The Denver Broncos advanced to the AFC title game after a massive overtime victory over the Buffalo Bills, but the biggest storyline from this one was Bo Nix breaking his ankle. He'll have surgery later this week and will be out for the rest of the season.
As of now, Nix's status for the 2026 NFL Season does not appear to be in jeopardy at all. A broken ankle is typically something that may not take a ton of time to recover from. Anyway, with Nix out of the lineup, the Broncos will be turning to Jarrett Stidham. Fortunately, Stidham has been with the Broncos for three seasons now and does know the system.
And further, Sean Payton's history with backup QBs should bode well for the Broncos chances at a miraculous Super Bowl run in 2025.
Sean Payton has gotten the most out of his backup QBs
The most recent example was actually Payton's final year as head coach of the New Orleans Saints. Jameis Winston began the year as the starting QB, but has been a backup QB for years now. All of Winston, Trevor Siemian, Taysom Hill, and Ian Book got starts in 2021. Winston got 7, Siemian got 4, Hill got 9 total with the other positions he plays, and Book got one.
All of those Saints' quarterbacks combined for the following:
293/503
3,186 yards
29 touchdowns
13 interceptions
87.4 passer rating
What's hilarious here is that Winston and Siemian actually both played rather well, combining for 25 touchdown passes and just six interceptions. The Saints finished with a winning record that year, too, so it's not like this team was a dysfunctional mess.
Perhaps the most notable example was Teddy Bridgewater, as he was Drew Brees' backup in the 2019 season, the year he needed to start five games because of an injury to Brees. In those five games, the Saints went 5-0, and Bridgewater played quite well:
133/196 (67.9%)
1,384 yards
9 touchdowns
2 interceptions
99.1 passer rating
Sean Payton knows how to work with backup quarterbacks - he has a legitimate history with it, and Jarrett Stidham is just as talented as some of the backup quarterbacks he has previously worked with. It's not outrageous to suggest that Stidham comes out and plays well enough for the Broncos to win the AFC title game.
And when you think about it - all this season can be is two more games, and one of them is guaranteed to be at home, where Denver simply does not lose much at all.