Good morning, Broncos Country. Ten years ago, the Denver Broncos defeated Tom Brady and the New England Patriots to represent the AFC in Super Bowl 50. After a decade of struggles, the Broncos have found
their way back to the AFC Championship Game. They say history doesn’t repeat itself but often rhymes. That appears to be the case with the Patriots trekking to Empower Field at Mile High to battle the Broncos on Sunday afternoon.
Both teams had banner seasons in 2025. Earning division titles and impressing with fourteen wins. Very few teams were as consistent as they were throughout the year. So maybe it isn’t that much of a surprise to see two tough and battle-tested teams making it this far. Even so, there can only be one winner on Sunday.
The major headline everywhere is how the Broncos can achieve victory without Bo Nix leading their offense. It’s now up to veteran Jarrett Stidham to help guide Denver to a shot at earning the franchises fourth Lombardi Trophy. It’s undoubtedly the biggest game of his career. And in a serendipitous turn of events, he will wind up going up against the team that drafted him into the National Football League seven years ago.
Most have them pegged as underdogs at home, but the Broncos are doing their best not to care much at all about what the outside waves are saying. They will take care of business on Sunday by putting in their best week of preparation to date. Something Stidham is no stranger to doing, despite limited game time action in his three years in Denver.
“I think every week I’ve always, going back to when I was backing up Russ, I’ve prepared the same every single week like I am the starter. It just hasn’t obviously been that way, minus two weeks. My preparation hasn’t changed one bit, and that’s just kind of how I view it,” Stidham stated with respect to being ready to guide Denver’s offense on Sunday.
Stidham’s teammates have expressed the utmost confidence in Jarrett’s abilities. He is running the scout team offense against the Broncos’ defense every week of the year. According to the clip in the link above, he is making plays and even talking some trash in practice according to Patrick Surtain II and Nik Bonitto.
That is not substitute for in-game reps, Stidham acknowledged that much. However, he also vowed that going against Denver’s defense will have him prepared to execute Head Coach Sean Payton’s gameplan on Sunday.
“We practice full speed here. That’s one thing that I love about Sean. I was fortunate when I played in New England for Bill Belichick, it was the same way. You try to make practice as hard as possible, that way Sunday it’s not a shock. That’s how we practice here, and that’s how we’ll always practice here,” added Stidham.
The Patriots’ defense has been one of the best in the league in the second half of the season. It will be a big challenge for Stidham and the rest of Denver’s banged-up offense. Coach Payton noted how great they are at disguising coverages and making it hard for opposing quarterbacks to figure out what they are doing on a down-to-down basis.
On top of that, New England has done a great job forcing turnovers and being efficient in the red zone. In their first two playoff games, they really got after Justin Herbert and C.J. Stroud and wrecked their offensive game plans. For the Broncos to earn a trip to Super Bowl 60, Stidham doesn’t have to put the team on his shoulders—but he doesn’t need to be a ‘game manager’ either.
He just needs to be himself and make the most of the opportunity ahead of him. There are some who are afraid of Stidham throwing too much, but not Payton. He knows what Stidham is capable of and is confident in his abilities as a thrower.
“He’s going to rip it, and that will be our approach. He has this calm demeanor that I think suits him well. He’s played in big games, college. I said this at the start of the season, I felt like our No. 2 was inside the best 32 quarterbacks, and I think everyone feels that way,” remarked Payton.
As always, thank you for reading. Here is today’s slate of articles for Horse Tracks.
