| Team: | Denver Broncos |
| Year: | 1985 |
| Record: | 11–5 |
| Division Place: | 2nd AFC West |
| Coach: | Dan Reeves |
| General Manager: | John Beake |
| Owner: | Pat Bowlen |
| Stadium: | Mile High Stadium |
| Playoffs: | Did not qualify |
| Shortnavlink: | Broncos seasons |
The Denver Broncos season was the team's 26th year in professional football and its 16th with the National Football League (NFL). Despite finishing with eleven wins and five losses, the Broncos failed to make the playoffs. The Broncos were coming off a loss to the Steelers in the divisional round, and were picked by many to make the Super Bowl at the end of the 1985 season. The Broncos started out well, as they started 6–2 and 8–3. However, two losses in overtime to arch rival Los Angeles resulted in the Broncos needing to win their final two games of the season to try to sneak into the playoffs. They did just that, beating Kansas City 14–13 and Seattle 27–24. However, even though the Broncos finished 11–5, they failed to reach the playoffs by virtue of a tiebreaker with the New England Patriots. The tiebreaker was based on the teams' common opponents record; and the Patriots beat the Broncos in that category by finishing 4–2 against the Raiders, Seahawks, Dolphins, and Colts, while the Broncos finished just 3–3 against the same four teams. The 1985 Broncos are one of two teams in NFL history since the 1970 merger to end the season with eleven or more wins and not qualify for the playoffs - the other is the 2008 Patriots.[1]
See main article: article and 1985 NFL draft.
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 8 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 16–20 | Anaheim Stadium | 0–1 | 52,522 | ||
| 2 | September 15 | New Orleans Saints | W 34–23 | Mile High Stadium | 1–1 | 74,488 | ||
| 3 | September 22 | at Atlanta Falcons | W 44–28 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 2–1 | 37,903 | ||
| 4 | September 29 | Miami Dolphins | L 26–30 | Mile High Stadium | 2–2 | 73,614 | ||
| 5 | October 6 | Houston Oilers | W 31–20 | Mile High Stadium | 3–2 | 74,699 | ||
| 6 | October 13 | at Indianapolis Colts | W 15–10 | Hoosier Dome | 4–2 | 60,128 | ||
| 7 | October 20 | Seattle Seahawks | W 13–10 | Mile High Stadium | 5–2 | 74,899 | ||
| 8 | October 27 | at Kansas City Chiefs | W 30–10 | Arrowhead Stadium | 6–2 | 68,246 | ||
| 9 | November 3 | at San Diego Chargers | L 10–30 | Jack Murphy Stadium | 6–3 | 57,312 | ||
| 10 | November 11 | San Francisco 49ers | W 17–16 | Mile High Stadium | 7–3 | 73,173 | ||
| 11 | November 17 | San Diego Chargers | W 30–24 | Mile High Stadium | 8–3 | 74,376 | ||
| 12 | November 24 | at Los Angeles Raiders | L 28–31 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 8–4 | 63,181 | ||
| 13 | December 1 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 31–23 | Three Rivers Stadium | 9–4 | 56,797 | ||
| 14 | December 8 | Los Angeles Raiders | L 14–17 | Mile High Stadium | 9–5 | 75,042 | ||
| 15 | December 14 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 14–13 | Mile High Stadium | 10–5 | 69,209 | ||
| 16 | December 20 | at Seattle Seahawks | W 27–24 | Kingdome | 11–5 | 56,283 | ||
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. | ||||||||