Broncos set to play Patriots in AFC Championship Game

The Denver Broncos will host the New England Patriots at 1 p.m. on Sunday in the AFC Championship Game, broadcast by CBS.

The Patriots advanced on Sunday by beating the Houston Texans 28-16. The AFC’s No. 2 seed defended home field against the Chargers, then the Texans, on the back of a smothering defense. They only allowed three points against Los Angeles, then forced five turnovers from Houston.

New England, like Denver, has only lost three games this season. A Sophomore quarterback also leads them in Drake Maye, who was the frontrunner for the NFL’s regular-season MVP Award. Also like the Broncos, the proud franchise has been reborn behind a respected coach. The former Pats linebacker Mike Vrabel took over his old team as the coach last winter and has them one win from the Super Bowl in his first season.

Meanwhile, the Broncos will be without their star quarterback due to a broken ankle that he suffered in overtime of Denver’s win on Saturday over the Bills. So Sean Payton will hand the ball over to Jarrett Stidham, who hasn’t thrown a pass in the NFL since before either Maye or Nix were drafted. Still, a lot rides for the Broncos, who seek a ninth Super Bowl appearance as a franchise while Payton tries to become the first coach in NFL history to lead two separate franchises to titles. Payton led the Saints to a win in Super Bowl XLIV.

This will be Vrabel’s second AFC Championship Game as a coach, leading the Titans there in 2019. They lost to Kansas City. Though Vrabel played in six of these contests while playing linebacker, five of those were for the Pats.

The Broncos have met the Patriots five times in the playoffs, four of those have been Broncos wins, including in the 2014 and 2016 AFC Championship Games.

The top two teams in the AFC did not meet this year, last playing on Christmas Eve in 2023. It was Russell Wilson’s final start for the Broncos before Payton put in Stidham, then drafted Nix after that season.

Because Nix is out, the Pats are heavy favorites to win the game, opening at -245 to the Broncos +200 — New England is 4.5-point favorites.

Whoever wins will go to Stana Clara for Super Bowl LX.

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