The Denver Broncos are back in the AFC Championship game for the first time since 2015, a game where they defeated the New England Patriots 20-18 with Peyton Manning and Tom Brady at quarterback on either side.
The 2025 AFC Championship now features the same matchup, one that would have featured two second year QB’s in Drake Maye and Bo Nix.
But, as we all now know, Nix broke his ankle in the Divisional game last weekend against the Buffalo Bills, ending his season. This makes way for backup Jarrett Stidham, who has not only never appeared in a playoff game, but hasn’t thrown a pass in an NFL game since the 2023 season.
In spite of that, Broncos offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi isn’t worried about Stidham heading into the biggest game of his career.
“If you watched training camp, if you watched the preseason games, he was outstanding,” Lombardi said on Thursday, Jan. 22. “He had one of the better training camps of any quarterback. I’m not sure he had a bad day.”
Stidham was actually remarkably effective in the preseason, as he completed 30 of his 38 pass attempts in two games. He passed for 376 yards and four touchdowns and didn’t throw any interceptions.
It’s tough to compare preseason stakes with what’s in line this weekend in the AFC Championship, but at least there’s a small track record of Stidham playing football within the last six months.
Lombardi Instills Confidence in Stidham
Though Stidham’s experience on the field is lacking, his football IQ and knowledge of the Broncos’ system isn’t, at least according to Lombardi.
“I’ve just seen him perform very well; you wish he had a couple of warmup games, that he wasn’t just coming off of running the practice squad.
He’s a vet, he’s a professional — the way he does prepare… is hard to do for 18 straight weeks, 18 straight games when you’re the backup. When he’s running plays, calling our plays in a walkthrough period, every week he knows it cold, so no concerns there, I’m excited to watch him play.”
The one benefit Denver has is that Stidham has been with the team all season, so he should have at least some rapport with the receivers, running backs, and offensive linemen. No one is expecting him to light up the scoreboard, but his team has enough confidence in him to, at the very least, do enough to find a way to win on Sunday.
Stidham’s History With New England May Give Pats Advantage
Yes, the Patriots already have the quarterback advantage by a wide, wide margin, but no matter what you may hear, Stidham is an NFL quarterback; Denver didn’t just grab a random guy off the street and tell him to get to work.
Becuase Stidham is such an unknown entity, the Patriots defense may be relying on offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to relay some info about his former player. McDaniels was Stidham’s OC for both of his seasons in New England in 2019 and 2020.
Just because Stidham hasn’t played in years doesn’t mean he couldn’t come out of the woodwork and do enough to help Denver to a win. To counteract anything he could do well, New England needs to vary their pass rush schemes. Stidham hasn’t seen a defensive pass rusher coming at him in two years, so getting through the O-line is an absolute path to travesty for the Broncos.
Broncos Coach Makes Bold Claim About Jarrett Stidham Before AFC Championship Game