Back to the Denver Broncos Newsfeed

Giant setback in first Super Bowl of the John Elway era

It had been nine years since the Broncos made their first Super Bowl appearance. John Elway was four seasons into his Hall of Fame career at quarterback and had just led the Broncos to a thrilling, 23-20 overtime victory over Cleveland made famous by engineering "The Drive" during the AFC championship game of the 1986 season.

But few Broncos, or fans, have fond memories of the team's second Super Bowl appearance.

"I don't want to remember that game," wide receiver Vance Johnson said when asked about the 39-20 loss to the New York Giants. "We were supposed to win because we had a powerhouse offense and a defense good enough to stop Giants quarterback Phil Simms.