Major honours
An original AFL member, Denver became a top-tier franchise when John Elway arrived in 1983. Elway embodied improvisation — 'The Drive,' 98 yards from his own 2 to tie Cleveland in the 1986 AFC Championship — yet lost three Super Bowls in the 1980s. That arc flipped with back-to-back titles in Super Bowls XXXII and XXXIII in 1997–98; Terrell Davis ran for 2,008 yards and league MVP in 1998. A third title came in Super Bowl 50 in 2015, when Peyton Manning rode the league's best defence to beat Carolina 24–10, becoming the first starting quarterback to win titles with two franchises. Home at roughly 1,600 metres, thin air at Mile High is a real burden for visitors.
Record comparison
Bars are scaled to the strongest team in this list.
Club legends
Rivalry
The Raiders AFC West feud dates to the AFL's first year; brutal defence in the 1970s and 1980s made it must-watch. Since Mahomes' Kansas City took the division in the 2010s, that matchup became Denver's benchmark for a successful season.