He accomplished what Tom Brady never could. The New England Patriots have never won a playoff game in Denver. Until now. Quarterback Drake Maye and his team finally broke the long-standing playoff curse, beating the Denver Broncos 10-7 on Denver’s home turf.
In a back and forth game, dominated by the defenses, the Patriots punched their ticket to Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara.
The signs were favorable from the very beginning. The Patriots won all of their road games during the 2025 regular season. With the win, the Patriots improved to 9-0 on the road this season. Now they need just one more road win to lift the Lombardi Trophy.
New England Patriots Lean on Defense for Another Playoff Victory
GettyCornerback Christian Gonzalez Celebrates After Catching the Game-Winning Interception.
For the fifth straight game, the Patriots’ defense dominated. New England frequently sent five or even six rushers at Jarrett Stidham, making things incredibly difficult for him.
Late in the game, cornerback Christian Gonzalez made his first interception of the season, giving the Patriots the chance to reach the Super Bowl.
But the key figure besides the weather was quarterback Drake Maye. In a snowstorm unlike any other, it was Maye who once again carried the team on his shoulders. He finished with 65 rushing yards on 10 carries and one touchdown when the clock hit 00:00 after four quarters. He completed only 10 of 21 passes through the air for 86 yards. The signal-caller was also sacked five times.
Ten years ago, 13-year-old Maye attended Super Bowl L in Santa Clara with his father. Back then, he was cheering for the Carolina Panthers. That’s the team Maye beat 42-13 in the regular season.
And now, ten years later, the quarterback will return to Santa Clara as the leader of his own team to fight for the title. “I’m just proud of this team,” Maye said in the post-game interview.
WARRIORS!
GettyHe Promised to Bring Success Back to New England: Head Coach Mike Vrabel.
Head coach Mike Vrabel spoke only positively about his team’s run to the Super Bowl. “WARRIORS… I love our quarterback, I love our staff. I’m a lucky head coach”, Vrabel said during the AFC Championship ceremony. “We did what we needed to do to win a football game.”
Head coach Mike Vrabel could make history with a Super Bowl win: he would become the first one to have won the Lombardi Trophy both as a Patriots player and as a head coach.
It will be the Patriots’ 12th Super Bowl appearance. The six-time Super Bowl winner now has the chance to win a seventh ring. While the first six rings were earned during the Belichick–Brady era, the Patriots can look toward a positive future with Drake Maye. The 23-year-old quarterback is the second-youngest quarterback ever and just the third starting quarterback under the age of 24 to reach a Super Bowl, joining Dan Marino and Ben Roethlisberger.
Now, after breaking a long-standing playoff curse in Denver, the Patriots head into Super Bowl LX with a defense that refuses to yield and a young quarterback who has already rewritten his own story — and for a franchise built on tradition, the future has never looked brighter.
The Super Bowl will take place on February 8 in Santa Clara. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Patriots’ Drake Maye Makes History in Denver