1990 Denver Broncos season

The 1990 Denver Broncos season was the team's 31st year in professional football and its 21st with the National Football League (NFL). After reaching Super Bowl XXIV, the Broncos struggled and finished with their worst post-merger record in a 16-game season, 5–11. This mark would be eclipsed by the 2010 edition of the team, which finished 4–12. 8 of their 11 losses were by 8 points or less.

1990 Denver Broncos season
Owner	Pat Bowlen
General manager	John Beake
Head coach	Dan Reeves
Home field	Mile High Stadium
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	5th AFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	RB Bobby Humphrey S Steve Atwater S Dennis Smith
Uniform

Off Season

NFL Draft

Main article: 1989 NFL draft

1990 Denver Broncos draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
2	52	Alton Montgomery	S	Houston
4	82	Jeroy Robinson	ILB	Texas A&M
5	111	Jeff Davidson	G	Ohio State
5	136	Le-Lo Lang	CB	Washington
6	164	Ronnie Haliburton	OLB	LSU
7	192	Shannon Sharpe * †	TE	Savannah State
8	219	Brad Leggett	C	USC
9	247	Todd Ellis	QB	South Carolina
10	275	Anthony Thompson	OLB	East Carolina
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1990 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 Administrative Assistant – Joe DeCamillis Head coaches Vice President/Head Coach – Dan Reeves Special Assistant – Marvin Bass Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers – Chan Gailey Quarterbacks – Mike Shanahan Running backs – Mo Forte Tight Ends/Assistant Offensive line – Pete Mangurian Offensive line – George Henshaw

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Wade Phillips Defensive line – Earl Leggett Linebackers – Mike Nolan Defensive Backs – Charlie Waters Defensive assistant – Barney Chavous Special teams coaches Special Teams – Harold Richardson Strength and conditioning Strength/Conditioning – Al Miller

Roster

1990 Denver Broncos roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  7 John Elway  8 Gary Kubiak Running backs (RB) 32 Mel Bratton FB 35 Blake Ezor KR 26 Bobby Humphrey 31 Kerry Porter 30 Steve Sewell FB 23 Sammy Winder Wide receivers (WR) 80 Mark Jackson 82 Vance Johnson PR 85 Tim Stallworth 83 Mike Young Tight ends (TE) 87 Paul Green 88 Clarence Kay 81 Shannon Sharpe 86 Chris Verhulst

Offensive linemen (OL) 64 Scott Beavers G 62 Jeff Davidson G 63 Sean Farrell G 69 Darrell Hamilton T 72 Keith Kartz C 76 Ken Lanier T 79 Dave Widell 67 Doug Widell G Defensive linemen (DL) 99 David Galloway DE 90 Ron Holmes DE 71 Greg Kragen NT 91 Warren Powers DE 61 Andre Townsend

Linebackers (LB) 56 Michael Brooks ILB 55 Rick Dennison ILB 73 Simon Fletcher OLB 93 Ronnie Haliburton OLB 59 Tim Lucas OLB 77 Karl Mecklenburg LB 52 Jeff Mills OLB 53 Anthony Thompson LB Defensive backs (DB) 27 Steve Atwater FS 20 Kevin Clark 25 Kip Corrington FS 24 Wymon Henderson CB 21 Le-Lo Lang CB 22 Alton Montgomery CB 48 Randy Robbins 49 Dennis Smith SS Special teams  2 Mike Horan P  9 David Treadwell K

Practice squad -- Paris McCurdy LB 47 active, 10 inactive, 1 practice squad Reserve 34 Tyrone Braxton CB (IR) 92 Alphonso Carreker DE (IR) 58 Scott Curtis LB (IR) 66 Jim Juriga G/T (IR) 51 Marc Munford LB (IR) 84 Ricky Nattiel WR (IR) 75 Brent Parkinson T (IR) 28 Elliot Smith CB (NF-Ill.) 65 Monte Smith G (NF-Inj.) 94 Jim Szymanski DE (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 9	at Los Angeles Raiders	L 9–14	0–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	54,206
2	September 17	Kansas City Chiefs	W 24–23	1–1	Mile High Stadium	75,277
3	September 23	Seattle Seahawks	W 34–31 (OT)	2–1	Mile High Stadium	75,290
4	September 30	at Buffalo Bills	L 28–29	2–2	Rich Stadium	74,393
5	October 8	Cleveland Browns	L 29–30	2–3	Mile High Stadium	74,814
6	October 14	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 17–34	2–4	Mile High Stadium	74,285
7	October 21	at Indianapolis Colts	W 27–17	3–4	Hoosier Dome	59,850
8	Bye
9	November 4	at Minnesota Vikings	L 22–27	3–5	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	57,331
10	November 11	at San Diego Chargers	L 7–19	3–6	Jack Murphy Stadium	59,557
11	November 18	Chicago Bears	L 13–16	3–7	Mile High Stadium	75,013
12	November 22	at Detroit Lions	L 27–40	3–8	Pontiac Silverdome	73,896
13	December 2	Los Angeles Raiders	L 20–23	3–9	Mile High Stadium	74,162
14	December 9	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 20–31	3–10	Arrowhead Stadium	74,347
15	December 16	San Diego Chargers	W 20–10	4–10	Mile High Stadium	64,919
16	December 23	at Seattle Seahawks	L 12–17	4–11	Kingdome	55,845
17	December 30	Green Bay Packers	W 22–13	5–11	Mile High Stadium	46,943
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 2 vs Chiefs

Week Two: Kansas City Chiefs (1–0) at Denver Broncos (0–1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Chiefs	3	6	0	14	23
Broncos	7	7	7	3	24

at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado

• Date: September 17
• Game time: 7:00 p.m. MST
• Game weather: 62 °F (17 °C)
• Game attendance: 75,277
• Referee: Jim Tunney
• TV: ABC
• Box Score, Box Score

Game information

First quarter KC – Nick Lowery 39-yard field goal, 3:18. Chiefs 3–0. Drive: DEN – Bobby Humphrey 37-yard run (David Treadwell kick), 0:48. Broncos 7–3. Drive: Second quarter KC – Nick Lowery 29-yard field goal, 11:33. Broncos 7–6. Drive: DEN – Bobby Humphrey 6-yard run (David Treadwell kick), 7:07. Broncos 14–6. Drive: KC – Nick Lowery 31-yard field goal, 0:04. Broncos 14–9. Drive: Third quarter DEN – John Elway 2-yard run (David Treadwell kick), 6:49. Broncos 21–9. Drive: Fourth quarter KC – Stephone Paige 16-yard pass from Steve DeBerg (Nick Lowery kick), 8:01. Broncos 21–16. Drive: KC – Stephone Paige 83-yard pass from Steve DeBerg (Nick Lowery kick), 1:44. Chiefs 23–21. Drive: DEN – David Treadwell 22-yard field goal, 0:00. Broncos 24–23. Drive: Top passers KC – Steve DeBerg – 26/45, 395 yards, 2 TD DEN – John Elway – 14/30, 263 yards Top rushers KC – Christian Okoye – 20 rushes, 69 yards DEN – Bobby Humphrey – 19 rushes, 132 yards, 2 TD Top receivers KC – Stephone Paige – 10 receptions, 206 yards, 2 TD DEN – Vance Johnson – 6 receptions, 150 yards

• Steve Atwater hit on Christian Okoye

Week 12 at Lions

See also: 1990 Detroit Lions

Week Twelve: Denver Broncos (3–7) at Detroit Lions (3–7)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Broncos	7	10	3	7	27
Lions	21	6	7	6	40

at Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan

• Date: November 22
• Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Indoors (dome)
• Game attendance: 73,896
• Referee: Dick Hantak
• TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Bill Walsh
• Box Score

Game information

First quarter DET – Richard Johnson 11-yard pass from Bob Gagliano (Eddie Murray kick), 10:11. Lions 7–0. Drive: DEN – Melvin Bratton 1-yard run (David Treadwell kick), 6:45. Tie 7–7. Drive: DET – Barry Sanders 7-yard run (Eddie Murray kick), 4:32. Lions 14–7. Drive: DET – Richard Johnson 43-yard pass from Bob Gagliano (Eddie Murray kick), 0:50. Lions 21–7. Drive: Second quarter DET – Eddie Murray 24-yard field goal, 1:32. Lions 24–7. Drive: DEN – David Treadwell 24-yard field goal, 8:40. Lions 24–10. Drive: DEN – Wymon Henderson 48-yard interception return (David Treadwell kick), 7:40. Lions 24–17. DET – Eddie Murray 32-yard field goal, 1:55. Lions 27–17. Drive: Third quarter DEN – David Treadwell 32-yard field goal, 9:32. Lions 27–20. Drive: DET – Barry Sanders 35-yard pass from Bob Gagliano (Eddie Murray kick), 6:32. Lions 34–20. Drive: Fourth quarter DEN – Melvin Bratton 1-yard run (David Treadwell kick), 14:14. Lions 34–27. Drive: DET – Eddie Murray 43-yard field goal, 3:43. Lions 37–27. Drive: DET – Eddie Murray 45-yard field goal, 2:51. Lions 40–27. Drive: Top passers DEN – John Elway – 24/36, 246 yards, INT DET – Bob Gagliano – 18/30, 248 yards, 3 TD, INT Top rushers DEN – Bobby Humphrey – 16 rushes, 53 yards DET – Barry Sanders – 23 rushes, 147 yards, TD Top receivers DEN – Ricky Nattiel – 3 receptions, 50 yards DET – Richard Johnson – 5 receptions, 83 yards, 2 TD

Week 14 at Chiefs

Week Fourteen: Denver Broncos (3–9) at Kansas City Chiefs (8–4)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Broncos	0	13	0	7	20
Chiefs	7	3	7	14	31

at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

• Date: December 9
• Game time: 4:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 44 °F (7 °C)
• Game attendance: 74,347
• Referee: Gordon McCarter
• Box Score, Box Score

Game information

First quarter KC – Stephone Paige 48-yard pass from Steve DeBerg (Nick Lowery kick), 11:54. Chiefs 7–0. Drive: Second quarter DEN – Shannon Sharpe 5-yard pass from John Elway (kick failed), 7:46. Chiefs 7–6. Drive: DEN – Mike Young 16-yard pass from John Elway (David Treadwell kick), 1:28. Broncos 13–7. Drive: KC – Nick Lowery 33-yard field goal, 0:03. Broncos 13–10. Drive: Third quarter KC – Barry Word 1-yard run (Nick Lowery kick), 6:32. Chiefs 17–13. Drive: Fourth quarter KC – Danta Whitaker 1-yard pass from Steve DeBerg (Nick Lowery kick), 14:37. Chiefs 24–13. Drive: DEN – Bobby Humphrey 2-yard run (David Treadwell kick), 9:51. Chiefs 24–20. Drive: KC – Robb Thomas 27-yard pass from Steve DeBerg (Nick Lowery kick), 2:28. Chiefs 31–20. Drive: Top passers DEN – John Elway – 24/36, 328 yards, 2 TD, INT KC – Steve DeBerg – 18/27, 254 yards, 3 TD Top rushers DEN – Bobby Humphrey – 21 rushes, 56 yards, TD KC – Barry Word – 16 rushes, 72 yards, TD Top receivers DEN – Mark Jackson – 5 receptions, 90 yards KC – Stephone Paige – 3 receptions, 75 yards, TD

Standings

AFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
(2) Los Angeles Raiders	12	4	0	.750	6–2	9–3	337	268	W5
(5) Kansas City Chiefs	11	5	0	.688	5–3	7–5	369	257	W2
Seattle Seahawks	9	7	0	.563	4–4	7–5	306	286	W2
San Diego Chargers	6	10	0	.375	2–6	5–9	315	281	L3
Denver Broncos	5	11	0	.313	3–5	4–8	331	374	W1

External links

• Denver Broncos – 1990 media guide
• 1990 Denver Broncos at Pro-Football-Reference.com