1996 Denver Broncos season

1996 Denver Broncos season
Head coach	Mike Shanahan
General manager	John Beake
Owner	Pat Bowlen
Home field	Mile High Stadium
Results
Record	13–3
Division place	1st AFC West
Playoff finish	Lost Divisional Playoff (Jaguars 30-27)

Denver vs. Tampa Bay at Mile High Stadium, September 15, 1996

The 1996 Denver Broncos season was the team's 37th year in professional football and its 27th with the National Football League. The Broncos finished the season with 13 wins and 3 losses, winning the AFC West and earning the top seed in the AFC Playoffs. They were defeated, however, by a score of 30–27 by the 9–7 Jacksonville Jaguars in the Divisional round. John Elway says that the Jaguars loss was probably the most embarrassing loss of his career up to that point, because they were the top seeded team in the NFL and were favored to win the Super Bowl by many.

Offseason

NFL Draft

1996 Denver Broncos draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	15	John Mobley	Linebacker	Kutztown
2	44	Tory James *	Defensive back	LSU
3	65	Detron Smith	Running back	Texas A&M
3	78	Mark Campbell	Defensive tackle	Florida
4	100	Jeff Lewis	Quarterback	Northern Arizona
4	122	Darrius Johnson	Defensive back	Oklahoma
5	159	Patrick Jeffers	Wide receiver	Virginia
6	181	Tony Veland	Defensive back	Nebraska
7	213	Leslie Ratliffe	Offensive tackle	Tennessee
7	226	Chris Banks	Guard	Kansas
7	235	L. T. Levine	Running back	Kansas
7	236	Brian Gragert	Punter	Wyoming
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

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Personnel

Staff

1996 Denver Broncos staff
	Front office President and Chief Executive Officer – Pat Bowlen General Manager – John Beake Director of Player Personnel – Neal Dahlen Director of Pro Scouting – Jack Elway Director of College Scouting – Ted Sundquist College Scouting Consultant – Jerry Frei Administrative Assistant/Pro Personnel – Harold Richardson Administrative Assistant/Defense – J. D. Brookhart College Scout – Dave Gettleman Head coaches Head Coach – Mike Shanahan Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line – Alex Gibbs Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks – Gary Kubiak Running Backs – Bobby Turner Wide Receivers – Mike Heimerdinger Tight Ends – Brian Pariani Assistant Offensive Line – Barney Chavous Offensive Assistant – Rick Dennison			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Greg Robinson Defensive Line – George Dyer Linebackers – Frank Bush Defensive Backs – Ed Donatell Defensive Assistant – Rick Smith Special teams coaches Special Teams – Richard Smith Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Rich Tuten Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Barney Chavous Administrative Assistant/Strength and Conditioning – Greg Saporta

Roster

1996 Denver Broncos roster
	Quarterbacks  7 John Elway  8 Jeff Lewis 14 Bill Musgrave Running backs 29 Aaron Craver FB 30 Terrell Davis 22 Vaughn Hebron 38 Reggie Rivers 42 Detron Smith FB Wide receivers 82 Patrick Jeffers 81 Todd Kinchen 87 Ed McCaffrey 83 Anthony Miller 88 Mike Sherrard 80 Rod Smith		Tight ends 89 Dwayne Carswell 86 Byron Chamberlain 84 Shannon Sharpe Offensive linemen 70 Jamie Brown T 63 David Diaz-Infante G 75 Brian Habib G 68 Reggie McElroy T 66 Tom Nalen C 69 Mark Schlereth G 64 Ralph Tamm G/C 76 Broderick Thompson T 65 Gary Zimmerman T		Defensive linemen 79 Jumpy Geathers DT 96 Harald Hasselbach DE 72 Ernest Jones DE 97 Mike Lodish DT 95 Michael Dean Perry DT 94 Jeff Robinson DT 98 Maa Tanuvasa DT 91 Alfred Williams DE 90 Dan Williams DE Linebackers 57 Allen Aldridge MLB 56 Keith Burns MLB 59 Glenn Cadrez OLB 54 Britt Hager OLB 51 John Mobley OLB 53 Bill Romanowski OLB		Defensive backs 27 Steve Atwater FS 34 Tyrone Braxton SS 39 Ray Crockett CB 37 Tim Hauck FS 21 Randy Hilliard CB 20 Tory James CB 25 Darrius Johnson CB 31 Rondell Jones SS 48 Lionel Washington CB Special teams  1 Jason Elam K 16 Tom Rouen P Rookies in italics

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Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	TV Time	Attendance
1	September 1, 1996	New York Jets	W 31–6	NBC 2:05pm	70,595
2	September 8, 1996	at Seattle Seahawks	W 30–20	NBC 2:15pm	43,671
3	September 15, 1996	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 27–23	TNT 6:15pm	71,535
4	September 22, 1996	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 17–14	NBC 11:00am	79,439
5	September 29, 1996	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 14–10	NBC 11:00am	51,798
6	October 6, 1996	San Diego Chargers	W 28–17	NBC 2:05pm	75,058
7	Bye
8	October 20, 1996	Baltimore Ravens	W 45–34	NBC 2:05pm	70,453
9	October 27, 1996	Kansas City Chiefs	W 34–7	NBC 2:05pm	75,652
10	November 4, 1996	at Oakland Raiders	W 22–21	ABC 7:00pm	61,179
11	November 10, 1996	Chicago Bears	W 17–12	FOX 2:05pm	75,555
12	November 17, 1996	at New England Patriots	W 34–8	NBC 11:00am	59,457
13	November 24, 1996	at Minnesota Vikings	W 21–17	NBC 11:00am	59,142
14	December 1, 1996	Seattle Seahawks	W 34–7	NBC 2:05pm	74,982
15	December 8, 1996	at Green Bay Packers	L 41–6	NBC 11:00am	60,712
16	December 15, 1996	Oakland Raiders	W 24–19	NBC 2:05pm	75,466
17	December 22, 1996	at San Diego Chargers	L 16–10	ESPN 6:15pm	46,801

Standings

AFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
^(1) Denver Broncos	13	3	0	.813	391	275	L1
Kansas City Chiefs	9	7	0	.563	297	300	L3
San Diego Chargers	8	8	0	.500	310	376	W1
Seattle Seahawks	7	9	0	.438	317	376	W1
Oakland Raiders	7	9	0	.438	340	293	L2

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Division	January 4, 1997	Jacksonville Jaguars	L 30–27	75,678

AFC Divisional Game vs Jacksonville Jaguars

AFC Divisional Game: Jacksonville Jaguars at Denver Broncos – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jaguars	0	13	7	10	30
Broncos	12	0	0	15	27

at Mile High Stadium, Denver, CO

• Date: January 4, 1997
• Game time: 2:00 p.m. (Mountain Time)

Awards and records

Pro Bowl

QB John Elway

RB Terrell Davis

TE Shannon Sharpe

T Gary Zimmerman

DE Alfred Williams

DT Michael Perry

LB Bill Romanowski

S Steve Atwater

S Tyrone Braxton

AP Offensive Player of the Year – Terrell Davis

UPI AFL-AFC Offensive MVP – Terrell Davis (1996 was the last year this award was given out)

Terrell Davis sets Franchise rushing record For Carries (345) in a season and touchdown's rushing (13) in a season

Milestones

Terrell Davis reaches 1,000yds faster than any Denver Bronco running back in Franchise history

References

1. "1996 Denver Broncos Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
2. "1996 Denver Broncos starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 20, 2014.

External links

• Broncos on Pro Football Reference
• Broncos Schedule on jt-sw.com