25 Kip Corrington FS 36 Mark Haynes CB 24 Wymon Henderson CB 48 Randy Robbins SS 45 Richard Shelton CB 49 Dennis Smith SS Special teams 35 Ken Bell KR/PR  2 Mike Horan P  9 David Treadwell K Rookies in italics

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Regular season

One of Denver's new major additions was rookie running back Bobby Humphrey, who rushed for 1,151 yards, caught 22 passes for 156 yards, and scored 8 touchdowns. Humphrey gave the Broncos a powerful running attack that they lacked in their previous Super Bowl seasons. The defense had a new weapon as well: rookie free safety Steve Atwater. Together with veteran defensive backs Dennis Smith, Wymon Henderson and Tyrone Braxton, the Broncos secondary combined for 14 interceptions. Braxton lead the team with 6, which he returned for 103 yards and a touchdown, while also recovering 2 fumbles. Another new addition was defensive end Ron Holmes, who recorded 9 sacks. Holmes, along with veteran linebackers Karl Mecklenburg (7.5 sacks and 4 fumble recoveries) and Simon Fletcher (12 sacks) gave Denver one of the top defensive lines in the AFC.

Veteran receiver Vance Johnson had the best season of his career, catching 76 passes for 1,095 yards and 7 touchdowns, while also returning 12 punts for 118 yards. However, quarterback John Elway played inconsistently during the regular season, throwing just as many interceptions as touchdowns (18) and recording only a 73.7 passer rating.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 10, 1989	Kansas City Chiefs	W 34–20	74,284
2	September 18, 1989	at Buffalo Bills	W 28–14	78,176
3	September 24, 1989	Los Angeles Raiders	W 31–21	75,754
4	October 1, 1989	at Cleveland Browns	L 16–13	78,637
5	October 8, 1989	San Diego Chargers	W 16–10	75,222
6	October 15, 1989	Indianapolis Colts	W 14–3	74,680
7	October 22, 1989	at Seattle Seahawks	W 24–21	62,353
8	October 29, 1989	Philadelphia Eagles	L 28–24	75,065
9	November 5, 1989	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 34–7	74,739
10	November 12, 1989	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 16–13	76,245
11	November 20, 1989	at Washington Redskins	W 14–10	52,975
12	November 26, 1989	Seattle Seahawks	W 41–14	75,117
13	December 3, 1989	at Los Angeles Raiders	L 16–13	87,560
14	December 10, 1989	New York Giants	L 14–7	63,283
15	December 16, 1989	at Phoenix Cardinals	W 37–0	56,071
16	December 24, 1989	at San Diego Chargers	L 19–16	50,524

Game summaries

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total • Broncos 5 13 3 7 28 Bills 0 0 7 7 14 Date: September 18 Location: Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York Game start: 9:00 p.m. Game attendance: 78,176 Game weather: 57°F; wind 5 Television network: ABC

Scoring summary Q1 DEN Mueller tackled by Brooks in end zone DEN 2–0 Q1 DEN Treadwell 22 yard field goal DEN 5–0 Q2 DEN Treadwell 33 yard field goal DEN 8–0 Q2 DEN Johnson 19 yard pass from Elway (Treadwell kick) DEN 15–0 Q2 DEN Treadwell 46 yard field goal DEN 18–0 Q3 DEN Treadwell 24 yard field goal DEN 21–0 Q3 BUF Kinnebrew 1 yard run (Norwood kick) DEN 21–7 Q4 BUF Harmon 20 yard pass from Kelly (Norwood kick) DEN 21–14 Q4 DEN Humphrey 5 yard run (Treadwell kick) DEN 28–14

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Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total Raiders 0 0 7 14 21 • Broncos 21 7 0 3 31 Date: September 24 Location: Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado Game start: 2:00 p.m. Game weather: 62°F, wind 11 mph

Scoring summary 1 DEN John Elway 29 yard run (David Treadwell kick) Broncos 7–0 1 DEN Jeff Alexander 1 yard run (David Treadwell kick) Broncos 14–0 1 DEN Mark Jackson 46 yard pass from John Elway (David Treadwell kick) Broncos 21–0 2 DEN Mark Jackson 11 yard pass from John Elway (David Treadwell kick) Broncos 28–0 3 LA Lionel Washington 22 yard interception return (Jeff Jaeger kick) Broncos 28–7 4 LA Mervyn Fernandez 75 yard pass from Jay Schroeder (Jeff Jaeger kick) Broncos 28–14 4 LA Linden King 15 yard fumble return (Jeff Jaeger kick) Broncos 28–21 4 DEN David Treadwell 38 yard field goal Broncos 31–21

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Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Divisional	January 7, 1990	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 24–23	75,868
Conference Championship	January 14, 1990	Cleveland Browns	W 37–21	76,005
Super Bowl	January 28, 1990	N San Francisco 49ers	L 10-55	72,919

Standings

AFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Denver Broncos^(1)	11	5	0	.688	6–2	9–3	362	226	L1
Kansas City Chiefs	8	7	1	.531	3–5	6–7–1	318	286	W1
Los Angeles Raiders	8	8	0	.500	3–5	6–6	315	297	L2
Seattle Seahawks	7	9	0	.438	4–4	7–5	241	327	L1
San Diego Chargers	6	10	0	.375	4–4	4–8	266	290	W2

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References

1. "1989 Denver Broncos draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
2. "1989 Denver Broncos starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
3. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Jun-26.
4. Pro-Football-Reference.com
5. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 292

External links

• 1989 Denver Broncos at Pro-Football-Reference.com