| AFC Championship |
| Cleveland Browns at Denver Broncos |
| Game Statistics & Box Score |
| Date: January 17, 1988 Location: Denver, CO Venue: Mile High Stadium Attendance: 75993 |
| Weather: Scattered Clouds Temp: 43 F Humidty: 38% Wind: 7 mph |
| Score By Quarters | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota VikingsMIN | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Washington RedskinsWAS | 7 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 17 |
| Qtr | Team | Scoring Plays | CLE | DEN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denver BroncosDEN | Ricky Nattiel 8 pass from John Elway (Rich Karlis kick) | 0 | 7 |
| 1 | Denver BroncosDEN | Steve Sewell 1 run (Rich Karlis kick) | 0 | 14 |
| 2 | Cleveland BrownsCLE | Matt Bahr 24 FG | 3 | 14 |
| 2 | Denver BroncosDEN | Gene Lang 1 run (Rich Karlis kick) | 3 | 21 |
| 3 | Cleveland BrownsCLE | Reggie Langhorne 18 pass from Bernie Kosar (Matt Bahr kick) | 10 | 21 |
| 3 | Denver BroncosDEN | Mark Jackson 80 pass from John Elway (Rich Karlis kick) | 10 | 28 |
| 3 | Cleveland BrownsCLE | Earnest Byner 32 pass from Bernie Kosar (Matt Bahr kick) | 17 | 28 |
| 3 | Cleveland BrownsCLE | Earnest Byner 4 run (Matt Bahr kick) | 24 | 28 |
| 3 | Denver BroncosDEN | Rich Karlis 38 FG | 24 | 31 |
| 4 | Cleveland BrownsCLE | Webster Slaughter 4 pass from Bernie Kosar (Matt Bahr kick) | 31 | 31 |
| 4 | Denver BroncosDEN | Sammy Winder 20 pass from John Elway (Rich Karlis kick) | 31 | 38 |
| 4 | Cleveland BrownsCLE | Safety, Mike Horan ran out of end zone | 33 | 38 |
| LINEUPS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Vikings | ||
| Offense | ||
| 88 | WR | Reggie Langhorne |
| 84 | WR | Webster Slaughter |
| 74 | LOT | Paul Farren |
| 73 | LOG | Gregg Rakoczy |
| 61 | C | Mike Baab |
| 69 | ROG | Dan Fike |
| 63 | ROT | Cody Risien |
| 82 | TE | Ozzie Newsome |
| 81 | TE | Derek Tennell |
| 19 | QB | Bernie Kosar |
| 34 | FB | Kevin Mack |
| Defense | ||
| 91 | LDE | Sam Clancy |
| 72 | NT | Dave Puzzuoli |
| 78 | RDE | Carl Hairston |
| 50 | LOLB | Lucius Sanford |
| 51 | LILB | Eddie Johnson |
| 59 | RILB | Mike Johnson |
| 57 | ROLB | Clay Matthews |
| 31 | LCB | Frank Minnifield |
| 24 | SS | Ray Ellis |
| 22 | FS | Felix Wright |
| 29 | RCB | Hanford Dixon |
| Washington Redskins | ||
| Offense | ||
| 80 | WR | Mark Jackson |
| 84 | WR | Ricky Nattiel |
| 70 | LOT | Dave Studdard |
| 54 | LOG | Keith Bishop |
| 62 | C | Mike Freeman |
| 79 | ROG | Stefan Humphries |
| 76 | ROT | Ken Lanier |
| 88 | TE | Clarence Kay |
| 7 | QB | John Elway |
| 23 | HB | Sammy Winder |
| 33 | FB | Gene Lang |
| Defense | ||
| 61 | LDE | Andre Townsend |
| 71 | NT | Greg Kragen |
| 75 | RDE | Rulon Jones |
| 73 | LOLB | Simon Fletcher |
| 77 | LILB | Karl Mecklenburg |
| 98 | RILB | Ricky Hunley |
| 50 | ROLB | Jim Ryan |
| 36 | LCB | Mark Haynes |
| 49 | SS | Dennis Smith |
| 22 | FS | Tony Lilly |
| 45 | RCB | Steve Wilson |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns | |||||
| Earnest Byner | 15 | 67 | 4.5 | 16 | 1 |
| Kevin Mack | 12 | 61 | 5.1 | 14 | 0 |
| Denver Broncos | |||||
| Sammy Winder | 20 | 72 | 3.6 | 10 | 0 |
| Gene Lang | 5 | 51 | 10.2 | 42 | 1 |
| John Elway | 11 | 36 | 3.3 | 11 | 0 |
| Tony Boddie | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 |
| Steve Sewell | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1t | 1 |
| Mike Horan | 1 | -12 | -12.0 | -12 | 0 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD | TS | YL | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns | |||||||||||
| Bernie Kosar | 41 | 26 | 63.4 | 1 | 356 | 8.7 | 53 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 105.3 |
| Denver Broncos | |||||||||||
| John Elway | 26 | 14 | 53.8 | 1 | 281 | 10.8 | 80t | 3 | 2 | 25 | 114.4 |
| RECEIVING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns | |||||
| Earnest Byner | 7 | 120 | 17.1 | 53 | 1 |
| Webster Slaughter | 4 | 53 | 13.3 | 24 | 1 |
| Brian Brennan | 4 | 48 | 12.0 | 19 | 0 |
| Kevin Mack | 4 | 28 | 7.0 | 9 | 0 |
| Ozzie Newsome | 3 | 35 | 11.7 | 25 | 0 |
| Reggie Langhorne | 2 | 48 | 24.0 | 30 | 1 |
| Clarence Weathers | 1 | 19 | 19.0 | 19 | 0 |
| Derek Tennell | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 |
| Denver Broncos | |||||
| Ricky Nattiel | 5 | 95 | 19.0 | 26 | 1 |
| Mark Jackson | 4 | 134 | 33.5 | 80t | 1 |
| Sammy Winder | 3 | 34 | 11.3 | 20t | 1 |
| Steve Sewell | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 10 | 0 |
| Orson Mobley | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 1 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns | |||||
| Felix Wright | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 13 | 0 |
| Denver Broncos | |||||
| Freddie Gilbert | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns | |||||
| Lee Johnson | 2 | 96 | 48.0 | 59 | 0 |
| Denver Broncos | |||||
| Mike Horan | 2 | 83 | 41.5 | 44 | 0 |
| John Elway | 1 | 18 | 18.0 | 18 | 0 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns | ||||||
| Gerald McNeil | 2 | 0 | 24 | 12.0 | 17 | 0 |
| Denver Broncos | ||||||
| Kevin Clark | 2 | 0 | 13 | 6.5 | 10 | 0 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns | ||||||
| Gerald McNeil | 5 | 1 | 94 | 18.8 | 28 | 0 |
| Denver Broncos | ||||||
| Ken Bell | 3 | 0 | 43 | 14.3 | 23 | 0 |
| SACKS | NO | YDS |
|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns | ||
| Sam Clancy | 1.0 | 18.0 |
| Bubba Baker | 1.0 | 7.0 |
| Denver Broncos | ||
| Rulon Jones | 1.0 | 11.0 |
| Simon Fletcher | 1.0 | 9.0 |
| In Memoriam |
| NFL Boxscores |
| NFL Game Officials |
| NFL Training Camps |
| NFL Roster Limits |
| Pro Football Hall of Fame |
| Super Bowl |
| Privacy Policy |
| ©2006-2025 Pro Football Archives. All Rights Reserved. |
| Last Updated: November 30, 2025 |