Milestone No. 6: The Broncos win Super Bowl 50 thanks to an all-time great defense
Apr 4, 2025, 6:50 AM
The Fan is turning 30! For three decades, the station has been covering Denver sports, serving as a media outlet of record for the biggest events over the past 30 years.
There have been a lot of them. From championships to MVPs, from historic seasons to improbable victories, The Fan has been there for all of them.
What were the best of the best? During a six week span, Denver Sports will chronicle the moments that stood out the most. It’s a countdown from No. 30 to No. 1, in a series called “Mile High Milestones.”
Enjoy the trip down memory lane!
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The first three years of the Peyton Manning era in Denver had been epic. Since the future Hall of Fame quarterback’s arrival in the Mile High City, the Broncos had been one of the best team in the AFC. They went 13-3, 13-3 and 12-4, a combined 38-10 record. They were the No. 1 seed in the conference twice. Things couldn’t have gone better.
Until the postseason. Every year.
In 2012, Denver recovered from a 2-3 start, won 11 straight games and were the prohibitive favorite heading into the playoffs. Then, the Rahim Moore game happened. The Ravens won in double overtime, went on to beat the 49ers in Super Bowl and left Broncos fans wondering about what if.
The next season, Denver started the season by getting revenge over Baltimore, with Manning throwing seven touchdown passes in the season opener. It was the start of the greatest offensive season in NFL history, with the Broncos scoring 606 points as a team and The Sheriff throwing 55 touchdowns.
Denver rolled through the postseason, earning a berth in Super Bowl 48. Everyone expected the train to keep rolling, but it got derailed by the Seahawks defense. The Broncos lost 43-8, sending shockwaves through the organization.
After that loss, John Elway wanted to part ways with John Fox. But the general manager kept the head coach around, partly because he couldn’t get the replacement he wanted.
The result was a clunky 2014 season. With Manning at the helm, Denver won a lot of games. But their 12-4 record went for naught, as they lost in the Divisional Round at home to the Colts. In part, that was because the coaching staff was checked out.
Fox was already set to head to Chicago to take over the Bears. Defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio was on his way to Oakland, with the Raiders job in hand. And offensive coordinator Adam Gase was interviewing for jobs, as well, one year removed from taking over the Dolphins.
Getting upset 24-13 by Indianapolis was shocking. But it shouldn’t have been. The Broncos were a splintered team.
That made for a very interesting offseason heading into 2015. The clock was ticking on Manning, as the QB was 39 years old and entering his 18th NFL season. As great as his comeback had been in Denver, the window to end it in grand fashion was quickly closing.
It started with Elway hiring Gary Kubiak to replace Fox. No. 7 always wanted his former backup, as well as his OC during the Broncos back-to-back Super Bowl championships in 1997 and ’98, to be Denver’s head coach. He finally got his wish in January 2015.
Perhaps the biggest addition to the coaching staff came thanks to a fortuitous break. Initially, Elway wanted to hire Vance Joseph as the Broncos defensive coordinator. When the Bengals blocked the move, however, Denver was forced to pivot. They turned in the right direction.
Elway continued the to turn back the clock, hiring Wade Phillips. The long-time NFL coach had been the Broncos DC from 1989-92 and the franchise’s head coach from 1993-94. The Duke of Denver went with someone he played for, knowing that Phillips could scheme up a defense as well as anyone in the business.
It was a stroke of genius. Phillips built one of the greatest defenses in NFL history.
The Broncos went 13-3 during the regular season, thanks in large part to a defense that ranked No. 1 in total yards, passing yards and sacks. With Von Miller and Demarcus Ware proving the pass rush, the “No Fly Zone” was a secondary that nobody wanted to mess with; Aqib Talib, Chris Harris, T.J. Ward, Darian Stewart and Bradley Roby were playmakers on a weekly basis.
They needed to be, as Denver’s offense struggled. Manning was an odd fit for Kubiak’s offense, but he made it work early in the season.
The Broncos started the season 7-0, capped by a win over the Packers in which Denver’s defense smothered Aaron Rodgers. Green Bay’s quarterback threw for just 77 yards, as the orange and blue rolled to a dominant 29-10 win.
Then, things started to come apart a bit. The Broncos 27-24 in Manning’s return to Indy, thanks in part to a late-game eye-gouging incident involving Talib. The next week, Denver’s quarterback suffered through the worst game of his career.
In a 29-13 home loss to the Chiefs, Manning was 5-of-20 for 35 yards. He also threw four touchdowns. In the game in which he set the NFL record for passing yards, PFM posted a 0.0 QB rating.
It was revealed after the game that the quarterback was injured. Suffering for a partially torn plantar fascia. He was headed to the bench, with backup QB Brock Osweiler taking over.
Osweiler righted the ship, leading the Broncos to three straight wins. Overall, he went 4-2 in his first six starts, putting Denver in a position to clinch the No. 1 overall seed in the season finale.
But when things didn’t start well against the Chargers, Kubiak made a bold move. He went back to Manning, calling on the five-time MVP to save the day. He did, as the Broncos rallied to a 27-20 win.
In the playoffs, Denver relied on their defense. In three games, Phillips’ crew forced seven turnovers, recorded 14 sacks and gave up just 44 total points. They knocked off Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady and league MVP Cam Newton in the process.
It all culminated with a dominant victory over the Panthers in Super Bowl 50. The Broncos got an early 3-0 lead, which grew to 10-0 when Miller’s strip-sack of Newton resulted in a fumble recovery for a touchdown by Malik Jackson.
From there, Denver played to their strength, relied on their defense and ultimately triumphed by a 24-10 score. Miller was named the game’s Most Valuable Player and Manning got the perfect sendoff, riding off into retirement as a Super Bowl champion.
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THE COUNTDOWN
30: Ubaldo Jimenez has a magical season
29: Todd Helton get enshrined in Cooperstown
28: Valeri Nichushkin goes missing in the postseason – twice!
27: The Avalanche win their second Stanley Cup
26: The Nuggets come back from two 3-1 deficits in the bubble
25: The seemingly never-ending Broncos ownership saga
24: Hurricane Josh hits the Mile High City
23: The Rockies trade Nolan Arenado to the Cardinals
22: The Nuggets reach the Western Conference Finals in 2009
21: John Elway gets enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame
20: The Avalanche hoist third Stanley Cup in franchise history
19: The Avalanche acquire Patrick Roy from the Canadiens
18: The Broncos produce the greatest offensive season in NFL history
17: John Elway joins the Broncos front office to right the ship
16: The Avalanche win the Stanley Cup in 1996
15: The Broncos nearly decade-long quarterback carousel
14: The Avs-Red Wings rivalry turns into a bloodbath
13: The Broncos win back-to-back titles during historic season
12: The Broncos suffer one of the worst losses in franchise history
11: The Broncos part ways with head coach Mike Shanahan
10: The Nuggets trade away Carmelo Anthony in a blockbuster deal
9: Nikola Jokic finally wins a much-deserved MVP award
8: Coach Prime arrives in Boulder and resuscitates the Buffaloes
7: The Broncos make a blockbuster trade for Russell Wilson
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Wanna hear more about this Mile High Milestone? Tune into “The Rundown” at noon or check out the show on YouTube to hear Richie Carni and a special guest take a walk down memory lane.
