<P> Denver came close to losing its franchise in 1965, until a local ownership group took control and rebuilt the team . The team's first superstar, "Franchise" Floyd Little, was instrumental in keeping the team in Denver, due to his signing in 1967 as well as his Pro Bowl efforts on and off the field . The Broncos were the only original AFL team that never played in the title game, as well as the only original AFL team never to have a winning season while a member of the AFL during the upstart league's 10 - year history . </P> <P> In 1972, the Broncos hired former Stanford University coach John Ralston as their head coach . In 1973, he was the UPI's AFC Coach of the Year, after Denver achieved its first winning season at 7--5--2 . In five seasons with the Broncos, Ralston guided the team to winning seasons three times . Though Ralston finished the 1976 season with a 9--5 record, the team, as was the case in Ralston's previous winning seasons, still missed the playoffs . Following the season, several prominent players publicly voiced their discontent with Ralston, which soon led to his resignation . </P> <P> Red Miller, a long - time assistant coach was hired and along with the Orange Crush Defense (a nickname originating in the early 1970s, also the brand of the popular orange - flavored soft drink) and aging quarterback Craig Morton, took the Broncos to what was then a record - setting 12--2 regular season record and their first playoff appearance in 1977, and ultimately first Super Bowl, in which they were defeated by the Dallas Cowboys (Morton's former team), 27--10 . </P> <P> In 1981, Broncos' owner Gerald Phipps, who had purchased the team in May 1961 from the original owner Bob Howsam, sold the team to Canadian financier Edgar Kaiser Jr., grandson of shipbuilding industrialist Henry J. Kaiser . In 1984, the team was purchased by Pat Bowlen, who placed team ownership into a family trust sometime before 2004 and remained in day - to - day control until his battle with Alzheimer's disease forced him to cede the team to Joe Ellis in 2014 . </P>

When did the dallas cowboys last beat the denver broncos