The Denver Broncos are an American football franchise based in Denver, Colorado. Founded by Bob Howsam on August 14, 1959, the team was one of the founder members of the American Football League (AFL), which began in 1960, before merging with the National Football League (NFL) ahead of the 1970 season, when the Broncos became part of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division; they have been in the same division ever since. As of the end of the 2020 season, Denver has completed 61 seasons (playing in over 970 combined regular season and playoff games), and has appeared in eight Super Bowls; although they lost in each of their first four Super Bowl appearances, they have since won three of them, most recently Super Bowl 50.
The franchise has experienced three major periods of success. The first was from to , when the Broncos did not have a losing season (a season when the team has more losses than wins), and won two AFC West division titles, and one AFC championship. The second began in and ended in . During this period, the Broncos had just two losing seasons, were AFC champions five times and were Super Bowl champions for two consecutive years. This second period of success is best remembered for John Elway being the team's quarterback. The most recent run of success began in 2011, lasting until their victory in Super Bowl 50 at the end of the 2015 season. The five-year stretch was primarily spearheaded by the 2012 free agent acquisition of the then four-time League MVP former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, and included five AFC West titles, two AFC championships, as well as the Super Bowl. From their inaugural season in 1960 until , they did not make either the AFL playoffs or NFL playoffs and had just two winning seasons. The Broncos were the only charter AFL franchise to never have a winning season during the AFL's 10 years of existence (although the team finished at 7–7 in 1962), with their first winning season not occurring until 1973, their fourth year as a member of the NFL's AFC. They also experienced their two seasons with the fewest wins ever, winning just two of 14 games in both and .
The Broncos have been AFC West champions 16 times, winning the division for five consecutive seasons from 2011 to 2015, and have also earned wild card berths into the playoffs seven times, for a total of 24 playoff appearances. They have been conference champions eight times (tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and two behind the New England Patriots who have the most AFC championships) and Super Bowl champions thrice.
Seasons + Legend (#) The order of league championship won by the franchise Finish Final position in league, division, or conference Pct The team's winning percentage for the season Super Bowl champions (1970–present) * Conference champions ^ Division champions § Wild Card berth
+ Denver Broncos record by season Season Team League Conference Division Regular season Postseason results Awards Head coach Finish 1960 1960 AFL West 4th 4 9 1 Frank Filchock 1961 1961 AFL West 3rd 3 11 0 1962 1962 AFL West 2nd 7 7 0 Jack Faulkner () Jack Faulkner 1963 1963 AFL West 4th 2 11 1 1964 1964 AFL West 4th 2 11 1 Jack Faulkner Mac Speedie 1965 1965 AFL West 4th 4 10 0 Mac Speedie 1966 1966 AFL West 4th 4 10 0 Mac Speedie Ray Malavasi 1967 1967 AFL West 4th 3 11 0 Lou Saban 1968 1968 AFL West 4th 5 9 0 1969 1969 AFL West 4th 5 8 1 1970 NFL AFC West 4th 5 8 1 1971 NFL AFC West 4th 4 9 1 Lou Saban Jerry Smith 1972 NFL AFC West 3rd 5 9 0 John Ralston 1973 NFL AFC West 3rd 7 5 2 1974 NFL AFC West 2nd 7 6 1 1975 NFL AFC West 2nd 6 8 0 1976 NFL AFC West 2nd 9 5 0 1977 NFL AFC* West^ 1st^ 12 2 0 Won Divisional Playoffs (Steelers) 34–21 Won AFC Championship (Raiders) 20–17Lost Super Bowl XII (vs. Cowboys) 10–27 Red Miller () Red Miller 1978 NFL AFC West^ 1st^ 10 6 0 Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Steelers) 10–33 Randy Gradishar () 1979 NFL AFC West 2nd§ 10 6 0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Oilers) 7–13 1980 NFL AFC West 4th 8 8 0 1981 NFL AFC West 2nd 10 6 0 Dan Reeves 1982 NFL AFC None 12th 2 7 0 1983 NFL AFC West 3rd§ 9 7 0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Seahawks) 7–31 1984 NFL AFC West^ 1st^ 13 3 0 Lost Divisional Playoffs (Steelers) 17–24 1985 NFL AFC West 2nd 11 5 0 1986 NFL AFC* West^ 1st^ 11 5 0 Won Divisional Playoffs (Patriots) 22–17Won AFC Championship (at Browns) 23–20 (OT)Lost Super Bowl XXI (vs. Giants) 20–39 1987 NFL AFC* West^ 1st^ 10 4 1 Won Divisional Playoffs (Oilers) 34–10Won AFC Championship (Browns) 38–33Lost Super Bowl XXII (vs. Redskins) 10–42 John Elway () 1988 NFL AFC West 2nd 8 8 0 1989 NFL AFC* West^ 1st^ 11 5 0 Won Divisional Playoffs (Steelers) 24–23Won AFC Championship (Browns) 37–21Lost Super Bowl XXIV (vs. 49ers) 10–55 1990 NFL AFC West 5th 5 11 0 1991 NFL AFC West^ 1st^ 12 4 0 Won Divisional Playoffs (Oilers) 26–24Lost AFC Championship (at Bills) 7–10 Mike Croel () 1992 NFL AFC West 3rd 8 8 0 1993 NFL AFC West 3rd§ 9 7 0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Raiders) 24–42 Wade Phillips 1994 NFL AFC West 4th 7 9 0 1995 NFL AFC West 3rd 8 8 0 Mike Shanahan 1996 NFL AFC West^ 1st^ 13 3 0 Lost Divisional Playoffs (Jaguars) 27–30 Terrell Davis () 1997 NFL AFC* West 2nd§ 12 4 0 Won Wild Card Playoffs (Jaguars) 42–17Won Divisional Playoffs (at Chiefs) 14–10Won AFC Championship (at Steelers) 24–21Won Super Bowl XXXII (1) (vs. Packers) 31–24 Terrell Davis () 1998 NFL AFC* West^ 1st^ 14 2 0 Won Divisional Playoffs (Dolphins) 38–3Won AFC Championship (Jets) 23–10Won Super Bowl XXXIII (2) (vs. Falcons) 34–19 Terrell Davis (, )John Elway () 1999 NFL AFC West 5th 6 10 0 2000 NFL AFC West 2nd§ 11 5 0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Ravens) 3–21 Mike Anderson () 2001 NFL AFC West 3rd 8 8 0 2002 NFL AFC West 2nd 9 7 0 Clinton Portis () 2003 NFL AFC West 2nd§ 10 6 0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Colts) 10–41 2004 NFL AFC West 2nd§ 10 6 0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Colts) 24–49 2005 NFL AFC West^ 1st^ 13 3 0 Won Divisional Playoffs (Patriots) 27–13Lost AFC Championship (Steelers) 17–34 2006 NFL AFC West 3rd 9 7 0 2007 2007 NFL AFC West 2nd 7 9 0 2008 NFL AFC West 2nd 8 8 0 2009 NFL AFC West 2nd 8 8 0 Josh McDaniels 2010 NFL AFC West 4th 4 12 0 Josh McDaniels Eric Studesville 2011 NFL AFC West^ 1st^ 8 8 0 Won Wild Card Playoffs (Steelers) 29–23 (OT) Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Patriots) 10–45 Von Miller () John Fox 2012 NFL AFC West^ 1st^ 13 3 0 Lost Divisional Playoffs (Ravens) 35–38 (2OT) Peyton Manning () 2013 NFL AFC* West^ 1st^ 13 3 0 Won Divisional Playoffs (Chargers) 24–17Won AFC Championship (Patriots) 26–16Lost Super Bowl XLVIII (vs. Seahawks) 8–43 Peyton Manning (, ) 2014 NFL AFC West^ 1st^ 12 4 0 Lost Divisional Playoffs (Colts) 13–24 2015 NFL AFC* West^ 1st^ 12 4 0 Won Divisional Playoffs (Steelers) 23–16Won AFC Championship (Patriots) 20–18Won Super Bowl 50 (3) (vs. Panthers) 24–10 Von Miller () Gary Kubiak 2016 NFL AFC West 3rd 9 7 0 2017 NFL AFC West 4th 5 11 0 Vance Joseph 2018 NFL AFC West 3rd 6 10 0 2019 NFL AFC West 2nd 7 9 0 Vic Fangio 2020 NFL AFC West 4th 5 11 0 2021 NFL AFC West 4th 7 10 0 2022 NFL AFC West 4th 5 12 0 Nathaniel Hackett Jerry Rosburg 2023 NFL AFC West 3rd 8 9 0 Sean Payton 2024 NFL AFC West 3rd§ 10 7 0 Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Bills) 7–31 Patrick Surtain II () 2025 NFL AFC West^ 1st^ 14 3 0 Won Divisional Playoffs (Bills) 33–30 Lost AFC Championship (Patriots) 7–10 Totals 532 475 10 All-time regular season record (1960–2025) 24 21 — All-time postseason record (1960–2025) 556 496 10 All-time regular season & postseason record (1960–2025)
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