Denver Broncos (14-3)
Playoff opponent: Home game against New England Patriots (January 25th/9:00 p.m.)
The Denver Broncos are back in the AFC Championship Game for the first time since their 2015 Super Bowl season – but have had to pay a heavy price for this triumph.
They will have to do the rest of the season without starting quarterback Bo Nix, who broke his ankle on the penultimate play of the divisional round against Buffalo (33:30 after overtime) – a bitter blow to the stomach of every Denver fan.
That’s why the Broncos are ranked last among the four remaining teams – quarterback is the most important position in the NFL, and having to rely on a backup in the biggest game of the season is suboptimal.
This backup goes by the name Jarrett Stidham. The 29-year-old was drafted in 2019 as a backup to Tom Brady by the New England Patriots – the team they will face in the AFC Championship Game. For the Patriots, Stidham threw a total of 48 passes in three years. In the following years he was allowed to start four games in the NFL (2x Raiders, 2x Broncos), the last time in 2023. It will definitely be an adventurous game, that much can already be said.
With Sean Payton, Stidham at least has an experienced playcaller who will try to let his quarterback operate within his comfort zone. But if the Broncos actually want to take the step towards the Super Bowl, then they will probably only have to do so with an extraordinarily good defensive performance. And Denver’s defense has already proven several times this year that it is capable of dominating games.
