DENVER — Putting the Texans behind them, and looking ahead to the Broncos, it can’t be understated how much of a gift it is for the Patriots that Broncos quarterback Bo Nix will not play.
Nix, 25, was selected just nine picks after Drake Maye in the 2024 NFL Draft. In a talented class, no quarterback has more wins than Nix. In his rookie season, he and Denver finished with a 10-7 record. This season, 14-3 and the #1 seed. He led the league in pass attempts, completing 63.4% and tossing 25 touchdowns.
None of that matters now. Nix will miss the remainder of the season after breaking his ankle on the second-to-last play of Saturday’s win over the Bills.
It’s a tough break for the Broncos, and a gift for the Patriots. The Broncos will now look to backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham, who hasn’t attempted a pass since the 2023 regular season finale. The 29-year-old out of Auburn didn’t register a statistic last season or this season.
The Patriots know Stidham well. He was drafted by New England in the fourth round of the 2019 draft and sat behind Tom Brady on the bench. Three years later, he started two games for the Raiders, who were at the time coached by current Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. He lost both games.
The Patriots open as five-and-a-half-point favorites in Denver on Sunday. It will be Patriots quarterback Drake Maye’s first road playoff game. Away games don’t appear to faze these Patriots, though, finishing with an impressive 8-0 record on the road.
Stidham is no different than any other quarterback in the NFL. He has dreams of being the man. There was likely a time when he thought he’d be Tom Brady’s successor in New England, but it just didn’t happen that way. Instead, Stidham has a 1-3 record in four career starts over seven seasons. He’s amassed a pedestrian 1,422 yards with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Six quarterbacks were taken ahead of him in the 2019 draft. The first will likely have a new team next season, the second had a season-ending injury with his second team, the third is dead, the fourth is the backup in Seattle, the fifth hasn’t taken a snap since 2019, and the sixth retired after being cut in 2021.
Stidham is obviously excited for the opportunity in front of him. The chance to win the conference championship and punch a ticket to the Super Bowl is part of that lifelong dream of a quarterback. But based on the performances the Patriots defense has put together the past two weeks, I’m not sure how thrilled he really is. The menacing unit in these playoffs has forced nine turnovers, scored a touchdown, and pressured the opposing quarterbacks 66 times.
There’s been a handful of backup quarterbacks in the history of the league who have taken their team to the Super Bowl, but none of them took over ahead of the conference championship. In 2017, Eagles backup quarterback Nick Foles took over in week 14 and beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl. Colin Kaepernick took over for an injured Alex Smith in week 10 of the 2012 season for the 49ers. Tom Brady took over for Drew Bledsoe early in the 2001 season, and the rest is history.
It’ll be quite the story if Stidham can pull it off against a motivated Patriots team. He’s got a few things going for him. He’s got quarterback guru Sean Payton, who will have him ready to die on the field if that’s what it takes. He’s also on his home turn at Mile High Stadium, an ominous place feared by many due to its high elevation. The Patriots have sour memories in that place over the years.
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