| 1998 Denver Broncos season | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Owner | Pat Bowlen |
| General manager | John Beake and Mike Shanahan |
| President | Pat Bowlen |
| Head coach | Mike Shanahan |
| Offensive coordinator | Gary Kubiak |
| Defensive coordinator | Greg Robinson |
| Home field | Mile High Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 14–2 |
| Division place | 1st AFC West |
| Playoff finish | Won Divisional Playoffs (vs. Dolphins) 38–3 Won AFC Championship (vs. Jets) 23–10 Won Super Bowl XXXIII (vs. Falcons) 34–19 |
| Pro Bowlers | QB John Elway RB Terrell Davis WR Ed McCaffrey TE Shannon Sharpe T Tony Jones G Mark Schlereth C Tom Nalen OLB Bill Romanowski FS Steve Atwater K Jason Elam |
| AP All-Pros | RB Terrell Davis (1st team) TE Shannon Sharpe (1st team) WR Ed McCaffrey (2nd team) K Jason Elam (2nd team) |
The 1998 season was the Denver Broncos' 29th in the National Football League (NFL) and their 39th overall. The Broncos entered the season as the defending Super Bowl champions and looked to become only the fifth team in league history to win consecutive Super Bowls.
Finishing with a record of 12–4 the previous year, the Broncos improved on that mark by two wins and tied the Atlanta Falcons for second best record at 14–2. They won their first thirteen games, the best start since the unbeaten 1972 Dolphins.
After 16 seasons, John Elway retired following the Super Bowl. He finished his Broncos career with 51,475 yards passing and 300 touchdowns. Until Peyton Manning won in Super Bowl 50, Elway stood as the only Broncos quarterback to win a Super Bowl. However, Elway even played a large role in that victory as the general manager and president of football operations for the Broncos.
Running back Terrell Davis set a team single season rushing mark. His final total was 2,008 yards, making him only the fourth player to rush for over 2,000 yards in single season.
A multi-year investigation from 2001 to 2005 revealed that between 1996 and 1998, the team had cheated the salary cap by deferring other money to Elway and Davis outside of the team’s salary. Denver claimed it gave them no competitive advantage. The team was subsequently fined nearly two million dollars and were forced to give up two third-round picks in the 2002 and 2005 drafts.[1][2]
In 2007, the 1998 Broncos were ranked as the 12th greatest Super Bowl champions on the NFL Network's documentary series America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions. They ranked #14 on the 100 greatest teams of all time presented by the NFL on its 100th anniversary.[3][4]
- ^ "Revisiting Denver's cap penalties from the 1990s". ProFootballTalk. February 14, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
- ^ "Broncos Penalized Again for Salary Cap Violations (washingtonpost.com)". www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
- ^ "NFL Top 100 Teams". Pro Football Reference.
- ^ "100 Greatest Teams: Numbers 100-1 SUPERCUT". NFL.com.