The 2008 season was the Denver Broncos' 39th in the National Football League (NFL), their 49th overall and their 25th under the ownership of Pat Bowlen. The Broncos improved from their 7–9 record from 2007 but failed to make the playoffs with an 8–8 record.
Entering Week 15, the Broncos had an 8–5 record, three games ahead of the San Diego Chargers for the AFC West division title. The Chargers ended the season on a four-game winning streak, while the Broncos ended the season on a three-game losing streak, losing 52–21 to the San Diego Chargers in the regular season finale. The Broncos and Chargers both finished 8–8, however, the Broncos lost the tiebreaker due to the Chargers' owning a better division record (5–1 to 3–3). On December 30, 2008, two days after the regular season ended, Mike Shanahan was fired as the Broncos' head coach after 14 seasons.
NFL draft
Draft notes
Personnel Staff / Coaches
Roster
Roster changes On February 29, 2008, linebacker Ian Gold and wide receiver Javon Walker were released by the Broncos in preparation for the NFL Draft and free agency. Walker was signed by the Oakland Raiders. Long-time Broncos kicker Jason Elam was not re-signed by the Broncos, and was then signed by the Atlanta Falcons.
On June 2, 2008, running back Travis Henry was cut by the team. Seventh Round pick Josh Barrett signed on June 12, the first draft pick to sign with the team. Wide receiver Rod Smith, a veteran of both of the Broncos Super Bowl victories, retired on the first day of training camp.
Schedule
Training camp The Broncos opened training camp on July 24, 2008. On July 31, 2008, the Broncos granted safety John Lynch his release. The following day, head coach Mike Shanahan, asked about the upcoming season on talk radio, said "We’re not going to miss the playoffs." Later in the day, Shanahan backed off a bit, saying "I didn't make a guarantee . . . . you've got to be lucky and don't have the injuries we’ve had. If we don't have the injuries, I'd be very disappointed if we didn't make the playoffs."
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Game site NFL.comrecap 1 August 9 at Houston Texans L 16–19 0–1 Reliant Stadium Recap 2 August 16 Dallas Cowboys W 23–13 1–1 Invesco Field at Mile High Recap 3 August 22 Green Bay Packers L 24–27 1–2 Invesco Field at Mile High Recap 4 August 29 at Arizona Cardinals W 28–14 2–2 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap
Regular season Week Date Opponent Result Record Game site NFL.comrecap 1 at Oakland Raiders W 41–14 1–0 McAfee Coliseum Recap 2 September 14 San Diego Chargers W 39–38 2–0 Invesco Field at Mile High Recap 3 September 21 New Orleans Saints W 34–32 3–0 Invesco Field at Mile High Recap 4 September 28 at Kansas City Chiefs L 19–33 3–1 Arrowhead Stadium Recap 5 October 5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 16–13 4–1 Invesco Field at Mile High Recap 6 October 12 Jacksonville Jaguars L 17–24 4–2 Invesco Field at Mile High Recap 7 at New England Patriots L 7–41 4–3 Gillette Stadium Recap 8 Bye 9 November 2 Miami Dolphins L 17–26 4–4 Invesco Field at Mile High Recap 10 at Cleveland Browns W 34–30 5–4 Cleveland Browns Stadium Recap 11 November 16 at Atlanta Falcons W 24–20 6–4 Georgia Dome Recap 12 November 23 Oakland Raiders L 10–31 6–5 Invesco Field at Mile High Recap 13 November 30 at New York Jets W 34–17 7–5 Giants Stadium Recap 14 December 7 Kansas City Chiefs W 24–17 8–5 Invesco Field at Mile High Recap 15 December 14 at Carolina Panthers L 10–30 8–6 Bank of America Stadium Recap 16 December 21 Buffalo Bills L 23–30 8–7 Invesco Field at Mile High Recap 17 December 28 at San Diego Chargers L 21–52 8–8 Qualcomm Stadium Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1: at Oakland Raiders
The Broncos began their 2008 campaign on the road against their AFC West rival, the Oakland Raiders, in the second game of ESPN's Monday Night Football doubleheader. In the first quarter, Denver ran out of the gates early as quarterback Jay Cutler completed a 26-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Eddie Royal (who was filling in for wide receiver Brandon Marshall, due to his 1-game suspension). In the second quarter, the Broncos continued their domination as kicker Matt Prater got a 26-yard field goal, while fullback Michael Pittman got a 3-yard touchdown run. In the third quarter, Denver ran away with the game as Cutler completed a 48-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Darrell Jackson, while Prater nailed a 43-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, the Raiders spoiled the Broncos' bid for a shutout as quarterback JaMarcus Russell completed an 8-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Ashley Lelie. Denver ended its domination with running back Selvin Young's 5-yard touchdown run and Pittman's 1-yard touchdown run. Oakland ended the scoring with Russell completing a 4-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Ronald Curry.
With the dominating win, the Broncos began their season at 1–0; with the rest of the division suffering losses, Denver, in Week 1, was in sole possession of 1st place.
Eddie Royal, in his NFL debut, had the best Week 1 stats of any wide receiver, getting 9 receptions for 146 yards and a touchdown.
Week 2: vs San Diego Chargers
Coming off their dominating divisional road win over the Raiders, the Broncos played their Week 2 home opener against the AFC West foe, the San Diego Chargers. In the first quarter, Denver was first out of the gate as fullback Michael Pittman got a 1-yard touchdown run. The Chargers responded with kicker Nate Kaeding getting a 34-yard field goal. In the second quarter, Denver replied with quarterback Jay Cutler completing a 3-yard and a 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tony Scheffler. San Diego immediately responded with running back Darren Sproles returning the kickoff 103 yards for a touchdown, yet the Broncos replied with rookie kicker Matt Prater getting a 52-yard field goal. The Chargers struck as their lead as quarterback Philip Rivers completed a 48-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Chris Chambers, yet Denver retaliated with Cutler completing a 6-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Brandon Marshall.
In the third quarter, San Diego started to rally as Rivers completed a 15-yard touchdown pass to Chambers, and Kaeding kicked a 21-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, the Chargers took the lead with Kaeding's 28-yard field goal and Rivers' 66-yard touchdown pass to Sproles. The Broncos responded with a 12-play, 80-yard drive (which included a controversial officiating call that turned a Cutler fumble into an incomplete pass) that was capped off with Cutler's 4-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Eddie Royal, followed by Cutler's successful 2-point conversion pass to Royal.
With an exciting win, Denver improved to 2–0.
Brandon Marshall's 18 receptions was a single-game franchise record and tied for second most in league history.
Week 3: vs. New Orleans Saints
Coming off their last-second win over the Chargers, the Broncos stayed at home, donned their alternate uniforms, and played a Week 3 interconference duel with the New Orleans Saints. In the first quarter, Denver drew first blood as quarterback Jay Cutler completed a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Nate Jackson. The Saints answered with kicker Martín Gramática getting a 43-yard field goal, yet Denver replied with Cutler completing a 35-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Brandon Marshall. In the second quarter, the Broncos increased its lead as linebacker Nate Webster returned a fumble 34 yards for a touchdown. The Saints started to rally as running back Pierre Thomas got a 5-yard touchdown run, while tunning back Reggie Bush got a 23-yard touchdown run, yet Denver answered with kicker Matt Prater getting a 27-yard field goal. New Orleans closed out the half with defensive end Charles Grant tackling running back Andre Hall in his endzone for a safety.
In the third quarter, the Broncos replied with running back Michael Pittman getting a 2-yard touchdown run. The Saints answered with quarterback Drew Brees completing a 6-yard touchdown pass to Bush, yet Denver responded with Prater nailing a 34-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, New Orleans tried to rally as Thomas got a 10-yard touchdown run (with a failed 2-point conversion). The Saints recovered a fumble, but Gramática's go-ahead 43-yard field goal went wide right, preserving the victory for Denver.
With the win, the Broncos improved to 3–0.
Week 4: at Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs got off to a good start after they forced the Broncos to punt. This was followed with a 65-yard run by Larry Johnson to set up a 23-yard field goal kick by Nick Novak, putting the Chiefs on top 3–0. After recovering an Eddie Royal fumble early on Denver's next drive, Kansas City again failed to make it to the end zone and a 21-yard field goal by Novak put the Chiefs up 6–0.
The Broncos responded with an 8-play, 9-minute drive in the second quarter that ended in a touchdown pass from Jay Cutler to Brandon Marshall, putting the Broncos briefly in the lead, 7–6. Later in the quarter, a fumble by Marshall was returned to the Broncos' 2-yard line by the Chiefs, followed 2 plays later by a Johnson touchdown run, putting the Chiefs up 13–7. The Broncos got the ball back, but a 28-yard field goal by Matt Prater went wide right. After forcing the Chiefs to punt, the Broncos got the ball back and Prater hit a 56-yarder near the end of the half, drawing the Broncos within 13–10.
The second half began with a Denver drive that resulted in a 51-yard Prater field goal, tying the game at 13–13. The Chiefs answered with a 43-yard Novak field goal, putting them back on top 16–13. On the next drive, Cutler threw an interception. However, Kansas City's very next play was a Larry Johnson fumble recovered by Denver, although 2 plays later Cutler threw another interception. Despite this exchange of turnovers (3 turnovers in 4 plays), there was no scoring for the rest of the 3rd quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs extended their lead to 23–13 with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Damon Huard to Tony Gonzalez. The Broncos, however, failed to capitalize on a sustained 16-play, 75-yard drive and settled with a Prater field goal, cutting the lead to 23–16. The Chiefs and Broncos then each got field goals on their next drives, bringing the score to 26–16. The Chiefs got a good return after the Prater field goal and put the game away with a 16-yard touchdown run from Johnson. With the 33–19 victory, the Chiefs snapped a league-leading 12-game losing streak dating back to week 7 of the 2007 season.
Larry Johnson carried the Chiefs with 198 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns. Huard managed the game well for the Chiefs, throwing 21/28 for 160 yards and 1 touchdown. Denver was hurt by 4 turnovers compared to just 1 for the Chiefs, but despite 2 interceptions, Cutler still was able to throw for 361 yards on 29/49 passing.
Week 5: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Hoping to rebound from their divisional road loss to the Chiefs, the Broncos went home for a Week 5 interconference duel with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In the first quarter, Denver trailed early as Buccaneers kicker Matt Bryant got a 33-yard field goal. In the second quarter, the Broncos took the lead as kicker Matt Prater got a 55-yard and a 40-yard field goal. Tampa Bay tied the game at halftime as Bryant kicked a 31-yard field goal. In the third quarter, Denver took a big lead as quarterback Jay Cutler completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Brandon Stokley. In the fourth quarter, the Broncos increased its lead as Prater nailed a 27-yard field goal. The Buccaneers rallied with a 7-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jeff Garcia to wide receiver Ike Hilliard. However, Denver recovered the onside kick and drained the clock.
With the win, the Broncos improved to 4–1.
Week 6: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars