I've always enjoyed watching the NFC and AFC Championships. It's been my favourite day of the NFL year since I was a kid. The most exciting games were always in the conference championships. Back in those days, the Super Bowls were pretty one-sided. From 1985 (the year I started watching the NFL) up until 2000, there were a total of sixteen Super Bowls. Only four of them were decided by a touchdown or less. So, as I mentioned, the Conference Championship games were always more exciting. Here then are my memories of a handful of those games.
1986 AFC Championship: January 11, 1987
Denver Broncos at
Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Municipal
Stadium, Cleveland, OH
Weather: 30 F (-2 C),
windy and overcast
The
Cleveland Browns were looking to make their first trip to the Super Bowl and
looking for their first championship. They had been close several times earlier
in the decade, having lost the Division Playoff to the Oakland Raiders in 1980
on a last-minute end zone interception. In 1985, although finishing at 8-8, had
won the AFC Central but had lost in the Divisional Round to the Miami Dolphins.
In 1986, they finished at 12-4 and had the number one seed in the AFC playoffs.
Their offense was led by quarter back, Bernie Kosar, and running backs, Kevin
Mack and Ernest Byner. On defense, linebacker Clay Matthews and cornerback
Hanford Dixon led the way.
The previous weekend, the Browns
had trailed the New York Jets by ten points in the fourth quarter but had rallied
to tie the game and win it in double overtime by a score of 23-20.
The Denver Broncos had won the
AFC West with an 11-5 record and had defeated the New England Patriots 22-17 in
their first play off game. They were led by quarterback, John Elway, who had
thrown for 3485 yards and 19 touchdowns in only his fourth year of what would
eventually become a Hall-of-Fame career.
The Browns hit the scoreboard
first when, in the first quarter, Kosar led the team on an 86-yard drive that
ended with the Cleveland quarterback throwing a six-yard touchdown pass to
running back, Herman Fontenot. But then the Browns turned the ball over on
three consecutive possessions. On the last play of the first period, Kosar was
intercepted but the Broncos couldn’t convert and had to punt.
Cleveland’s next turnover was
another Kosar interception that was returned to the Browns’ nine-yard line.
Again, Denver’s offense couldn’t move the ball and had to settle for a Rich
Karlis field goal to make the score 7-3. After the kick-off, Mack fumbled the
ball away. Elway ran for a 34-yard gain to set up a first-and-goal. A few plays
later, facing fourth down, Denver gambled and scored on a one-yard TD, on a sweep
play to Gerald Willhite and the Broncos had the lead at 10-7.
In the final minute of the half,
Cleveland moved the ball into field goal range, where kicker, Matt Mosely,
connected on a 29-yard score and the teams were tied at ten as they went to the
locker room.
The only score of the third
quarter was a Karlis field goal from 26 yards away, but the Browns tied the
score early in the fourth. The Browns got the ball back and started their march
towards the game-winning score. With just under six minutes left in the game,
Kosar hit Cleveland receiver, Brian Brennan, with a 48-yard pass that he took
into the end zone to give the Browns a 20-13 lead. The ensuing kickoff was
mishandled by Broncos’ returner, Ken Bell, and the Broncos had to start their
drive with the ball at their own two-yard line.
Deep breath, here we go.
After seven plays, the Broncos
were able to pick up four first downs and had moved the ball to the Cleveland
forty as the two-minute warning rolled around. After the break, on second down, Elway was sacked
for an eight-yard loss, but on third-and-18, Elway completed a 20-yard pass to
receiver, Mark Jackson. A 14-yard pass to Steve Sewell moved the ball to the
Cleveland 14. A nine-yard scramble by Elway moved it to the five. And
incompletion brought up third-and-one.
Elway took the snap and dropped
back to pass. He spotted Jackson on a slant and threw a rocket that the
receiver cradled into his chest as he was falling to the ground. He held on to
the ball and scored the touchdown. After the extra point the game was tied at
20. In football lore, the final five-and-half minutes of the fourth quarter is
now referred to as “The Drive”.
In overtime, Cleveland had
possession of the ball first, but it was clear they were already deflated. They
had to punt and Elway and the Broncos took over. Sixty yards later, Karlis
lined up to kick a 33-yard field goal and the bare-footed kicker booted it
through the uprights to give the Broncos the AFC Championship with a 23-20
victory. As a side note on the winning kick, the wind had been blowing through
Cleveland Stadium all day. As Karlis’s kick seemed to drift to the left, the
wind (which was blowing from right to left) died and the ball barely made it
just inside the left post.
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