After victories from both the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos, these two historic franchises are set for a third showdown in the AFC title game in the last 15-years. Aside from the Kansas City Chiefs, no other AFC team has enjoyed as much playoff success as the Broncos and Patriots. With one of these two franchises now guaranteed another conference title, the old guard of the AFC is settling back into place.
After the Broncos' incredible victory, the news broke that Bo Nix injured his ankle and is done for the season. Almost immediately, many felt as though whoever won the Patriots and Texans showdown would win the AFC title, immediately discrediting the Broncos. If you talk to anyone within the Broncos' facility in Denver and think that they are ready to hand the Super Bowl berth to Drake Maye, you'd better think again.
The Broncos will be the most significant home conference champion underdogs in roughly half a century, but that doesn't faze this team at all. They've been home underdogs before this year, and are going to be more than happy to wear that badge yet again. The Broncos absolutely can still win on Sunday, and there are three major reasons why.
Three reasons the Broncos can knock off the Patriots on Sunday afternoon
3. Poor offensive lines don't travel
One of the oldest cliches in football is that poor offensive lines do not travel well, and the poor might be a compliment for the Patriots' unit after last week. Maye was under consistent pressure all day and was more than happy to put the football on the ground in the backfield. A week after forcing five turnovers and recording three sacks, this is a great matchup for the Broncos' front seven.
2. The Patriots' house of horrors is Denver
The New England Patriots have traveled to Denver for playoff games before and have been a part of several memorable moments. Whether it was the Bradley Roby pass breakup on a two-point conversion after an absurd Rob Gronkowski fourth down conversion, the near pick-six by Champ Bailey, and plenty of others. The Patriots have never won in Denver, and would need to shake some ghosts to pick up their first such victory.
1. Why not us?
Why can't the Denver Broncos win on Sunday afternoon? They'd be far from the first team led by a backup quarterback to win a playoff game, and they still maintain one of the best defenses in football. The Patriots did basically all they could to hand the game to the Texans last Sunday, but were bailed out by one of the worst playoff quarterback performances of all time. If they can play safe and efficient football, paired with a possible return of JK Dobbins, the Broncos absolutely have a shot at home to move on to the Super Bowl.
Stidham is an obvious step down from Nix, but there is a clear level of trust in him from Coach Payton. He has been right on basically every decision he has made in Denver so far,