1981 Denver Broncos (NFL) |
| 2nd place • American Football Conference • Western Division • 10-6-0 .625 |
| Head Coach: Dan Reeves |
| Joe Collier | Defensive Coordinator |
| Rod Dowhower | Receivers |
| Jerry Frei | Offensive Line |
| Stan Jones | Defensive Line |
| Charlie Lee | Running Backs |
| Richie McCabe | Defensive Secondary |
| Nick Nicolau | Special Assistant |
| Fran Polsfoot | Tight Ends |
| Bob Zeman | Linebackers |
| SCORES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Opponent | Score | Location | Venue | Attendance | |||
| Fri | 8/7/1981 | H | New York Jets | 7-33 | L | Denver, CO | Mile High Stadium | 63644 | |
| Sat | 8/15/1981 | A | Miami Dolphins | 14-24 | L | Miami, FL | Orange Bowl | 41502 | |
| Sat | 8/22/1981 | H | Green Bay Packers | 17-7 | W | Denver, CO | Mile High Stadium | 72450 | |
| Sat | 8/29/1981 | A | Cincinnati Bengals | 24-20 | W | Cincinnati, OH | Riverfront Stadium | 41713 | |
| Sun | 9/6/1981 | H | Oakland Raiders | 9-7 | W | Denver, CO | Mile High Stadium | 74796 | |
| Sun | 9/13/1981 | A | Seattle Seahawks | 10-13 | L | Seattle, WA | Kingdome | 58513 | |
| Sun | 9/20/1981 | H | Baltimore Colts | 28-10 | W | Denver, CO | Mile High Stadium | 74804 | |
| Sun | 9/27/1981 | H | San Diego Chargers | 42-24 | W | Denver, CO | Mile High Stadium | 74844 | |
| Sun | 10/4/1981 | A | Oakland Raiders | 17-0 | W | Oakland, CA | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum | 51035 | |
| Sun | 10/11/1981 | H | Detroit Lions | 27-21 | W | Denver, CO | Mile High Stadium | 74509 | |
| Sun | 10/18/1981 | A | Kansas City Chiefs | 14-28 | L | Kansas City, MO | Arrowhead Stadium | 74672 | |
| Sun | 10/25/1981 | A | Buffalo Bills | 7-9 | L | Orchard Park, NY | Rich Stadium | 77757 | |
| Mon | 11/2/1981 | H | Minnesota Vikings | 19-17 | W | Denver, CO | Mile High Stadium | 74834 | |
| Sun | 11/8/1981 | H | Cleveland Browns | 23-20 | W | OT | Denver, CO | Mile High Stadium | 74859 |
| Sun | 11/15/1981 | A | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 24-7 | W | Tampa, FL | Tampa Stadium | 64518 | |
| Sun | 11/22/1981 | A | Cincinnati Bengals | 21-38 | L | Cincinnati, OH | Riverfront Stadium | 57207 | |
| Sun | 11/29/1981 | A | San Diego Chargers | 17-34 | L | San Diego, CA | Jack Murphy Stadium | 51533 | |
| Sun | 12/6/1981 | H | Kansas City Chiefs | 16-13 | W | Denver, CO | Mile High Stadium | 74744 | |
| Sun | 12/13/1981 | H | Seattle Seahawks | 23-13 | W | Denver, CO | Mile High Stadium | 74527 | |
| Sun | 12/20/1981 | A | Chicago Bears | 24-35 | L | Chicago, IL | Soldier Field | 40125 | |
Exhibition game. Playoff game. A=Away game. H=Home game. N=Neutral site game. W=Win. L=Loss. T=Tie. OT=Overtime.
Click on Date to see boxscore.
| ROSTER | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Pos | Ht | Wt | Age | College | GP | GS |
| Greg Boyd | 77 | DE | 6-6 | 280 | 29 | Fresno CC; San Diego State | 15 | 0 |
| Billy Bryan | 64 | C | 6-2 | 255 | 26 | Duke | 14 | 14 |
| Steve Busick | 58 | LB | 6-4 | 227 | 23 | Southern California | 16 | 0 |
| Larry Canada | 35 | RB | 6-2 | 225 | 27 | Wisconsin | 16 | 0 |
| Rubin Carter | 68 | NT | 6-0 | 254 | 29 | Miami (Florida) | 16 | 16 |
| Barney Chavous | 79 | LDE | 6-3 | 254 | 30 | South Carolina State | 16 | 16 |
| Kelvin Clark | 73 | LOT-ROT | 6-3 | 265 | 25 | Nebraska | 16 | 3 |
| Steve DeBerg | 17 | QB | 6-3 | 210 | 27 | Fullerton JC; San Jose State | 14 | 1 |
| Ron Egloff | 85 | TE | 6-5 | 227 | 26 | Wisconsin | 16 | 5 |
| Larry Evans | 56 | LILB | 6-2 | 217 | 28 | Mississippi College | 16 | 16 |
| Steve Foley | 43 | FS | 6-2 | 190 | 28 | Tulane | 16 | 13 |
| Tom Glassic | 62 | LOG | 6-3 | 254 | 27 | Virginia | 16 | 16 |
| Randy Gradishar | 53 | RILB | 6-3 | 233 | 29 | Ohio State | 16 | 16 |
| Mike Harden | 31 | FS | 6-1 | 192 | 22 | Michigan | 16 | 3 |
| Paul Howard | 60 | ROG | 6-3 | 260 | 31 | Brigham Young | 16 | 15 |
| Glenn Hyde | 65 | C-OT | 6-3 | 255 | 30 | Pittsburgh | 16 | 2 |
| Tom Jackson | 57 | ROLB | 5-11 | 220 | 30 | Louisville | 16 | 16 |
| Rulon Jones | 73 | RDE | 6-6 | 260 | 23 | Utah State | 16 | 16 |
| Aaron Kyle | 22 | RCB-LCB | 5-11 | 185 | 27 | Wyoming | 16 | 16 |
| Ken Lanier | 76 | ROT | 6-3 | 273 | 22 | Florida State | 8 | 1 |
| Don Latimer | 72 | NT | 6-3 | 259 | 26 | Miami (Florida) | 16 | 0 |
| Rob Lytle | 41 | RB | 5-11 | 196 | 27 | Michigan | 16 | 0 |
| Wade Manning | 83 | WR | 5-11 | 190 | 26 | Ohio State | 16 | 0 |
| Brison Manor | 66 | DE | 6-4 | 248 | 29 | Pratt CC; Arkansas | 16 | 0 |
| Mark Merrill | 59 | LB | 6-4 | 238 | 26 | Minnesota | 15 | 0 |
| Claudie Minor | 71 | ROT | 6-4 | 278 | 30 | Mount San Antonio JC; San Diego CC; San Diego State | 13 | 13 |
| Craig Morton | 7 | QB | 6-4 | 213 | 38 | California | 15 | 15 |
| Haven Moses | 25 | WR | 6-2 | 200 | 35 | Los Angeles Harbor JC; San Diego State | 16 | 6 |
| Riley Odoms | 88 | TE | 6-4 | 230 | 31 | Houston | 15 | 15 |
| Rick Parros | 24 | FB | 5-11 | 202 | 23 | Utah State | 16 | 16 |
| Dave Preston | 46 | RB | 5-11 | 195 | 26 | Bowling Green State | 16 | 14 |
| Luke Prestridge | 11 | P | 6-4 | 235 | 25 | Baylor | 16 | 0 |
| Tony Reed | 32 | RB | 5-11 | 197 | 26 | Antelope Valley JC; Colorado | 15 | 0 |
| Jim Ryan | 50 | LB | 6-1 | 218 | 24 | William & Mary | 16 | 0 |
| Dennis Smith | 49 | RCB | 6-3 | 200 | 22 | Southern California | 16 | 4 |
| Perry Smith | 45 | LCB | 6-0 | 193 | 30 | Colorado Mesa; Colorado State | 12 | 4 |
| Roland Solomon | 39 | CB | 5-11 | 180 | 25 | Utah | 4 | 0 |
| Fred Steinfort | 19 | K | 5-11 | 180 | 28 | Boston College | 16 | 0 |
| Dave Studdard | 70 | LOT-ROT | 6-4 | 260 | 26 | Texas | 16 | 16 |
| Bob Swenson | 51 | LOLB | 6-3 | 222 | 28 | California | 16 | 16 |
| Billy Thompson | 36 | SS | 6-1 | 200 | 35 | Maryland-Eastern Shore | 16 | 16 |
| Steve Trimble | 37 | CB | 5-11 | 190 | 23 | Maryland | 3 | 0 |
| Rick Upchurch | 80 | WR | 5-10 | 173 | 29 | Indian Hills JC; Minnesota | 13 | 10 |
| Steve Watson | 81 | WR | 6-4 | 195 | 24 | Temple | 16 | 13 |
| Jim Wright | 87 | TE | 6-3 | 240 | 25 | Blinn JC; Texas Christian | 16 | 0 |
| Louis Wright | 20 | LCB | 6-3 | 200 | 28 | Arizona State; Bakersfield CC; San Jose State | 8 | 8 |
| DRAFT LIST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Overall | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 15 | Dennis Smith | DB | Southern California |
| 2 | 42 | Clay Brown | TE | Brigham Young |
| 4 | 98 | Mark Herrmann | QB | Purdue |
| 5 | 125 | Ken Lanier | T | Florida State |
| 6 | 151 | Alvin Lewis | RB | Colorado State |
| 7 | 181 | Steve Busick | LB | Southern California |
| 9 | 234 | Rusty Olsen | DE | Washington |
| 11 | 290 | Pat Walker | WR | Miami (Florida) |
| 12 | 317 | John Hankerd | LB | Notre Dame |
| 12 | 321 | Mandel Robinson | RB | Wyoming |
| SCORING BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 67 | 91 | 74 | 86 | 3 | 321 |
| Opponents Totals | 63 | 80 | 71 | 75 | 0 | 289 |
| TEAM STATS | TOP | 1st Downs | FDR | FDP | FDX | 3rd Down Efficiency | 4th Down Efficiency | PEN | PENY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 32:27 | 306 | 91 | 181 | 34 | 85/230 37.0% | / % | 99 | 834 |
| Opponents Totals | 27:33 | 268 | 103 | 142 | 23 | 74/219 33.8% | / % | 104 | 949 |
| SCORING | TD | X1 | X1A | PCT | FG | FGA | PCT | SAF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fred Steinfort | 0 | 36 | 37 | 97.3 | 17 | 30 | 56.7 | 0 | 87 |
| Steve Watson | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78 | ||
| Rob Lytle | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | ||
| Riley Odoms | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | ||
| Larry Canada | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||
| Rick Parros | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Dave Preston | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Rick Upchurch | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Ron Egloff | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Haven Moses | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Jim Wright | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| (Team) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 39 | 36 | 39 | 92.3 | 17 | 30 | 56.7 | 0 | 321 |
| Opponents Totals | 35 | 34 | 35 | 97.1 | 15 | 27 | 55.6 | 0 | 289 |
| FIELD GOALS | MADE | ATT | PCT | BL | LG | 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fred Steinfort | 17 | 30 | 56.7 | 4 | 49 | 0/0 | 6/9 | 5/11 | 6/8 | 0/2 |
| Team Totals | 17 | 30 | 56.7 | 4 | 49 | 0/0 | 6/9 | 5/11 | 6/8 | 0/2 |
| Opponents Totals | 15 | 27 | 55.6 | 0/0 | 5/6 | 4/6 | 5/11 | 1/4 |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rick Parros | 176 | 749 | 4.3 | 25 | 2 |
| Dave Preston | 183 | 640 | 3.5 | 23 | 3 |
| Tony Reed | 68 | 156 | 2.3 | 10 | 0 |
| Larry Canada | 33 | 113 | 3.4 | 11 | 3 |
| Rob Lytle | 30 | 106 | 3.5 | 18 | 4 |
| Rick Upchurch | 5 | 56 | 11.2 | 37 | 0 |
| Steve DeBerg | 9 | 40 | 4.4 | 11 | 0 |
| Craig Morton | 8 | 18 | 2.3 | 5 | 0 |
| Jim Wright | 1 | 11 | 11.0 | 11 | 0 |
| Steve Watson | 2 | 6 | 3.0 | 6 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 515 | 1895 | 3.7 | 37 | 12 |
| Opponents Totals | 467 | 2005 | 4.3 | 82t | 17 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INC | YDS | Y/ATT | Y/COM | LG | TD | TD% | INT | INT% | TS | YL | NYP | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Craig Morton | 376 | 225 | 59.8 | 137 | 3195 | 8.5 | 14.2 | 95t | 21 | 5.6 | 14 | 3.7 | 54 | 388 | 2807 | 90.5 |
| Steve DeBerg | 108 | 64 | 59.3 | 38 | 797 | 7.4 | 12.5 | 44 | 6 | 5.6 | 6 | 5.6 | 7 | 67 | 730 | 77.6 |
| Tony Reed | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 100.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ||
| Team Totals | 485 | 289 | 59.6 | 175 | 3992 | 8.2 | 13.8 | 95t | 27 | 5.6 | 21 | 4.3 | 61 | 455 | 3537 | 86.6 |
| Opponents Totals | 497 | 267 | 53.7 | 207 | 3168 | 6.4 | 11.9 | 65t | 13 | 2.6 | 23 | 4.6 | 36 | 295 | 2873 | 62.8 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Watson | 60 | 1244 | 20.7 | 95t | 13 |
| Dave Preston | 52 | 507 | 9.8 | 37 | 0 |
| Riley Odoms | 38 | 516 | 13.6 | 28 | 5 |
| Tony Reed | 34 | 317 | 9.3 | 33 | 0 |
| Rick Upchurch | 32 | 550 | 17.2 | 63 | 3 |
| Rick Parros | 25 | 216 | 8.6 | 26 | 1 |
| Ron Egloff | 17 | 231 | 13.6 | 40 | 1 |
| Haven Moses | 15 | 246 | 16.4 | 30 | 1 |
| Rob Lytle | 6 | 47 | 7.8 | 14t | 1 |
| Wade Manning | 3 | 49 | 16.3 | 34 | 0 |
| Larry Canada | 3 | 37 | 12.3 | 20 | 1 |
| Jim Wright | 3 | 22 | 7.3 | 14 | 1 |
| Dave Studdard | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 10 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 289 | 3992 | 13.8 | 95t | 27 |
| Opponents Totals | 267 | 3168 | 11.9 | 65t | 13 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Foley | 5 | 81 | 16.2 | 24 | 0 |
| Randy Gradishar | 4 | 38 | 9.5 | 16 | 0 |
| Billy Thompson | 4 | 14 | 3.5 | 14 | 0 |
| Bob Swenson | 3 | 53 | 17.7 | 32 | 0 |
| Aaron Kyle | 2 | 40 | 20.0 | 40 | 0 |
| Mike Harden | 2 | 34 | 17.0 | 38 | 0 |
| Dennis Smith | 1 | 65 | 65.0 | 65 | 0 |
| Brison Manor | 1 | 16 | 16.0 | 16 | 0 |
| Larry Evans | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 23 | 342 | 14.9 | 65 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 21 | 405 | 19.3 | 69t | 4 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | TB | I20 | RYDS | NYDS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luke Prestridge | 86 | 3478 | 40.4 | 67 | 0 | 5 | 20 | 388 | 2990 | 34.8 |
| Team Totals | 86 | 3478 | 40.4 | 67 | 0 | 5 | 20 | 388 | 2990 | 34.8 |
| Opponents Totals | 88 | 3789 | 43.1 | 71 | 1 | 9 | 22 | 441 | 3168 | 36.0 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wade Manning | 41 | 4 | 378 | 9.2 | 39 | 0 |
| Rick Upchurch | 9 | 1 | 63 | 7.0 | 15 | 0 |
| Aaron Kyle | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 51 | 5 | 441 | 8.6 | 39 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 46 | 17 | 388 | 8.4 | 26 | 0 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wade Manning | 26 | 0 | 514 | 19.8 | 31 | 0 |
| Mike Harden | 11 | 0 | 178 | 16.2 | 23 | 0 |
| Rob Lytle | 5 | 0 | 80 | 16.0 | 24 | 0 |
| Larry Canada | 2 | 0 | 19 | 9.5 | 13 | 0 |
| Ron Egloff | 1 | 0 | 7 | 7.0 | 7 | 0 |
| Jim Ryan | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 |
| Dave Preston | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 47 | 0 | 801 | 17.0 | 31 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 47 | 1007 | 21.4 | 46 | 0 |
| SACKS | NO | YDS |
|---|---|---|
| Rulon Jones | 8.0 | |
| Don Latimer | 4.0 | |
| Brison Manor | 4.0 | |
| Barney Chavous | 4.0 | |
| Bob Swenson | 3.0 | |
| Rubin Carter | 3.0 | |
| Greg Boyd | 2.0 | |
| Larry Evans | 2.0 | |
| Louis Wright | 1.0 | |
| Billy Thompson | 1.0 | |
| Randy Gradishar | 1.0 | |
| Team Totals | 36.0 | 295.0 |
| Opponents Totals | 61.0 | 461.0 |
| FUMBLES | NO | LOST | OWN | OPP | REC | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billy Bryan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Steve Busick | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Larry Canada | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Rubin Carter | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Barney Chavous | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve DeBerg | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ron Egloff | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | |
| Larry Evans | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Foley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Glassic | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Harden | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Jackson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Rulon Jones | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Aaron Kyle | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Don Latimer | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Rob Lytle | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Wade Manning | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Craig Morton | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Haven Moses | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Riley Odoms | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Rick Parros | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dave Preston | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Luke Prestridge | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tony Reed | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dennis Smith | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Swenson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Thompson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Watson | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Wright | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Louis Wright | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -5 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 26 | 20 | 6 | 23 | 29 | 6 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 36 | 23 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 1 |
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