Early on in the biggest start of his life, Jarrett Stidham had Empower Field rocking. Playing in place of the injured Bo Nix on Sunday, the Broncos backup QB looked shaky on his first three throws but heated up on Denver’s second drive of the AFC Championship Game. On third-and-10, Stidham threw a perfect deep ball to Marvin Mims Jr. for a 52-yard gain, then two plays later, found Courtland Sutton for a 6-yard touchdown pass to put the Broncos up 7-0.
Unfortunately for Stidham and the Broncos, that moment was the offense’s zenith. Stidham finished 17-of-31 passing for 133 yards with two critical turnovers, a fumble on a first-half backwards pass that led to a Patriots’ TD and then a late interception that sealed a 10-7 Patriots’ victory.
And with that, “Stiddy City” was left sad and disappointed on a cold Sunday in January, one fans will remember as a game where the Broncos left opportunities on the table to advance to the Super Bowl.
“Moments like this is why you play the game of football — all the long hours you put into it (as a backup)… I was obviously super excited for the opportunity,” Stidham said. “I just hate that we fell short.”
The volta for Stidham, and the game, came with 2:52 to go in the first half. It was about seven minutes after Broncos head coach Sean Payton elected to forgo a short field goal attempt up 7-0, when Stidham’s pass on fourth-and-1 at the New England 14 — a play that was initially called a run, according to Payton — fell incomplete.
On third and 4 from the Broncos’ 33-yard line, Stidham was pressured by Christian Elliss — a former Valor Christian High School star — and the linebacker drilled Stidham as the QB attempted to get rid of the ball in the direction of running back Tyler Badie.
As a result of Elliss’ hit, the ball went backward a couple of yards and was recovered by the Patriots’ Elijah Ponder, who ran it into the end zone. The refs whistled the play dead as it was initially deemed an incomplete pass, but after reconvening, ruled it was a backwards pass and thus a fumble. New England scored the game’s only touchdown two plays later to tie the game 7-7.
Payton labeled Stidham’s backward pass “a turning-point play.”
Stidham added that it’s “really hard for me to swallow that one, because I put (the defense) in a terrible spot.” New England started that TD drive at Denver’s 12-yard line.
“I was trying to throw it away to (Badie), who was in the area,” Stidham said. “(Elliss) just got up on me really fast, and I was trying to get rid of it. I just can’t put the ball in a position like that. I thought I had thrown it forward, but obviously, the (officials) said differently. I probably should’ve just eaten the sack anyways.”
From there, Stidham never rediscovered his rhythm as the Broncos were shut out in the second half.
While swirling snow impacted both offenses in the second half, Payton said there were certain pass plays he didn’t feel comfortable calling. Over five second-half drives, the Broncos punted three times, missed a 45-yard field goal on a kick that was tipped, and Stidham threw a pick.
Broncos right tackle Mike McGlinchey put the onus for the offense’s woes on the unit as a whole.
“I thought (Stidham) operated with a lot of confidence today,” McGlinchey said. “… As a team, we didn’t get this done. If anybody’s gonna try to put this on Stiddy, that’s (crap). I think he had a …. good day, given the circumstances.
“Obviously, starts snowing, and windy, and makes it impossible to kind of throw the ball forward. And that’s kind of the bummer about being down before that started.”
Stidham was sacked three times for 31 yards in the defeat, and the Broncos also had multiple dropped passes. Both the QB and Payton lamented not being able to capitalize on early-game momentum. Payton echoed McGlinchey, noting the offense didn’t do enough around Stidham to make up for the backup quarterback’s first playoff start, first start since 2023 and only his fifth career start.
“I thought (Stidham) fought hard in tough conditions,” Payton said. “I know this, I’m going to look at the film and be critical of myself. There were a number of things (on offense) that we just had to do better.
“We didn’t finish some runs, we dropped some passes again — I felt like that was a problem all year. And early on, when we had the momentum, let’s just say most of the first half, and we didn’t come away with enough (points) having had the momentum and the field position.”
Even with his uneven play following the early TD pass to Sutton, Stidham had the opportunity to play hero in the waning minutes of the game as snow coated the stadium and the field became slippery.
But as Nix and his fractured ankle looked on, Stidham dropped back on second-and-9 from the Denver 33-yard line and threw a go-ball down the right sideline intended for Mims. Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez was in tight coverage on Mims, and the pass was also badly underthrown, leading to an easy interception.
Denver never got the ball back after that, and Stidham watched from the sideline as the Patriots’ offense picked up a first down, then kneeled out the rest of the clock to advance to the franchise’s 12th Super Bowl.
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