| Date | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 9/3 | Oakland Raiders | 14-6 |
| 9/11 | at Minnesota Vikings (OT) | 9-12 |
| 9/17 | San Diego Chargers | 27-14 |
| 9/24 | at Kansas City Chiefs (OT) | 23-17 |
| 10/1 | Seattle Seahawks | 28-7 |
| 10/8 | at San Diego Chargers | 0-23 |
| 10/16 | Chicago Bears | 16-7 |
| 10/22 | at Baltimore Colts | 6-7 |
| 10/29 | at Seattle Seahawks (OT) | 20-17 |
| 11/5 | New York Jets | 28-31 |
| 11/12 | at Cleveland Browns | 19-7 |
| 11/19 | Green Bay Packers | 16-3 |
| 11/23 | at Detroit Lions | 14-17 |
| 12/3 | at Oakland Raiders | 21-6 |
| 12/10 | Kansas City Chiefs | 24-3 |
| 12/16 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 17-21 |
| 12/30 | at Pittsburgh Steelers (Divisional Playoff) | 10-33 |
What do you do for an encore?
Craig Morton’s struggles in Super Bowl XII and his ever-growing list of medical concerns had the Broncos thinking about the future when the 1978 season began.
Morton was the starter but was injured by October. In a three-week stretch in October, the Broncos started three different quarterbacks. First, Morton gave way to Norris Weese. Then it was back to Morton, and then on to Craig Penrose, a fourth-round pick in 1976 from San Diego State who had started the final two games of his rookie year before being benched for Morton in 1977.
Weese had credibility from leading the Broncos’ only touchdown drive in Super Bowl XII, but his scrambling style was never going to be ideal for the offense, and would only expose him to injury. He was an energetic, if unrefined, quarterback, and the offense was inconsistent when he had the chance to run it.
Penrose got the star turn; he was at the controls for the first half of the Broncos’ Monday Night Football game against the Chicago Bears on Oct. 16. This game was his big chance, and he was effective enough, completing 7-of-11 passes for 74 yards and then sustained a rib injury late in the second quarter that nagged him the rest of the season. Morton returned to close out the 16-7 win, and Penrose made just one more start in his Denver career.
Although Penrose had “the strongest arm among Denver quarterbacks,” according to the Broncos’ 1979 media guide, he only threw five passes that season and was part of a trade with the Jets for quarterback Matt Robinson the following year.
In 1978, the defense allowed Denver to overcome its instability under center en route to their second consecutive division title. But a playoff rematch with Pittsburgh was nothing like their Christmas Eve duel in 1977. No team had adapted better to the NFL’s massive rules changes for the 1978 season than the Steelers, who used the restrictions on contact between defenders and receivers to unleash a deep passing game that complemented their still-potent power running attack of Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier. Two long touchdown passes in the fourth quarter turned a competitive game into a rout, and the Broncos fell, 33-10.
During that game, Miller replaced Morton with Weese, echoing the change made during Super Bowl XII 11.5 months earlier. It was not enough to prevent a disappointing end to the Broncos’ 10-6 season.
