Power of Caring
  presented by CIGNA

The king of the comeback

John Elway built a career on fourth-quarter flourishes that leave the opposition not only defeated but dejected

Magnificent Seven A Countdown of Elway's Greatest Comeback Drives - 7 - JANUARY 7, 1990 AFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF, MILE HIGH STADIUM DENVER 24, PITTSBURGH 23 Running back Melvin Bratton rumbles in from the one with 2:27 left for the game-winning score after Elway completes two of three passes for 54 yards on a 71-yard, nine-play drive that is highlighted by a 36-yard flea-flicker to wideout Vance Johnson. The victory puts the Broncos into the AFC Championship Game for the third time in four years. - 6 - SEPTEMBER 17, 1990 MILE HIGH STADIUM DENVER 24, KANSAS CITY 23 With a nation watching on Monday night, the Chiefs score late to take a 23-21 lead and pin the Broncos back at their own 17-yard line with just 1:44 left. Elway enters the drive with 10 straight incompletions, but on fourth-and-10 from the 17, he hits Johnson on a 49-yard bomb, setting up a 22-yard field goal by David Treadwell with no time left on the clock. - 5 - DECEMBER 24, 1995 OAKLAND COLISEUM, OAKLAND DENVER 31, OAKLAND 28 Denver trails 28-17 early in the fourth when Elway decides it's time to just win, baby. The Broncos roll up 219 total yards in three fourth-quarter scoring drives, including a two-point conversion run to tie the game at 28-28 with 5:46 to go. On Denver's last possession, the Broncos gain 53 yards on nine plays to set up Jason Elam's 37-yard game-winning field goal with 48 seconds left. - 4 - JANUARY 25, 1998 SUPER BOWL XXXII, QUALCOMM STADIUM, SAN DIEGO DENVER 31, GREEN BAY 24 Late in the fourth quarter with the score 24-24, Elway and the Broncos take possession at the Green Bay 49-yard line. A 23-yard swing pass to Howard Griffith puts the Broncos inside the 10 with less than two minutes remaining. Two plays later, Terrell Davis's one-yard touchdown run caps the drive, and the Broncos hold on to win their first Super Bowl title. - 3 - JANUARY 4, 1992 AFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF, MILE HIGH STADIUM DENVER 26 HOUSTON 24 The Drive II. Recalls Elway, "I remember running onto the field and thinking, Well, we're going to see if the first one was a fluke or not." Down 24-23 with 2:07 to go and no timeouts left, Denver starts 98 yards from pay dirt. Sound familiar? Elway converts two fourth downs during an 87-yard, 12-play drive, including a 44-yard pass to Johnson. With 20 seconds left, Treadwell kicks a 28-yard field goal for the win. - 2 - OCTOBER 4, 1992 MILE HIGH STADIUM DENVER 20, KANSAS CITY 19 The division-rival Chiefs hold a 19-6 lead with less than five minutes remaining and have the Broncos buried at their own 20. Elway first cuts the lead to 19-13 with 1:55 to go on a 14-play, 80-yard drive. After Denver holds and returns a punt to the 27-yard line, Elway floats one to Johnson in the corner of the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown with 38 seconds left. - 1 - JANUARY 11, 1987 AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, CLEVELAND STADIUM DENVER 23, CLEVELAND 20 The apotheosis of Elway comebacks. "It was my coming-out party," says Elway of the drive ever after called "the Drive." With Denver trailing 20-13 and backed up to its own two, Elway paints a 98-yard, 15-play masterpiece. His five-yard touchdown pass to Mark Jackson with 39 seconds remaining sends the game into overtime, in which kicker Rich Karlis boots the Broncos into their first Super Bowl in nearly a decade.

Issue date: February 10, 1999 Special Collector's Edition: 1998 Denver Broncos

By Mark Bechtel

In the basement of a nondescript church in a nondescript town, several men sit on folding chairs arranged in a circle. From the empathetic looks and consoling gestures they exchange, it is clear they are commiserating about something. All eyes turn as a tall, bespectacled man enters the room and steels himself before speaking. "My name is Bruce, and I am a John Elway victim."

In unison, the men reply, "Hi, Bruce."

One man rises from his chair and approaches the newcomer. He is wearing a name tag that reads ERNIE A. "Hello there, Bruce," he says, extending a hand. "Welcome to El-Anon, the John Elway Victims Support Group. I'd like to tell you my story...."

In 1983, Baltimore Colts general manager Ernie Accorsi was the first to fall prey to Elway. The team owned the first pick in that year's draft and chose Elway, a two-sport star from Stanford, even though he had made clear his intention not to play for the hapless Colts. Years later Accorsi would explain why he drafted Elway nonetheless: "I wasn't going to be the guy who drafted Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan."

Before the season began, Accorsi's boss, Colts owner Robert Irsay, traded the holdout to Denver without telling Accorsi. His authority undermined, Accorsi knew it was time to leave the team he had rooted for since childhood. Before he left, though, it appeared that Accorsi would have a chance to exact a measure of revenge on Elway. The Colts and the Broncos met in Denver in the season's 15th week. For 45 minutes Baltimore showed Elway it was doing just fine without him. The Colts took a 19-0 lead into the fourth quarter, but Elway threw three touchdown passes in the final frame, including a 26-yarder to Gerald Willhite with 44 seconds left, to bag Denver a 21-19 win. It was the first of Elway's 47 career fourth-quarter game-saving drives and put Denver into the playoffs for the first time in four years. It was brilliant, it was dramatic and, if you're Accorsi, it was cruel.

It happened to Accorsi again, four years later, only this time there was a lot more at stake than spite. Accorsi had become G.M. of the Cleveland Browns in 1985, and on Jan. 11, 1987, his team hosted the Broncos in the AFC Championship Game. If ever a team had destiny on its side, it was the Browns. A week earlier, quarterback Bernie Kosar had led them on a miraculous comeback from a 20-10 deficit in the final two minutes against the New York Jets. Then, midway through the fourth quarter against Denver, Kosar hit Brian Brennan for a 48-yard touchdown to break a 13-13 tie and send the entire city into a frenzy.

Things got worse for Denver on the ensuing kickoff when Ken Bell and Gene Lang muffed the kick, leaving the Broncos on their own two-yard line with 5:32 left. Elway, almost nonchalantly, moved the ball against a Browns prevent defense that was doing a fair job blanketing his receivers. But against Elway, that's not always enough. "You get him in the pocket and cover his receivers, and all of a sudden he's out of the pocket running to daylight," said Denver wideout Steve Watson.

In 14 plays, Elway took Denver to the Cleveland five. Then, on third-and-one, rookie wideout Mark Jackson juked cornerback Mark Harper, and Elway drilled a bullet between the 8 and the 0 on Jackson's jersey. The extra point tied the game, and Rich Karlis's 33-yard field goal on the Broncos' first overtime drive sent them to the Super Bowl.

"It was kind of ironic, because last week the Jets did a great job on Kosar until the very end, and that's what we did with Elway today," said Browns coach Marty Schottenheimer.

It happened to Accorsi and Schottenheimer again in the AFC title game a year later. This time Elway's heroics--a 75-yard drive to break a 31-31 tie with 4:01 left--weren't as dramatic, but the result was just as painful for the Browns, their fans, their G.M. and their coach.

Ernie finishes, and a third man stands to speak. He is wearing a name tag that reads MARTY S. He extends a hand to Bruce, who shakes it gently and says, "Man, that must have been awful."

"Well," says Marty, "there's more to it than that...."

It happened to Schottenheimer again. Actually, it happened to him seven more times after he left the Browns to become head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs in 1989, but that's what playing Elway twice a year will get you. Perhaps Schottenheimer's worst moment came on Oct. 4, 1992, at Mile High Stadium.

Denver's offense hadn't scored a touchdown in 12 quarters and trailed the Chiefs 19-6. What's more, Kansas City had spent most of the day knocking Elway to the ground. But he kept popping up and finally got Denver into the end zone on a 25-yard pass to Jackson with 1:55 left. After the Broncos held on defense and returned a punt to the Chiefs' 27, Elway conjured a three-play drive that ended with a 12-yard pass to Vance Johnson with 38 seconds left. Final score: 20-19. "No matter how hard you hit him, he just gets back up and wants more," said defensive end Neil Smith. "Elway is the best two-minute quarterback I've ever played against." Smith's linemate Bill Maas was slightly less anxious to talk about Elway after the game. In a barely audible voice he said, "This is about the sickest feeling I've ever had."

As Marty finishes speaking, a man wearing a name tag that reads WARREN M. rises and tells Bruce, "He does it to players, too...."

Warren Moon has never been to a conference championship game. The closest he came was in 1992, when he delivered a 24-23 lead to the Houston Oilers' defense with 2:07 to go in a divisional playoff. A trip to the conference title game seemed in the stars for Moon as Elway took over at the Denver two with no timeouts at his disposal.

Elway, of course, had other ideas. He huddled his teammates in the end zone, then cracked a joke. "The first thing he says is, 'Boy, was that a great punt or what?'" said center Dave Widell. "His eyes got real big," said wideout Michael Young. "I mean, saucers. I'm telling the truth. It was great. You could see the adrenaline going through him."

On the first play, Elway hooked up with Young on a 22-yard pass. It was the last play of the drive to be executed as planned. What followed was an improvisational riff that would have impressed John Coltrane. "You really don't have time to think about what's going on," said Elway. "You just get out on the field and try to make things happen. You're going a hundred miles an hour, so the only thing on your mind is the next play." Three plays after the pass to Young, Elway scrambled for seven yards on a fourth-and-six from his own 28. "It takes a lot of nerve on his part to do that," said Broncos coach Dan Reeves.

Three plays after that scramble, it was again fourth down. Needing 10 yards, Elway dropped back and, avoiding the rush, left the pocket. "I was this close to sacking the dude," said defensive end William Fuller. The defensive back on Johnson crept up to prevent another scramble, and Elway lobbed the ball over his head. Johnson gathered in the pass and raced for 44 yards. "He didn't even look surprised," Young said of Elway. "It was like something he does every day." Three plays later, David Treadwell kicked a 28-yard field goal.

After the game, Reeves said, "When you've got Number 7, anything's possible. I don't think I've ever, in my 26 or so years in the game, seen a team go 90-something yards with no timeouts. I'm numb."

Elway simply said, "It was kind of fun."

It happened to Moon again nine months later, when he turned a 21-20 lead over to his defense with 1:56 left. Elway turned it into a 27-21 defeat, going 80 yards in just three plays and 22 seconds. "It's so redundant," Oilers defensive end Sean Jones said. "If you're playing the best power-play team in hockey, you don't let it have a man advantage at a crucial time. If you know that Michael Jordan's got the best baseline jumper in basketball, you don't let him get the ball on the baseline late in the game. You don't give John Elway the ball with a chance to beat you with two minutes to go."

When Warren M. finishes his tale, Bruce addresses the group. As the men nod knowingly, Bruce tells them why he sought them out. He is Bruce Coslet, coach of the Cincinnati Bengals.

In November, Coslet's woeful Bengals were up five in the fourth quarter, but Elway led Denver to 20 points and a 33-26 win.

"I thought I had a win," Bruce says as he shakes his head. "But before I knew what happened.... I saw on the news later, I was number 46."

"Yep, he can be awfully cruel," Schottenheimer says. "But guess who number 47 was? Yeah, you're looking at him. Barely a month after he got you. It happens to the best of us."