The Denver Broncos will have the chance to play for the AFC Conference and a Super Bowl 60 ticket on Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High against the New England Patriots after defeating the Buffalo Bills by a 33-30 score in the Divisional round of the 2025-26 NFL playoffs.
This season so far has had multiple parallels with the 2015-16 season, when Peyton Manning and the Broncos lifted the Vince Lombardi trophy at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The parallels include the stadium where the big game will be played, Kansas City's division struggle (the last time KC did not win the AFC West, the Broncos won the Super Bowl), a 10-2 start to the season, and being the number one seed in the conference.
Following the Bo Nix season-ending injury announcement, there is a new crazy parallel between the 2015 Super Bowl 50 season and this season.
Broncos can still make and win the Super Bowl despite losing Bo Nix for the remainder of the Playoffs:
Head coach Sean Payton announced that the Broncos will roll with backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham in the AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots next Sunday, following the Bo Nix season-ending ankle injury. Not only will Jarrett start a playoff game against the team that drafted him, but he will have the chance to prove doubters wrong and extend Denver's season for at least one more game.
Speaking of backups and parallels, the last time the Broncos won the Super Bowl, the starting quarterback suffered an injury, and the backup had to step in. Yes, Peyton Manning suffered a foot injury that sidelined him for six weeks. Brock Osweiler stepped in and won 4 out of the 6 games with Manning out. Will it happen again? This time it did not happen during the regular season, but still, there is a similarity.
All the parallels mentioned above, and now another one with Nix injured and Stidham having to step in ... who knows if history repeats itself and the Broncos win Super Bowl 60? Additionally, the last time the Broncos won the Super Bowl, they were the number one seed in the conference and hosted the New England Patriots (2nd seed) in the AFC Championship. Ten years later, it will be the same matchup for a Super Bowl ticket.
Even crazier, there is a chance there will be snow for Sunday's game, and the last time the Broncos hosted the Patriots in a snow game, Osweiler (backup) was the starter, won the game, and ended up winning the Super Bowl later in the season.
Lots of deja vus, parallels or however you want to call them. It is a playoff game, and anything can happen regardless of the Broncos not having their starting quarterback.