NFL Old School Game of the Week: Broncos Defense and Snow Too Much For Packers

Broncos running back Sammy Winder(23) carries the ball during the famous 1984 "Broncos Blizzard" game on Monday Night Football.

Anytime you play a football game in Denver in the months November of December , there is a chance of having to deal with snow, but not usually in the middle of October.

But that’s what happened on the Monday night of October 15, 1984 when the Broncos hosted the Green Bay Packers in a driving snowstorm that became known as the “Broncos Blizzard”.

The Broncos entered the game on a roll having their last four games and entering the game with a 5-1 record.

Denver was led by head coach Dan Reeves, who was in his fourth season as the Broncos’ coach, and second-year quarterback John Elway, the man Denver had traded offensive lineman Chris Hinton, quarterback Mark Herrmann, and their 1st-round pick in the 1984 draft, one year earlier.

Despite flashes of brilliance, Elway was not quite the gunslinger that he would go on to be, so the Broncos relied on their defense which was under the control of defensive coordinator Joe Collier, who had held that position since 1972 and was the coordinator of the famous “Orange Crush” defense that led Denver to Super Bowl XII.

While Denver came into the game confident, the Packers were trying to snap a five-game losing streak after winning their season opener.

Green Bay was under first-year head coach Forrest Gregg, a Hall-of-Fame offensive tackle that was part of the Packers’ dynasty in the 1960 which won five NFL championships and the first two Super Bowls.

Gregg had been successful as a head coach as he directed the Cincinnati Bengals to the 1981 AFC Championship and a trip to Super Bowl XVI, which they lost to the San Francisco 49ers.

The Packers were hoping to mesh Gregg’s toughness with the finesse of their offense, which was led by quarterback Lynn Dickey, who threw for 4,458 yards the year before.

But up to this point, the experiment was not working was Green Bay was 1-5 and at one point scored only 20 points over a course of three games.

If the Packers hoped to get Dickey and the offense on track, they would have to do it in on a 30 degree day, 30 degrees below average for the time of the year in Denver and winds that gust up to 55 miles per hour with the snow become more intense as the night went on.

Denver won the toss but deferred so Green Bay got the ball to start the game.

After a 25-yard return by Del Rodgers, the Packers’ offense were set to start at their own 28-yard-line.

On the first play from scrimmage, Dickey handed it off to Gerry Ellis who tried to go off tackle only to be met by Broncos linebacker Tom Jackson knocking the ball loose.

Safety Steve Foley picked up the loose ball and ran 22 yards through the snow for the game’s first touchdown, giving Denver a 7-0 lead just 16 seconds into the game.

The Packers would get a second chance to start the game right after Denver kicked it off back to Green Bay, who took over at their own 22 after a 21-yard return by Rodgers.

Again, Dickey handed off the ball on the first play, this time to Jessie Clark, who picked up five yards until he was stripped of the ball by linebacker Steve Busick, leading to cornerback Louis Wright picking it up and running 27 yards for another Bronco touchdown.

Just 36 seconds into the game, the Broncos had built a 14-0 lead without their offense touching the football.

Louis Wright(20) picks up the fumble and scores the Broncos' 2nd touchdown of the game on the first two plays of the game.

Green Bay would get the ball for a third time and got great field position when Rodgers returned the ensuing kickoff 45 yards to the Broncos’ 46-yard-line.

After having two fumbles on two runs on the first two plays from scrimmage, Dickey and the Packers decided to go to the air on the first play of the drive and got a 1st down when Dickey hit tight end Paul Coffman for 10 yards.

The Packers would drive to the Broncos’ 11-yard-line when they faced a 4th-and-7.

Gregg decided to go for the field goal despite the conditions and called on Eddie Garcia to attempt a 29-yard field goal.

But Garcia’s attempt sailed wide left and the score remained 14-0 as Elway finally got a chance to get his hands on the ball as the Denver offense took over at their own 20.

The Broncos drove into Packers territory an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty killed the drive, forcing Denver to punt the back to the Packers, who took over at their own 31.

Green Bay drove to the Denver 44-yard-line where they faced a 4th-and-1.

Gregg decided to go for the 1st down but once again the Broncos defense rose up and stopped the Packers as Busick held Clark for no gain, giving Denver the ball back.

Taking over at his own 44, Elway would guide the Broncos to the Packers’ 14 yard-line, thanks to two big pass completions, a 16-yarder to Steve Watson and an 18-yarder to Sammy Winder.

But on 3rd-and-5, Elway’s pass for Watson fell incomplete, forcing Reeves to decide to go for the 1st down or try for the field goal.

Reeves opted to go for the field goal and sent his barefoot kicker, Rich Karlis, for a 30-yard attempt, which was at the same end of the field that Garcia had missed from earlier.

But Karlis’ kick sailed through the uprights to increase the Denver lead to 17-0, 50 seconds into the second quarter.

After both teams punted on their next possessions, the Packers took over at their own 28-yard-line with 6:51 left before halftime.

That is when Dickey caught fire as he completed four straight passes for 60 yards, putting the Packers at the Denver 19 with a chance to get some points on the board.

But just as soon he got hot, Dickey got cold as he threw three straight incomplete passes leading to another field goal attempt from Garcia, this time from 37 yards out.

Once again, Garcia could not get the Packers on the board as his 37-yard kick came up short, giving the ball back to Denver at their own 20.

Rich Karlis' bare right foot that he used to kick a 30-yard field goal in the snow.

However, the Broncos would go three-and-out on thier next drive, forcing them to punt the back to the Packers, who took over at their own 39 with 2:58 left in the half.

Dickey again drove the Packers down the field with his arm until a 3rd-and-13 at the Denver 22 when he was picked off by Foley after his primary target John Jefferson fell down in the slippery snow.

The Broncos would run out the clock after Foley’s interception to take a 17-0 into the halftime break.

Having deferred the coin toss to the 2nd half and having a 17-point lead which seemed insurmountable in the driving snow, the Broncos decided to kick off to start the second half, hoping for some of the magic that happened to start the game.

Instead, Dickey drove the Packers back down the field as he connected with his favorite target, James Lofton, three times in a row for a total of 50 yards that had the Packers at the Broncos’ 13-yard-line with a 1st-and-10.

Dickey would hit Coffman for a six-yard gain on 1st down, but the tight end fumbled the ball, only to have Packers right guard Ron Hallstrom recovered it for Green Bay.

But the Packers weren’t so lucky on the next play when Dickey fumbled the snap, which was recovered by Broncos linebacker Jim Ryan, ending another scoring opportunity for Green Bay.

After the Broncos went three-and-out, the Packers got the ball at the Broncos’ 46-yard-line and got down to the Denver 25 when Dickey was sacked by defensive end Barney Chavious for a nine-yard-loss on 3rd-and-15, forcing the Packers to punt and marking the seventh time Green Bay had been in Denver territory and come away with zero points.

After an exchange of punts, the Broncos had the ball at their own 15-yard-line when Elway made his first mistake of the game as he was intercepted by Packers safety Mark Murphy, who returned it 8 yards to the Denver 14.

Three plays netted nine yards forcing the Packers to go for it on 4th-and-1 at the five-yard-line.

The Packers got more than the 1st down as Ellis punched it in for a 5-yard touchdown that finally got Green Bay on the scoreboard and cut the lead to 17-7 with 1:15 left in the third quarter.

Following the touchdown, the Broncos put together their best drive of the second half as they drove from their 39-yard-line to Green Bay 38, until Elway threw two straight incomplete passes, leading to a punt that ended up in the end zone for a touchback.

Once again, Dickey’s arm led the Packers into Broncos territory until two straight incomplete passes on 3rd and 4th down at the Denver 39-yard-line ended the drive.

The Packers would force another punt, getting the ball back at their own 46-yard-line when on the first play from scrimmage Dickey lofted a pass for Lofton, who made the catch at the Broncos’ 34 and ran the rest of the way untouched for a 54-yard touchdown that brought Green Bay to within three points at 17-14 with 7:29 to play in the fourth quarter.

Riding the momentum of Lofton’s touchdown, the Packers defense forced another three-and-out, leading to a 29-yard punt that gave Green Bay the ball at their own 43-yard-line with 6:14 to go in regulation.

Unable to run the ball, the Packers went back to Dickey who connected with three straight passes for 37 yards, that gave Green Bay a 1st-and-10 at the Broncos’ 20-yard-line.

After a one-yard run by Clark, Dickey dropped back to pass on 2nd-and-9, only to be sacked by defensive end Rulon Jones, forcing a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Karl Mecklenburg at the 28-yard-line for the Packers’ fifth turnover of the game.

However, there was 3:08 left on the clock and the Packers had all three timeouts in their pocket, so there was still a chance for Green Bay, especially the Broncos offense had been unable to move the ball the entire second half.

Lynn Dickey would throw for 371 yards but could not overcome the Packers' five turnovers.

After two runs by Winder gained zero yards, Denver was faced with a 3rd-and-10 wit 2:53 and the Packers with one timeout.

That is when Elway decided to go with a shovel pass to Gerald Wilhite, who picked it up 16 yards on the play and the 1st down.

Despite the big play, the game was still not over as the Broncos were faced with another 3rd-and-10 after two straight running plays.

On the third down, Elway gambled and put the ball up in the air, that was caught by rookie tight end Clearance Kay for 11 yards and a 1st down that put the game away.

Elway would take a knee to run out the clock and the Broncos had come away with a 17-14 win for their fifth straight win and handing the Packers their sixth straight loss.

The Packers would lose again the following week before winning seven of their last eight games to finish the season with a respectable 8-8 record.

However, that would be the best record under Gregg as he resigned after the 1987 season, finishing with a 21-37-1 record in his four seasons as the Packers’ head coach.

As for the Broncos, the win in the snow was part of their 10-game winning streak as they finished the season with a 13-3 record and AFC West title, primarily due to their defense which allowed the 2nd fewest points in the league with 241 and forced 55 turnovers, also second in the league.

But in the Divisional Playoffs, the Broncos were upset at home by the 9-7 Pittsburgh Steelers 24-17 when a Elway interception late in the game led to the Steelers scoring the game-winning touchdown.

Elway, who threw for only 2,598 yards in 1984, would improve dramatically over the next few years and put the Broncos on his back as he led Denver to three AFC championships in four years(1986,87,89).

As for the snowstorm, there were four inches on the ground when the game ended, but ultimately 9 to 15 inches fell in the Denver metropolitan area and with winds gusting to 50 miles per a hour, Interstate 25 from Denver to Colorado Springs was shut down as well as classes at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

It is not even close to the record of snowfall in a October storm (22.7 inches in 1906) but the 1984 blizzard in Denver is remembered because of the Monday Night game.