Patriots hold off Broncos in wintry AFC Championship Game, advance to Super Bowl LX

The New England Patriots got another huge performance from their defense as they held off the top-seeded Denver Broncos to win a cold, snowy AFC Championship Game 10-7.

With the win, the Patriots advance to face the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8. It will be New England’s 12th Super Bowl appearance, the most of any team, and its first in the post-Tom Brady era.

After a conservatively played first half was dominated by the defenses and ended tied at 7, wintry weather blew in at halftime and wreaked havoc on the playing conditions.

On the first possession of the second half, the Patriots drove 64 yards in 16 plays — keeping the ball for 9:31 of game time — and got a go-ahead field goal from Andy Borregales. That was the end of the scoring as the weather progressively got worse. The temperature dropped dramatically, the wind picked up and the surface got slippery as both teams struggled to move the ball.

Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, an NFL MVP candidate mainly for his passing during the regular season, had more success running the ball on Sunday. He totaled 65 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries, while going just 10-for-21 through the air for 86 yards. Maye was also sacked five times.

Jarrett Stidham, in at quarterback for injured Broncos starter Bo Nix, got off to a promising start, leading the Broncos to a touchdown on their second possession. After starting 0-for-3, he connected with Marvin Mims Jr. on a 52-yard bomb down the middle. Two plays later, he hit Courtland Sutton for a 6-yard score, giving Denver a 7-0 lead. But Stidham did little else, finishing 17-for-31 passing for 133 yards and an interception.

The Patriots answered midway through the second quarter following a mistake from Stidham. Under fierce pressure from New England linebacker Christian Elliss, Stidham tried to avoid a sack by shoveling the ball forward. Replays showed the pass went backward for a fumble, and the Patriots recovered. Two plays later, Maye took a QB draw 6 yards for a touchdown.

With the win — their first playoff victory ever in Denver (they were 0-4 entering Sunday’s game) — the Patriots improved to 9-0 on the road this season.

Maye, 23, is just the third starting quarterback under the age of 24 to reach the Super Bowl, joining Dan Marino and Ben Roethlisberger.

Patriots coach Mike Vrabel becomes the eighth head coach in NFL history to lead his team to a Super Bowl in his first season with the club. Sunday also marked New England’s 40th all-time playoff win, the most in NFL history.

Patriots ride defense to another playoff win

For the fifth straight game, the Patriots defense dominated. The unit leaned heavily on the blitz against a backup quarterback. The Pats frequently sent five or even six rushers at Stidham, making things incredibly difficult for him.

The frequent blitzes continued a postseason trend by defensive play caller Zak Kuhr, who did the same in the wild-card round against Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, then in the divisional round against C.J. Stroud of the Texans.

It confused and confounded the Broncos, who were boosted by Stidham’s one long pass in the first quarter, but then struggled to move the ball afterward.

Heading into the Super Bowl, that’s a good sign for the Patriots, who are riding a surging defense in the postseason.

The unit came up when it mattered most, too. After Denver got the ball at the New England 33-yard line in the fourth quarter, the Broncos gained only 5 yards before their game-tying field goal attempt was blocked.

When the Broncos got the ball again with three minutes remaining and another chance at a go-ahead drive, Christian Gonzalez intercepted Stidham, a fitting end to a dominant performance. — Chad Graff, Patriots beat writer

Stidham fizzles after early flash

Stidham stood in a clean pocket on Denver’s second drive of the game as he waited for Mims to get a step on his defender. Mims created the room and Stidham launched the ball deep for a 52-yard gain.

Not a bad way to complete your first pass in a meaningful NFL game in more than two years.

The problem for Stidham and the Broncos, though, was that the longtime backup wasn’t afforded a clean picture like that one too often. New England constantly sent extra rushers and found ways to speed up a quarterback whose first start of the season in the conference title game was akin to jumping from the platform onto a speeding train.

The critical mistake for Stidham came on third down in the second quarter. He was trying to set up a screen for running back Tyler Badie, but with his receiver covered, Stidham kept backpedaling. Running out of time, he attempted to throw a pass toward the line of scrimmage. The play was initially called an incomplete pass, but the ruling was changed to a fumble, recovered by the Patriots, after Stidham’s throw was determined to be a backward pass. New England scored a game-tying touchdown two plays later.

The constant pressure prevented the Broncos from finding any other big shots downfield. Outside of the 52-yarder to Mims, Stidham averaged only 2.7 yards per attempt.

The Broncos missed several key opportunities to make plays for their quarterback. Courtland Sutton and Lil’Jordan Humphrey both failed to come down with third-down receptions that hit their hands, difficult as those grabs would have been. Jaleel McLaughlin dropped a pass in the third quarter that forced Denver into another third-and-long. The Broncos also struggled to run the ball efficiently on early downs. Wil Lutz missed two field goals, including a 46-yarder into a driving snow that would have tied the game with under five minutes remaining.

It simply wasn’t enough to support a quarterback making his first start in 749 days — and his first ever in the playoffs.

The Broncos were shorthanded elsewhere, as well. They were missing receiver Troy Franklin and lost another receiver, Pat Bryant, in the second quarter. Despite it all, they had the ball with a chance to win in the fourth quarter. That made it impossible not to wonder what might have been if the Broncos had the quarterback who so routinely turned those situations into victories this season. — Nick Kosmider, Broncos beat writer

Patriots offense stuck in neutral

This was one of the worst games of the season for the Patriots offense. And it wasn’t just because of the snow.

The Patriots managed just 72 yards of offense in the first half, when it was still sunny. Their lone touchdown Sunday came as a result of Stidham’s fumble at the Denver 12-yard line. Late into the third quarter, Maye had more rushing yards than he did passing yards.

The Broncos dominated the Patriots O-line, had Maye flummoxed and covered the New England wide receivers with ease. It wasn’t pretty from the Patriots offense. But it didn’t matter — mostly because of the weather and how well the defense played.

Still, the Patriots had only two drives longer than 25 yards all afternoon. As they begin their preparations for the Super Bowl, the offense is a concern after three straight mediocre performances in the playoffs. — Graff

Broncos’ defensive masterpiece becomes footnote

The pain of falling short of the Super Bowl was magnified by the Broncos’ inability to capitalize on a championship-level performance from their defense.

Without Nix, it was clear coordinator Vance Joseph’s unit was going to have to carry the day, as it had done at numerous points throughout the season. That group couldn’t have played much better.

The only touchdown for the Patriots came on a possession they started at Denver’s 12-yard line following Stidham’s fumble. They sacked Maye five times and limited him to under 5 yards per pass attempt.

The Broncos held Maye to only 41 yards passing on 14 attempts in the first half. He had never produced fewer than 84 yards in a first half of a game this season. The Patriots punted on their first three possessions for the first time all season. They gained one first down on their fourth possession — then punted again.

The Broncos can lament one key breakdown, a 28-yard scramble by Maye on third-and-9 in the third quarter that ultimately helped the Patriots kick the go-ahead field goal.

Leading 10-7 midway through the fourth quarter, the Patriots took over at their own 10-yard line following the latest brilliant punt from rookie Jeremy Crawshaw. The Denver defense immediately forced a three-and-out. After Lutz missed what would have been a game-tying field goal on the ensuing possession, the Denver defense rose to the challenge once more, forcing another three-and-out.

It still wasn’t enough. The Broncos simply didn’t have enough Sunday, and their defensive masterpiece became a historical footnote as a result. — Kosmider

Fourth-down call proves costly for Broncos

Midway through the second quarter, the Broncos had a 7-0 lead and faced a fourth-and-1 at the New England 14-yard line. A field goal — an attempt that would have come before the snow arrived — would have given Denver a 10-0 lead, a significant early edge for a defense that played lights out from the very start.

Broncos coach Sean Payton, though, decided to gamble. He rolled Stidham out to the right on a pass play designed to go to a receiver in the flat, but New England blanketed every target and Stidham threw incomplete.

Given how difficult offense was to come by for the Broncos the rest of the day, it’s easy to understand why Payton believed his team needed to capitalize on what proved to be its best chance to add a second touchdown. But he’ll no doubt spend some of a long offseason wondering how else he could have produced a first down on that play. — Kosmider

Patriots head back to the Super Bowl

The Patriots are headed back to the Super Bowl after a seven-year drought. It will be their 12th Super Bowl appearance, four more than the next closest franchise.

They’ve heard all season long that their schedule was the main reason for their success. Now, after dispatching their third-straight postseason opponent, they’re headed to the Super Bowl.

It has been a magical run for Vrabel in his first season back with the Patriots. He inherited a franchise that won four games in each of 2023 and 2024. Now they’re AFC champions once again, having posted a 17-3 record this season (including the playoffs).

Frankly, this quick turnaround is astounding. Vrabel totally changed the franchise’s culture and reinstilled a confidence it had lacked in recent years.

And the Patriots got here with relative ease. They trailed at halftime in just one of their 20 games this season. Only two of their wins came by three points or fewer.

The Patriots initially planned to fly back to New England on Sunday night, but the weather forced them to spend an extra night in Denver. They’ll practice in Foxboro, Mass., this week, then fly to San Francisco for the Super Bowl next weekend. — Graff