The Drive was an offensive series in the fourth quarter of the 1986 AFC Championship Game played on January 11, 1987, at

Cleveland Municipal Stadium Cleveland Stadium, commonly known as Municipal Stadium, Lakefront Stadium or Cleveland Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium located in Cleveland, Ohio. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate both baseball an ...

between the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

and

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

. Broncos quarterback John Elway, in a span of 5 minutes and 2 seconds, led his team 98 yards in 15 plays to tie the game with 37 seconds left in regulation. Denver won the game in overtime by making a 33-yard field goal, pulling off a 23–20 win over the Cleveland Browns. The 98-yard drive ranks as pro football's prototypical clutch performance. Elway and his team spanned almost all of the 100-yard football field. According to an article by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' columnist and Colorado resident

Rick Reilly Richard Paul Reilly (born February 3, 1958) is an American sportswriter. Long known for being the "back page" columnist for ''Sports Illustrated'', Reilly moved to ESPN on June 1, 2008, where he was a featured columnist for ESPN.com and wrote t ...

, when Elway started the drive, Broncos

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

Keith Bishop said of the Browns, "We got 'em right where we want 'em!" Cleveland could not force a fourth down against Denver. The Drive is commonly seen as emblematic of the

Cleveland Sports Curse The Cleveland sports curse was a sports superstition involving the city of Cleveland, Ohio, and its major league professional sports teams, centered on the failure to win a championship in any major league sport for 52 years, from 1964 to 2016. T ...

, and of the Browns' inability to reach the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

since its inauguration in the 1966 season (as of 2023, the Browns' last NFL Championship came in the 1964 season, prior to the Super Bowl Era.) It is often mentioned in tandem with

The Fumble ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

, which occurred in the following year's AFC Championship Game, also against the Denver Broncos, and again featured the Browns falling just short of appearing in their first Super Bowl.

Play-by-play

The Browns had jumped to a 20–13 lead and Denver had muffed the ensuing kickoff when Elway took over, first-and-10 on their own 2-yard line, with 5:32 to play in regulation. #First down and 10, Denver 2-yard line.

Sammy Winder Sammy Winder (born July 15, 1959) is a former professional American football running back who spent his entire professional career playing for the Denver Broncos, from 1982 to 1990. The son of a farmer, Winder played his high school football at M ...

5-yard pass from Elway. #Second down and 5, Denver 7-yard line. Winder 3-yard run. #Third down and 2, Denver 10-yard line. Winder 2-yard run. #First down and 10, Denver 12-yard line. Winder 3-yard run. #Second down and 7, Denver 15-yard line. Elway 11-yard run. #First down and 10, Denver 26-yard line.

Steve Sewell Steven Edward Sewell (born April 2, 1963 in San Francisco, California), is a former professional American football player who was selected by the Denver Broncos in the 1st round of the 1985 NFL Draft. A 6'3", 210-lb. running back from the Univer ...

22-yard pass from Elway. #First down and 10, Denver 48-yard line.

Steve Watson Steven Craig Watson (born 1 April 1974) is an English football manager and former professional player. He was formerly the manager of club Chester. As a player, he was a right-back or midfielder. He played in the Premier League and Football ...

12-yard pass from Elway. Two-minute warning

First down and 10, Cleveland 40-yard line (1:59 left). Incomplete pass by Elway, intended for

Vance Johnson Vance Edward Johnson (born March 13, 1963), is a former professional American football player who was selected by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 1985 NFL Draft. Playing career A 5'11", 174 lb. wide receiver, Johnson playe ...

#Second down and 10, Cleveland 40-yard line (1:52 left).

Dave Puzzuoli Phillip David Puzzuoli (born January 12, 1961) is a former American football nose tackle in the National Football League. He played football at Stamford Catholic High School, graduating in 1979. He was selected in the sixth round (149th over ...

sack of Elway, 8-yard loss. #Third down and 18, Cleveland 48-yard line (1:47 left). Mark Jackson 20-yard pass from Elway. #First down and 10, Cleveland 28-yard line (1:19 left). Incomplete pass by Elway, intended for Watson. #Second down and 10, Cleveland 28-yard line (1:10 left). Steve Sewell 14-yard pass from Elway. #First down and 10, Cleveland 14-yard line (:57 left). Incomplete pass by Elway, intended for Watson. #Second down and 10, Cleveland 14-yard line (:42 left). John Elway 9-yard run (scramble). #Third down and 1, Cleveland 5-yard line (:39 left). Mark Jackson 5-yard pass from Elway for the touchdown.

Rich Karlis Richard John Karlis (born May 23, 1959) is a former American football placekicker who played nine seasons for the Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings, and Detroit Lions in the National Football League from 1982 to 1990. He played college football at ...

then adds the

extra point The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...

to tie the game.

Game summary

Officials

*Referee:

Chuck Heberling Charles Heberling (April 28, 1925 – December 9, 2019) was an American football official in the National Football League and Western Pennsylvania sports administrator. He was the referee for both the Hail Mary Game and The Drive. He was an al ...

(46) *Umpire: Gordon Wells (89) *Head Linesman:

Ed Marion Ed Marion (1927, Charlotte, North Carolina – 28 April 2008) was an American official in the National Football League. Marion was in the league from 1960 to 1987 and officiated in Super Bowl V, IX and XI. He wore the number 26 for the majority ...

(26) *Line Judge: Bill Reynolds (53) *Side Judge: Gary Lane (120) *Back Judge:

Ben Tompkins Ben Hiner Tompkins (October 4, 1929 – April 28, 2023) was an American college and professional athlete and NFL referee. At the University of Texas, he played baseball on the first back-to-back college World Series champions in 1949–50 as an A ...

(52) *Field Judge:

Johnny Grier Johnny Grier (April 16, 1947 – March 8, 2022) was an American football official for 23 years in the National Football League (NFL) from 1981 to 2004. He began in the NFL as a field judge before becoming the first African-American referee in th ...

(23)

In popular culture

The Drive was featured in the movie ''

Hot Tub Time Machine ''Hot Tub Time Machine'' is a 2010 American science-fiction comedy film directed by Steve Pink and starring John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, Crispin Glover, Lizzy Caplan, and Chevy Chase. The film was released on March 26, ...

'', but due to the butterfly effect, Jackson was distracted by a squirrel and failed to catch a pass and Cleveland went on to win. It was inaccurately portrayed as being in 1986 (the game was played on January 11, 1987, though it was at the end of the

1986 NFL season The 1986 NFL season was the 67th regular season of the National Football League. Defending Super Bowl Champion Chicago Bears shared the league’s best record with the Giants at 14–2, with the Giants claiming the spot in the NFC by tiebreaker ...

). The movie implied that it was played at night; however, when Karlis kicked the winning field goal in overtime, it was still daytime in Cleveland (the AFC title game was the early conference championship game that year, as the NFC title game between the New York Giants and Washington Redskins took place later and saw nearly the entire game played after the sun had set).

References

External links