The Denver Broncos are fortunate to be winners of three Super Bowl championships, but it wasn't always that way, and it did take a long time to finally summit the immortal-making mountain that is winning the yearly title.
The Broncos have more than a handful of successful and joyous moments over their 60-year history as a franchise, but here are a few of the greatest moments.
5. “The Drive”
The 1986 NFL season marked future Hall of Fame quarterback turned Denver executive John Elway's breakout party, where he showed he could win in the postseason. The former Stanford gunslinger, picked first overall in the 1983 draft before wiggling his way to the Broncos, became a first-time Pro Bowl quarterback that year and would later guide the Mile High City franchise to their first conference title in nine years.
In the fourth quarter of the 1987 AFC Championship Game against the Cleveland Browns, the away team Broncos, down 20-13, marched up and down the field 98 yards on 15 plays, capped by a Mark Jackson five-yard touchdown reception, to tie the game in a total of five minutes and two seconds.
The Broncos would win on a field goal in overtime, capturing the conference championship before losing to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXI.
4. Terrell Davis' 2,000-yard rushing season
Hall of Fame running back Terrell Davis had his famous 2,000-yard rushing season (technically 2,008 yards) during the 1998 campaign.
Davis, who would win the NFL MVP that season, was a force to be reckoned with that year, and as he followed up the franchise's first title in 1997-98 with an amazing season and second consecutive Super Bowl victory.
Davis scored 21 touchdowns on the ground that year and averaged over five yards per carry. At one point, Davis rushed for over 1,000 yards in a seven-game span in the first half of the season. Wow.
3. 2014 AFC Championship Game
The 2014 AFC Championship Game was a special moment for the Broncos, both for competitive reasons against the dreaded New England Patriots and for a personal vendetta for star quarterback Peyton Manning.
In his second season under center in Denver, Manning led the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns, tossing 55 scores. Again, Manning led the Broncos to a 13-3 record, but unlike last year, wherein Denver lost in the divisional round of the postseason, the AFC West club won narrowly against Tom Brady and Co., heading to the Super Bowl.
The Broncos staved off a Brady-led Patriots comeback to win by 10 two years removed from losing to New England. Denver ended up losing to the Seahawks in the Super Bowl.
2. Super Bowl 50
Two years later, Manning and the Broncos returned to compete for the Vince Lombardi trophy, upsetting the 15-1 Carolina Panthers, who were powered by that season's league MVP Cam Newton.
This would end up being a farewell for Peyton Manning, who retired shortly after the big game following his injury-shortened regular season with anemic results relative to the 40-year-old's routine performances. The Broncos, though, won the franchise's third title at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California—just a dozen miles away from Elway's old collegiate stomping grounds at Stanford.
1. Super Bowl XXXII
Who could forget the Broncos' first title? It was a long time coming.
The Broncos went 12-4 as Elway and Davis led the offense. Denver had to claw their way through the AFC playoffs, though, starting in the wild card round, including two close calls in the subject rounds against the Kansas City Chiefs and conference title-game mainstay of a franchise in the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In Super Bowl XXXII, the Broncos took down defending champions Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers by a touchdown margin. The game was sealed by an eight-yard rush on third down by Elway for a first down in the fourth quarter, dubbed the “Helicopter,” with Davis scoring two plays later at the goal line for the lead.
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