The Orange Crush Defense

by Bob Lee
(New York, New York, USA)

The Denver Broncos were victorious over the Boston Patriots in the first American Football League game (13-10), on September 9, 1960. They also made history on August 5, 1967, as the first AFL team to defeat an NFL team, when they beat the Detroit Lions 13-7 in a preseason game. The Broncos have reached the Super Bowl six times, most recently in 1998, ending the season as champions.

Denver came close to losing its franchise in the late 1960’s, but a local ownership group took control and began to rebuild the team. In 1977, rookie coach Red Miller, along with the Orange Crush Defense and an aging quarterback Craig Morton, swiftly took Denver to its first playoff appearance, and then to the Super Bowl, where they were defeated by the Dallas Cowboys, 27-10.

In 1983, quarterback John Elway arrived. Prior to Elway, Denver had over 24 different starting quarterbacks in 23 seasons. Elway led the team to five Super Bowls, three under head coach Dan Reeves and two under Mike Shanahan, and would end his career as the MVP of Super Bowl XXXIII, his last NFL game.

The Broncos debuted rookie running back Terrell Davis, who, in the 1997/98 season would take the Broncos to their first Super Bowl victory, in Super Bowl XXXII, over the Green Bay Packers. Davis ran for 157 yards and three touchdowns and was awarded MVP honors.

The following year the Broncos repeated, defeating the Dan Reeves led Atlanta Falcons to win Super Bowl XXXIII. Since Elway's retirement following the 1998 season, Denver has had only one losing season (1999) and has made the playoffs as a wild card on three occasions; in 2000, 2003 and 2004. In 2005 the Broncos ended the regular season as Division Champions.