On This Day in Broncos History: October 22

Oct 22, 1973 - Denver played in its first ever Monday Night Football game. The 2-3-0 Broncos were the host team and were facing off against the 3-2-0 divisional rival Oakland Raiders. Denver took an early 7-0 lead when DB Bill Thompson returned a fumble 80 yards for a touchdown. However, the Broncos trailed 13-7 at the half. Denver regained the lead 17-13 in the third quarter on a 1-yard run by Floyd Little and a 43-yard Jim Turner field goal. Even then, the third quarter ended with Oakland leading 20-17. Turner’s second field goal of the game tied the score at 20-20 in the fourth quarter, but the Raiders took a 23-20 lead. Turner kicked his third field goal of the game with 7 seconds left to tie the score at 23-23.

It is interesting to note that at that time the NFL did not have any provisions for overtime, so the game stood as a 23-23 tie. It is also interesting to note that this tie was the beginning of a 5-2-2 run for the Broncos to close out the 1973 season with their first ever winning record at 7-5-2.

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