1997 Denver Broncos

1997 Denver Broncos season
Owner	Pat Bowlen
President	Pat Bowlen
Head Coach	Mike Shanahan
General Manager	John Beake and Mike Shanahan
Offensive Coordinator	Gary Kubiak
Defensive Coordinator	Greg Robinson
Home Field	Mile High Stadium
Results
Record	12–4
Place	2nd AFC West
Playoff Finish	Won Wild Card Playoffs (vs. Jaguars) 42–17 Won Divisional Playoffs (at Chiefs) 14–10 Won AFC Championship (at Steelers) 24–21 Won Super Bowl XXXII (vs. Packers) 31–24
Pro Bowlers	QB John Elway RB Terrell Davis TE Shannon Sharpe C Tom Nalen
Uniform
Timeline
Previous Season	Next Season
1996	1998

The 1997 season was the Denver Broncos' 28th season in the National Football League (NFL) and their 38th overall. The Broncos finished the season with a record of 12–4, finishing second in the AFC West, and winning Super Bowl XXXII. The Broncos were the second wild card team since the 1970 merger to win a Super Bowl, joining the 1980 Oakland Raiders.

The 1997 season saw the addition of the Denver Broncos' newest wordmark and logo. Their new logo featured a newer, dynamic Bronco, which has been the team's logo since the 1997 season. The new default team colors unveiled prior to the 1997 season were navy blue jerseys with orange and white pants with orange. This would continue until 2012, when they assigned the all navy blue uniforms as the "Main alternate" slot, making the primary uniforms have orange tops, white bottoms and orange/white shoes.

Season summary

Having lost a disappointing playoff game to Jacksonville the year before, many thought this might be John Elway's last chance to win a Super Bowl. They started off the season by winning their first six games, beating the Chiefs, Seahawks, Rams, Bengals, Falcons and Patriots. They then lost to the Raiders, then defeated the Bills, Seahawks, and Panthers. They then lost to the Chiefs, beat the Raiders and the Chargers, lost to the Steelers and the 49ers, but finished the season with a win against the Chargers.

They made the playoffs as a wildcard and advanced against the Jaguars and Chiefs and defeated the Steelers in the 1997 AFC Championship Game. They then won Super Bowl XXXII against the Packers 31–24, only the third team to ever win a Super Bowl as a wildcard, and the first AFC team to win the title since the Los Angeles Raiders in Super Bowl XVIII following the 1983 season. The win was a big morale boost to Denver and the Broncos, who had suffered through four previous Super Bowl losses, and especially Elway, who had led three of those defeats.

Team stats

The 1997 Broncos were tenth in the league in total passing yards with 3704 and fourth in the league in total rushing yards with 2378. They finished with 6082 total yards, first in the NFL. They were fourth in total yards given up with 4969. They were also first in total points scored with 472. They were seventh in total points allowed with 287.

The team's 12–4 record is currently their fifth-best 16-game season in franchise history.

Player stats

During the season John Elway threw for 3635 yards and Terrell Davis rushed for 1750 yards. Rod Smith had 70 receptions for 1180 yards and Ed McCaffrey had 45 receptions for 590 yards. Tight end Shannon Sharpe has 72 receptions for 1107 yards. Kicker Jason Elam kicked 26 field goals out of 36 attempted. Davis, Elway, Tom Nalen, Sharpe, and Neil Smith made the Pro Bowl.

Personnel

Staff

1997 Denver Broncos staff
Front Office President/Chief Executive Officer – Pat Bowlen General Manager – John Beake Head Coaches Head Coach – Mike Shanahan Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line – Alex Gibbs Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks – Gary Kubiak Running Backs – Bobby Turner Wide Receivers – Mike Heimerdinger Tight Ends – Brian Pariani Assistant Offensive Line/Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Barney Chavous Offensive Assistant – Dwain Painter Offensive Assistant – Ricky Porter			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator – Greg Robinson Defensive Line – George Dyer Pass Rush Specialist – John Teerlinck Linebackers – Frank Bush Defensive Backs – Ed Donatell Defensive Assistant – Rick Smith Special Teams Coaches Special Teams – Rick Dennison Strength and Conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Rich Tuten Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Greg Saporta

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Record	Attendance
1	August 31, 1997	Kansas City Chiefs	W 19–3	Mile High Stadium	1–0	75,600
2	September 7, 1997	at Seattle Seahawks	W 35–14	Kingdome	2–0	55,859
3	September 14, 1997	St. Louis Rams	W 35–14	Mile High Stadium	3–0	74,338
4	September 21, 1997	Cincinnati Bengals	W 38–20	Mile High Stadium	4–0	73,871
5	September 28, 1997	at Atlanta Falcons	W 29–21	Georgia Dome	5–0	48,211
6	October 6, 1997	New England Patriots	W 34–13	Mile High Stadium	6–0	75,821
7	Bye week
8	October 19, 1997	at Oakland Raiders	L 25–28	Oakland Coliseum	6–1	57,006
9	October 26, 1997	at Buffalo Bills	W 23–20 (OT)	Rich Stadium	7–1	78,458
10	November 2, 1997	Seattle Seahawks	W 30–27	Mile High Stadium	8–1	74,212
11	November 9, 1997	Carolina Panthers	W 34–0	Mile High Stadium	9–1	71,408
12	November 16, 1997	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 22–24	Arrowhead Stadium	9–2	77,963
13	November 24, 1997	Oakland Raiders	W 31–3	Mile High Stadium	10–2	75,307
14	November 30, 1997	at San Diego Chargers	W 38–28	Jack Murphy Stadium	11–2	54,245
15	December 7, 1997	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 24–35	Three Rivers Stadium	11–3	59,739
16	December 15, 1997	at San Francisco 49ers	L 17–34	3Com Park	11–4	68,461
17	December 21, 1997	San Diego Chargers	W 38–3	Mile High Stadium	12–4	69,632

Standings

AFC West
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Kansas City Chiefs	13	3	0	.813	375	232
Denver Broncos	12	4	0	.750	472	287
Seattle Seahawks	8	8	0	.500	365	362
Oakland Raiders	4	12	0	.250	324	419
San Diego Chargers	4	12	0	.250	266	425

Playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Attendance
Wild Card Playoffs	December 27, 1997	Jacksonville Jaguars	W 42–17	Mile High Stadium	74,481
Divisional Playoffs	January 4, 1998	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 14–10	Arrowhead Stadium	76,695
AFC Championship	January 11, 1998	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 24–21	Three Rivers Stadium	61,382
Super Bowl XXXII	January 25, 1998	N Green Bay Packers	W 31–24	Qualcomm Stadium	68,912

Awards and records

• Terrell Davis, Super Bowl MVP
• John Elway, Franchise Record, Most Touchdowns in One Season, 27 Touchdown Passes

References

Pro Football Reference.com 1997 Denver Broncos Accessed 15 November 2005