That didn't last long.

The 1977 offense couldn't compare to the juggernaut offenses Elway led in the 80's and 90's but they were pretty fair.  And it started with Craig Morton. The guy didn't have wheels, he had squares, but lordy, lordy could he toss the pill.  And I swear the guy never broke a sweat no matter what kind of chaos was errupting around him.  He took some fearsome hits but always picked himself up.  Colorado has always had a soft spot in its heart for tough guys like that. I think it was that season he had a bruise that went from his hip to his knee but he would still hobble out on the field and toss a perfect strike to Haven Moses, quick and always finding a open spot.  And that guy was tough too.  I can't remeber if it was that particular season or not but I remember one time he got hit in the face so hard his face mask broke and cut his lip.  i think he even lost a couple of teeth.  But they sewed him up,  got him another face mask and he finished the game.  Another Morton favorite was Riley Odoms, the big tough tight end who would foreshadow Shannon Sharpe.  The stats might not show it but both those guys were clutch and always came up with the big catch at just the right time.

Again the stats don't really reflect it but those backs weren't half bad either.  Armstrong had a little touch of Floyd Little in him and Keyworth and Perrin were bruising inside runners. Perrin was the better of the two but Keyworth had a little special something that seemed to pick the team up. The line didn't contain many names most fans remember now but they were the begining of that Bronco offensive line tradition.

Joe Collier was the much under rated defensive mastermind that put together the 3-4 scheme when almost everybody else in pro football set up in the 4-3. He is really the one who created the "Orange Crush".  Unable to land enough of those huge, good defensive tackles, sound familiar, he did have plenty of quick, talented linebackers so I think he went with the talent he had. Swenson was about as tough as they come and with Jackson the Broncos had a pair of God Awful fast and smart outside linebackers. Joe Rizzo was a solid inside backer, and a perfect compliment to the monster of all line backers, Randy Gradishar. I'd still take him over any other line backer who ever played the game, ever.

The defensive line often gets overlooked. Rubin Carter wasn't all that tall but trying to block him was like trying to block a fire hydrant. He would tie up two and sometimes three interior linemen at a time.  Chavous was a good man to have at one end and Alzado was just plain nasty at the other.  

And then there were the defensive backs.  Louis Wright was the first of the new generation of great corners and Foley was solid on the other side.  [I was fortunate, or unfortunate enough, to go to that Monday night game (in another season) in Denver that was played in a blizzard. I've never been so cold in my live but I got to see an historic game against the Packers where Foley scooped up two balls and returned them for the TD's that turned out to be the deciding points in the game.] Bernard Jackson was a good safety but Billy Thompson was a perennial all pro who never got any where near the credit he deserved.

This defense was not over powering like the contemporary "Doomsday Defense" of Dallas or the so called "Steel Curtain" of Pittsburg. But I'm not just being a fan when I say they were every bit as good. They might not have gotten the respect they deserved because the defense was so different than the others I mentioned. They would stuff the middle and string out runners going wide where the LB's and DB's could slice through the traffic and stop running backs for little or no gain and often for a loss. Opponents did sometimes get the short passing game going but the defense would continue to hold them to short gains until the other team made a mistake.  And it seemed like the offense always make a mistake. Often times, they just couldn't make the 1st downs and were forced to punt, but very often the defense would create a turn over. Often times those turn overs were deep in Bronco territory and stopped potential game winning drives. They were called lucky but it just kept happening, time after time. The Bronos got the reputation for being lucky but I think they, and Collier were just way ahead of their time.

Jim Turner, "Old High Tops", was the placekicker for that team.  He brought a certain amount of swagger with him from those very successful Jets teams.  And even then, you could tell the Broncos caught lightning in a bottle when they picked Rick Upchurch.

In many ways, the Broncos owed a great deal of their success that year to former head coach John Ralston. Ralston had a wicked good eye for talent and picked almost all those players on that team. And he also recognized Collier's talent and had the good sense to get out of his way.  Ralston's problem was that he wasn't the most successful game day coach.  In the year or two before that 1977 season, everyone could see the Broncos had the talent to win games, they just didn't seem to be able to get over the hump.  Frustration was building in the Bronco players and fans.  Ralston was let go and "Red" Miller took over. The burden shifted to the players.  I think the general mood was, "O.K., we got you a new coach. Now you better do something." And they did.

It was a season of magic. Every game that defense had a legitamate chance of shutting out the other team. In 3 games they held the opposition to 14 points, including an at-the-time meaningless 14-6 loss to the Cowboys at the end of the season. They held 3 teams to only 13; 1 team to 9 points; 4 teams to 7 points; 1 team to 6 points and 1 team to no points. In their only "bad game" of the season, they allowed the raiders, at that time a real threat to go to the Super Bowl, 24 points.  

It really was a special time.  The Broncos had never been winners.  Denver, no Colorado, had never had a real winner.  And here we were, a cow town with a defense that could crush the best offenses in the game and an offense that could get the job done. And then, in the first play off game, we beat the powerhouse Steelers 34-21; a game nobody gave us a prayer of winning. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe it was the first play off win ever. And then, miracle of miracles we beat the vaunted raiders at home.  And everyone in the region went wild. The next two weeks were one big celebration. We were going to the big one. Strangers were stopping and talking and always about the Broncos. Every day was a good day to dance in the streets and buy some one a drink. John Keyworth even had a local hit on his hands when he recorded that quirky little song, "Make Those Miracles Happen".

Those were good days, giddy days. Yes, it could have ended better. We did lose the Super Bowl.  But we had turned the corner. Everybody knew it.  We weren't just a hick cowtown anymore. We were Denver, we were proud and we would have to be reconned with from that day forward.

I hope I did them justice, caught some of the magic that settled on us that year and hasn't left since.

This is a terrific series!