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 quarterback 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. Two plays later, he 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 but had two critical turnovers: a fumble on a first-half backward pass that led to a Patriots’ touchdown, and a late interception that sealed a 10-7 Patriots’ victory. 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 turning point for Stidham, and the game, came with 2:52 to go in the first half. About seven minutes after Broncos head coach Sean Payton elected to forgo a short field goal attempt while up 7-0, Stidham’s pass on fourth-and-1 at the New England 14-yard line was initially called a run but later ruled incomplete.
On third-and-4 from the Broncos’ 33-yard line, Stidham was pressured by Christian Elliss—a former Valor Christian High School star linebacker. Elliss drilled Stidham as he attempted to get rid of the ball toward running back Tyler Badie. The hit caused the ball to go backward a few yards and be recovered by Patriots’ Elijah Ponder, who ran it into the end zone.
Initially, the referees whistled the play dead, deeming it an incomplete pass. However, after review, they ruled it was a backward pass and therefore 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 admitted it was tough to swallow. “I put (the defense) in a terrible spot,” he said. New England began that touchdown drive at Denver’s 12-yard line.
“I was trying to throw it away to (Badie), who was in the area,” Stidham explained. “(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 that point on, Stidham never rediscovered his rhythm. The Broncos were shut out in the second half. While swirling snow impacted both offenses in the second half, Payton admitted 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 (which was tipped), and Stidham threw the game-sealing interception.
Broncos right tackle Mike McGlinchey put the onus for the offense’s struggles 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, it started snowing, and was windy, which made it impossible to kind of throw the ball forward. And that’s 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’s sentiments, noting the offense didn’t do enough to support Stidham in his first playoff start, his 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, we didn’t come away with enough points having had the momentum and the field position.”
Even with his uneven play following the early touchdown pass to Sutton, Stidham had the chance to be a hero in the waning minutes of the game as snow coated the stadium and the field became slippery.
But as Bo Nix, sidelined with a 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, and the pass was badly underthrown, leading to an easy interception.
Denver never got the ball back after that. Stidham watched from the sideline as the Patriots’ offense picked up a first down and then kneeled out the remaining seconds to advance to the franchise’s 12th Super Bowl appearance.
https://www.denverpost.com/2026/01/25/jarrett-stidham-broncos-turnovers-afc-championship-patriots/