| 2014 Denver Broncos season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | The Pat Bowlen Trust |
| President | Joe Ellis |
| General manager | John Elway |
| Head coach | John Fox |
| Home field | Sports Authority Field at Mile High |
| Results | |
| Record | 12–4 |
| Division place | 1st AFC West |
| Playoff finish | Lost Divisional Playoffs (vs. Colts) 13–24 |
| Pro Bowlers | |
| AP All-Pros | 3
|
| Uniform | |
 | |
The 2014 season was the Denver Broncos' 45th in the National Football League (NFL) and their 55th overall. It also marked the third season with Peyton Manning as the team's starting quarterback.
The Broncos entered the 2014 season as the defending AFC champions, hoping to compete for another Super Bowl run, following a 43–8 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII. The offseason was dominated by numerous roster changes, including the retirement of longtime cornerback Champ Bailey.[1][2] One day before the start of the team's training camp, the Broncos announced that owner Pat Bowlen relinquished control of the team due to his battle with Alzheimer's disease.[3]
Like the previous two seasons, the Broncos set numerous individual, league and franchise records, including wide receiver Demaryius Thomas setting a new franchise record for receiving yards in a single season, despite the team's offensive philosophy changing toward a run-oriented offense in the second half of the season. Manning threw a total of 40 touchdown passes, but only four came in the last four games of the regular season and the playoffs. In addition, Manning achieved only one 300-yard passing game within the team's last seven games (including the playoffs), courtesy of the emergence of running back C. J. Anderson, who achieved 1,282 all-purpose yards, the majority of which came in the second half of the regular season and the playoffs. One day after the Broncos' 24–13 playoff loss to the Indianapolis Colts in the Divisional round of the playoffs, media reports indicated that Manning had been playing with a strained quadriceps since a Week 15 game against the San Diego Chargers.[4]
The Broncos swept their division, went undefeated at home, clinched their fourth consecutive AFC West division title, secured a first-round bye and the AFC's No. 2 seed, but lost in the Divisional round of the playoffs for the third time in four seasons.
This was also John Fox's final year as the Broncos' head coach after four seasons, as he mutually agreed to part ways with the team on January 12, 2015, due to poor playoff performances during his tenure, including no playoff wins in 2012 and 2014, as well as suffering a blowout loss in Super Bowl XLVIII, as general manager John Elway felt the Broncos hadn't shown enough fight at critical times in the postseason.[5]
- ^ Caldwell, Gray (March 6, 2014). "Broncos Release Champ Bailey". Denver Broncos. Archived from the original on March 6, 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
- ^ "Champ Bailey, former Broncos cornerback, to retire from NFL". The Denver Post. October 28, 2014. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
- ^ Klis, Mike (July 23, 2014). "Pat Bowlen resigns control of Denver Broncos, acknowledges he is dealing with Alzheimer's disease". The Denver Post. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
- ^ Schefter, Adam (January 12, 2015). "Peyton was injured for past month". ESPN. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
- ^ Legwold, Jeff. Lackluster finishes rankled Elway. ESPN, January 14, 2015.