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DENVER — The Denver Broncos just didn’t quite have enough.
What started as a picture perfect January day in Denver, Colorado ended in a dogfight at a snow-filled Mile High where the Broncos came up just short. Trailing 10-7 with 2:17 remaining in the 4th, Jarrett Stidham threw an interception on a 2nd and 9 pass from Broncos territory.
Stidham threw for 133 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception but also lost a crucial fumble in the 1st half. Will Lutz also missed two huge field goals.
Here’s what stood out throughout the game.
Snow Dampens Slingin’ Stiddy
Jarrett Stidham got his nerves out in the first three passes of the game. After starting 0-for-3, Stidham’s first completion of the season was a 52-yard bomb to Marvin Mims.
Two plays later, Stidham hit Courtland Sutton for a six-yard touchdown.
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Leading up to the game, Sean Payton stated Stidham’s not going to be afraid to sling it. On just the second drive, Jarrett proved his coach’s point.
However, midway through the second, under pressure, Stidham tried to throw the ball away. Unfortunately for Stiddy, it was ruled a fumble. The Patriots took over in the red zone. Two plays later, Maye ran it in for a touchdown.
As the second half started, so did the snow. And that iced Stidham and Denver’s offense. In the third quarter, the Broncos had seven yards of offense. Denver only had the ball for 1:50 in the third quarter.
In the Broncos’ first four drives of the second half, they only racked up 31 yards of offense.
Just before the two-minute warning, with the game on the line, Stidham threw the ball up and it was easily picked off.
Denver’s Dominant Defense
The Broncos’ defense came out of the gate flying in the AFC Championship Game, showing they were ready for the moment.
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In the first quarter, Drake Maye, Josh McDaniels and the Patriots’ offense had 12 total yards, including -2 through the air.
Pat Surtain II, Riley Moss and Talanoa Hufanga shut down the airways, while Que Robinson took down Maye for a sack.
Outside of a takeaway, Denver’s defense had about as perfect of a quarter as they could have had.
With just over 8 minutes left in the second quarter, Maye had three completions, two sacks and -5 passing yards.
The Broncos’ defense was simply fantastic in the first half. Vance Joseph‘s unit held Maye to 41 yards passing and the Patriots to 72 total yards.
To start the second half, however, the Patriots racked up 64 yards on their opening drive, draining nearly 10 minutes off the clock. Denver’s defense stood up in the red zone and forced New England into a field goal.
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Game-changing moments
With 10 minutes left in the second quarter and the ball on the Patriots 14 facing a 4th-and-1, Sean Payton decided to go for it. With pressure in Stidham’s face, he couldn’t complete the pass. Turnover on downs.
Instead of settling for a field goal and extending Denver’s lead to two possessions, Payton’s decision kept it a one-possession game. On the Patriots’ following drive, they picked up a first down, but were forced to punt it back to Denver.
Later in the second quarter, Jarrett Stidham attempted to throw an incompletion with pressure in his face, but was ruled a fumble.
New England took over on the Broncos’ 12-yard line. Two plays later, Drake Maye ran it in for a touchdown to tie the game.
With 30 seconds left before halftime, Wil Lutz missed a go-ahead 54-yard field goal. Instead of Denver taking the 10-7 lead at halftime, the Patriots took over at their own 46. Fortunately for the Broncos, the Patriots 63-yard field goal before half was wide left.
Odds stacked against Stiddy
Jarrett Stidham became just the second quarterback in NFL history to make his first start of the season in a Conference Championship Game. Roger Staubach was the other, who lost his game 26-3 in 1972.
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Stidham became just the ninth quarterback in NFL history to make his first start of the season in the playoffs. The other eight went 1-7 in those games.
Jarrett’s four career starts were the fewest any quarterback has had starting in a Conference Championship Game.
With all of that said, it’s safe to say that the odds were very much stacked against Stidham and the Broncos in the AFC Championship Game.
A wildly successful season
Sunday’s loss was no doubt a bummer. But it was still a wildly successful season.
Entering the 2025 season, the fair goals and expectations for the year were for the Broncos to take the next step after making the playoffs the year before and getting bounced in the first round. Naturally, the next step after making the Wild Card round is to make the Divisional Round. Denver accomplished that goal in the regular season.
While the most likely path for a team to make the Divisional Round is to win a Wild Card game, the Broncos did it by earning the No. 1 seed in the AFC with a remarkable 14-3 record.
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In the Divisional Round, Bo Nix out-performed Josh Allen in the Broncos’ thrilling overtime win to earn Denver’s first trip to the AFC Championship Game since Peyton Manning. Unfortunately, the game ended Bo’s season as he fractured a bone in his ankle.
During the season, Denver’s defense showed they have what it takes to be elite.
But most importantly, for the long-term, Bo proved he is the Broncos’ franchise quarterback once his ankle is healed. Nix had the most fourth-quarter comebacks and game-winning drives among all signal callers in the NFL and did it in the biggest stage in the playoffs.
With everything the Broncos’ accomplished in 2025, the new goal for next season is to make it back to the AFC Championship Game and continue to compete for a Super Bowl.
While the ending was certainly unfortunate, make no doubt about it, the Broncos had a wildly successful season.
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