1983 Denver Broncos season

1983 Denver Broncos season
1983 Denver Broncos season
Owner	Edgar Kaiser
General manager	Hein Poulus
Head coach	Dan Reeves
Offensive coordinator	John Hadl
Defensive coordinator	Joe Collier
Home stadium	Mile High Stadium
Results
Record	9–7
Division place	3rd AFC West
Playoffs	Lost Wild Card Playoffs; (at Seahawks) 7–31
Uniform
	← 1982; Broncos seasons; 1984 →;

The 1983 Denver Broncos season was its 24th in professional football and 14th in the National Football League (NFL). Led by third-year head coach Dan Reeves, the Broncos were 9–7, third in the AFC West, and made their first playoff appearance in four seasons.

OwnerEdgar Kaiser

General managerHein Poulus

Head coachDan Reeves

Offensive coordinatorJohn Hadl

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Before the season, the Broncos traded with the Baltimore Colts for the rights to first overall pick in the 1983 draft, quarterback John Elway. He started ten games for the Broncos as a rookie, and the team won four of them.^[1] In his first two starts, both road wins, Elway left the game trailing, relieved by veteran Steve DeBerg.^[2]^[3]

After three straight losses, Elway was benched by Reeves in early October;^[4] and DeBerg led the team to four consecutive victories and a 6–3 record. A shoulder injury in a loss in Seattle sidelined him and Elway again became the starter.^[5]^[6] In the rematch with Seattle two weeks later in Denver, Elway was out with the flu and third-string rookie Gary Kubiak led the Broncos to a win.^[7]^[8]

Elway's finest game as a rookie came in week 15, the Broncos' second game against Baltimore, the team that drafted him. Denver trailed 19–0 at the start of the fourth quarter, until Elway threw for three touchdowns in the final period to win 21–19 and kept their playoff hopes alive.^[9]^[10] The following week was a lopsided road loss at Kansas City in −30 °F (−34 °C) wind chill, but the Broncos made the playoffs, gaining the final AFC berth over Cleveland, also at 9–7, whom they defeated in week 14.^[11]

DeBerg started the wild card playoff loss in Seattle,^[8]^[12] and was relieved by Elway in the fourth quarter.^[13]

The Broncos' wild-card playoff loss to the Seahawks marked their only playoff appearance during the three-year ownership of Edgar Kaiser Jr.; Pat Bowlen bought the team the following spring.

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Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1983 Denver Broncos draft
1	4	Chris Hinton	Guard	Northwestern	traded to the Baltimore Colts along with Quarterback Mark Herrmann and the Broncos' first round pick in the 1984 NFL Draft for John Elway
2	31	Mark Cooper	Tackle	Miami (FL)	1983-1987 (5 seasons) then Tampa Bay from 1987-1989
3	60	Clint Sampson	Wide Receiver	San Diego State	1983-1986 (4 seasons)
5	116	George "Weedy" Harris	Linebacker	Houston
5	125	Bruce Baldwin	Defensive Back	Harding
6	143	Victor Heflin	Defensive Back	Delaware State	not signed by the Broncos, but went on to play for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1983-1984
7	172	Myron Dupree	Defensive Back	North Carolina Central	1983
8	197	Gary Kubiak	Quarterback	Texas A&M	1983-1991 (9 seasons)
9	228	Brian Hawkins	Defensive Back	San Jose State
10	254	Walt Bowyer	Defensive End	Arizona State	1983-1984, 1987-1988 (4 seasons)
11	283	Don Bailey	Center	Miami (FL)	not signed by the Broncos, but went on to play for the Indianapolis Colts from 1984-1985
12	310	Karl Mecklenburg *	Linebacker	Minnesota	1983-1994 (12 seasons), 6x Pro Bowl, 4x First Team All-Pro, Denver Broncos Ring of Fame
Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	August 5	Seattle Seahawks	W 10–7	1–0	Mile High Stadium	53,887
2	August 13	Atlanta Falcons	W 21–10	2–0	Mile High Stadium	73,199
3	August 20	Cleveland Browns	W 19–10	3–0	Mile High Stadium	73,244
4	August 26	at Minnesota Vikings	L 3–34	3–1	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	59,435

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 4	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 14–10	1–0	Three Rivers Stadium	58,233
2	September 11	at Baltimore Colts	W 17–10	2–0	Memorial Stadium	52,613
3	September 18	Philadelphia Eagles	L 10–13	2–1	Mile High Stadium	74,202
4	September 25	Los Angeles Raiders	L 7–22	2–2	Mile High Stadium	74,289
5	October 2	at Chicago Bears	L 14–31	2–3	Soldier Field	58,210
6	October 9	at Houston Oilers	W 26–14	3–3	Astrodome	44,209
7	October 16	Cincinnati Bengals	W 24–17	4–3	Mile High Stadium	74,305
8	October 23	San Diego Chargers	W 14–6	5–3	Mile High Stadium	74,581
9	October 30	Kansas City Chiefs	W 27–24	6–3	Mile High Stadium	74,640
10	November 6	at Seattle Seahawks	L 19–27	6–4	Kingdome	61,189
11	November 13	at Los Angeles Raiders	L 20–22	6–5	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	51,945
12	November 20	Seattle Seahawks	W 38–27	7–5	Mile High Stadium	74,710
13	November 27	at San Diego Chargers	L 7–31	7–6	Jack Murphy Stadium	43,650
14	December 4	Cleveland Browns	W 27–6	8–6	Mile High Stadium	70,912
15	December 11	Baltimore Colts	W 21–19	9–6	Mile High Stadium	74,864
16	December 18	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 17–48	9–7	Arrowhead Stadium	11,377
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Broncos (1–0)	0	7	0	7	14
Steelers (0–1)	0	7	3	0	10

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
DEN	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
PIT	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

1983 Denver Broncos season

NFL draft

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Preseason

Schedule

Regular season

Schedule

Game summaries

Week 1 (Sunday, September 4, 1983): at Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 2 (Sunday, September 11, 1983): at Baltimore Colts

Week 3 (Sunday, September 18, 1983): vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Week 4 (Sunday, September 25, 1983): vs. Los Angeles Raiders

Week 5 (Sunday, October 2, 1983): at Chicago Bears

Week 6 (Sunday, October 9, 1983): at Houston Oilers

Week 7 (Sunday, October 16, 1983): vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Week 8 (Sunday, October 23, 1983): vs. San Diego Chargers

Week 9 (Sunday, October 30, 1983): vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Week 10 (Sunday, November 6, 1983): at Seattle Seahawks

Week 11 (Sunday, November 13, 1983): at Los Angeles Raiders

Week 12 (Sunday, November 20, 1983): vs. Seattle Seahawks

Week 13 (Sunday, November 27, 1983): at San Diego Chargers

Week 14 (Sunday, December 4, 1983): vs. Cleveland Browns

Week 15 (Sunday, December 11, 1983): vs. Baltimore Colts

Week 16 (Sunday, December 18, 1983): at Kansas City Chiefs

Standings

Playoffs

Playoff game summaries

1983 AFC Wild Card Playoffs (Saturday, December 24, 1983): at (4) Seattle Seahawks

References

External links

Related Articles

Timelines

Top Qs

Fact Checks

Broncos	Game statistics	Steelers
	First downs
	Rushes–yards
	Passing yards
	Passes
	Sacked–yards
	Net passing yards
	Total yards
	Return yards
	Punts
	Fumbles–lost
	Penalties–yards
	Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
RAI	Passing	Jim Plunkett	13/24, 154 YDS, 2 TDs, 1 INT
	Rushing	Marcus Allen	15 CAR, 45 YDS
	Receiving	Marcus Allen	4 CAR, 20 YDS
DEN	Passing	Steve DeBerg	8/21, 117 YDS, 1 INT
	Rushing	Sammy Winder	20 CAR, 119 YDS
	Receiving	Steve Watson	5 REC, 72 YDS

Raiders	Game statistics	Broncos
11	First downs	16
37–82	Rushes–yards	30–130
154	Passing yards	188
13–24–1	Passes	14–33–2
3–22	Sacked–yards	5–50
132	Net passing yards	138
214	Total yards	268
113	Return yards	122
9–46.1	Punts	8–42.6
3–0	Fumbles–lost	4–2
4–22	Penalties–yards	9–78
29:29	Time of possession	30:31

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
DEN	Passing	John Elway	11/31, 190 YDS, 1 INT
	Rushing	John Elway	3 CAR, 32 YDS, 1 TD
	Receiving	Rick Upchurch	3 REC, 63 YDS
RAI	Passing	Jim Plunkett	26/42, 252 YDS
	Rushing	Marcus Allen	18 CAR, 84 YDS, 1 TD
	Receiving	Todd Christensen	8 REC, 114 YDS

Broncos	Game statistics	Raiders
14	First downs	23
25–63	Rushes–yards	29–140
190	Passing yards	252
11–31–1	Passes	26–43–0
2–21	Sacked–yards	5–52
169	Net passing yards	200
232	Total yards	340
91	Return yards	147
7–36.4	Punts	5–44.8
2–1	Fumbles–lost	3–3
5–29	Penalties–yards	7–57
26:30	Time of possession	33:30

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
BAL	Passing	Mike Pagel	13/27, 217 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Curtis Dickey	19 CAR, 92 YDS
	Receiving	Bernard Henry	8 REC, 169 YDS, 1 TD
DEN	Passing	John Elway	23/44, 345 yards, 3 TDs
	Rushing	John Elway	3 CAR, 23 YDS
	Receiving	Steve Watson	4 REC, 98 YDS

AFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Los Angeles Raiders⁽¹⁾	12	4	0	.750	6–2	10–2	442	338	W1
Seattle Seahawks⁽⁴⁾	9	7	0	.563	5–3	8–4	403	397	W2
Denver Broncos⁽⁵⁾	9	7	0	.563	3–5	9–5	302	327	L1
San Diego Chargers	6	10	0	.375	4–4	4–8	358	462	L1
Kansas City Chiefs	6	10	0	.375	2–6	4–8	386	367	W1

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
DEN	Passing	Steve DeBerg	14/19, 131 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Sammy Winder	16 CAR, 59 YDS
	Receiving	Jesse Myles	7 REC, 73 YDS, 1 TD
SEA	Passing	Dave Krieg	12/13, 200 YDS, 3 TDs
	Rushing	Curt Warner	23 CAR, 99 YDS
	Receiving	Steve Largent	4 REC, 76 YDS, 1 TD

Broncos	Game statistics	Seahawks
21	First downs	17
33–125	Rushes–yards	38–145
254	Passing yards	200
24–34–2	Passes	12–13–0
2–19	Sacked–yards	2–21
233	Net passing yards	179
360	Total yards	324
128	Return yards	146
4–47.8	Punts	3–41.7
1–1	Fumbles–lost	1–0
5–35	Penalties–yards	3–34
30:57	Time of possession	29:03

Playoff
Round	Opponent	Referee	Umpire	Head Linesman	Line Judge	Back Judge	Side Judge	Field Judge	Alternate
Wild Card	at Seattle	(43) Red Cashion	(67) John Keck	(109) Sid Semon	(41) Dick McKenzie	(28) Don Wedge	(90) Gil Mace	(84) Bob Wortman

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles (2–1)	7	0	0	6	13
Broncos (2–1)	0	0	3	7	10

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Raiders (4–0)	0	7	13	2	22
Broncos (2–2)	0	0	0	7	7

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Broncos (2–3)	0	0	7	7	14
Bears (2–3)	14	10	0	7	31