A young John Elway recorded his first 4th quarter comeback against the Colts in 1983 (Getty Images)

On December 11, 1983, John Elway was starting to come into his own during his rookie season. He had taken over the starting duties from Steve DeBerg earlier in the year and had gone through some serious growing pains. But Elway had played well a week earlier against the Cleveland Browns and used 2 touchdown passes to lead the Denver Broncos to a big 27-6 victory. Despite the difficulties that are commonplace with a midseason quarterback switch, coach Dan Reeves and his Broncos came into this matchup against the Baltimore Colts right in the middle of the playoff race with an 8-6 record. Prior to the game, the media was talking about how Elway was starting to live up to his billing, and they were also talking about his matchup against the team he had jilted prior to the NFL draft just months ago. Little did anyone know, this game would become the very first step in the long journey that would turn Elway into a legend of the game.

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