Mile High Report
The Denver Broncos lost their leader in Bo Nix last week and will host the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game. With the Super Bowl berth on the line, they will roll with Jarrett Stidham at quarterback on a day with temperatures forecasted in the teens and wind chill down near zero degrees. It should be a classic old-school type defensive game.
Both teams finished tied for the best record in the AFC, so it should be no surprise that both are now ready to duel it out for the conference title. While it hurts to have Nix out for the season, there is hope this team can rally around Stidham and shock the NFL world on Sunday. They are playing with house money, so no better time to go all-in.
Denver Broncos vs. New England Patriots
Sunday, January 25, 2025 at 1:00 P.M. Mile High time
Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado
ATS Betting Lines: New England -4.5
Moneyline Odds: Denver +198 / New England -240
Over/Under: 42.5
Note: All odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.
Collectively, our Mile High Report staff is predicting a Broncos 22-17 win at home over the Patriots to advance to the Super Bowl. A little collective call-back to the playoff win Denver had over this team back in the 80s. Here’s how each of us predicted things would go individually:
We going back to the last time the Broncos rallied around a quarterback. In early 2016, it was around Hall of Fame goat Peyton Manning and in 2026 it will be around perennial backup, Jarrett Stidham. I believe in this team and they have the talent on defense to make this a close, hard fought type game. Give me that 2015 repeat! – Tim Lynch
History is on Denver’s side in these ones as they’ve never lost a home playoff game to New England. They also boast the best record in conference championship games out of any team. They may be relying on Jarrett Stidham to pull through, but let’s not pretend like the Broncos aren’t annoyingly good at making games ugly and dragged out. The defense is going to have their way with the Patriot offensive line, giving more opportunities for the offense to put points up. It’ll be lower scoring, but a win nonetheless. – Ross Allen
The Denver Broncos have won games this season scoring fewer than 20 points four times. Ross mentioned it. They can win ugly. To win against the Patriots, it’s going to have to be ugly. The defense is going to have a chance to make things muddy for Drake Maye, who struggled against a good Houston defense. Sean Payton will draw up an offensive scheme that helps Jarrett Stidham. This will be a boring, field position battle. Denver does it again. – Adam Malnati
