The Denver Broncos will start Jarrett Stidham in the AFC title game this weekend against the New England Patriots. It is the third time Denver has hosted New England in the final AFC playoff game since 2013. In perfect fashion, the Broncos won the AFC title over the Pats in 2013 and 2015.
Bo Nix broke his ankle near the end of the overtime period and is going to miss this game, and the Super Bowl if Denver made it that far. Fortunately, Stidham is a capable backup and might honestly be one of the best QB2s in the league, which is significant. Another huge reason why Stidham could play well is that he's been in this system for three seasons now.
He's also played well before in the regular season. Before the Broncos, Stidham was on the Las Vegas Raiders and overlapped with stud defensive end, Maxx Crosby. Well, Crosby seems to think the Broncos will be in good hands with Stidham.
Maxx Crosby saw just how good Jarrett Stidham could be first-hand back in 2022
Here is some of what Maxx Crosby had to say recently on "Let's Go" from SiriusXM:
Raiders DE Maxx Crosby, via @SiriusXMNFL on “Let’s Go”, shares his insight on former teammate Jarrett Stidham and the AFC Championship Game — which he envisions will be a low-scoring close contest in New England’s favor. pic.twitter.com/irmi0ErD2Q
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) January 20, 2026
"I got to go against him [Jarrett Stidham] in practice all the time because he was a scout-look quarterback. We got into it all the time, because I can't help myself, I'm hitting the backup quarterbacks every time. I hit our starting quarterbacks sometimes and get sent out of practice. It is what it is. So Stidham, the one thing I respected the most out of him is that he didn't back down whatsoever. He was talking sh-- back to me. I was like 'OK, I like this guy. I know I can go in the foxhole with him and he's going to fight back.' ... He's not going to go in there and just dink-and-dunk and play it safe. He's going to go out there and play quarterback and try to help them win the game."
This is truly great to hear from Crosby. He did go on to say that he thinks the Patriots will do enough to win the game, but he was very complimentary of Stidham. I'd also have to wonder if Stidham has watched Bo Nix play with that competitive edge since 2014 and wants to replicate that a bit. Both Nix and Stidham were at Auburn in college at one point and are surely close friends.
Not only is Stidham capable, but there's also likely a more personal, human element at play here. Stidham wants to play well surely because a close friend of his isn't able to finish the job, but he can.
Overall, the Broncos are going to be in good hands with Jarrett Stidham.