It’s an unprecedented AFC Championship Game with a backup QB taking actual game snaps for the first time in two years.

But as everyone keeps noting, it’s not like Jarrett Stidham doesn’t have experience. He has played regular season NFL games before and was quite successful in one with the Raiders where he nearly led an upset win over the 49ers and their top-ranked defense Jan. 1, 2023. No less, he was doing this under Josh McDaniels, and we all know how that can go.

But this is the AFC Championship and Bo Nix has been a primary reason this...

Broncos Country!!! DNVRNortwoods here, and this week’s UFG is brought to us by quite possibly the Ultimate, Ultimate Fan – Doc LLV.

Doc, I hope you’re ready to be on the opposite side of this equation; we need a guiding light to get us through these scary times.

**editor’s note: So fun! And so hard, hahaha! But I am so ready. I usually send these really late to all of you (apologies again) and you turn it around in hours! It took me three days to finish this 😉 I also write too much, so there’s that. But it was...

Boy, has it been a week for Broncos Country. I was struck with sadness and concern at losing Bo Nix to a freak injury that punched me in the face post-game after one of the most memorable playoff games I’ve seen the Broncos play (and I’ve seen a hell of a lot of them).

I immediately took notice of how Sean Payton talked about it in his announcement press conference, and my attitude switched to hope.

I spent some time this week reviewing my past posts about Stidham to help give me a sense of what we can expect. I’ve...

The Denver Broncos had the best skill position players in the NFL. By skill position I mean offensive line. OL takes the most skill and consistent execution on the field. You don’t get plays off (on or off the field) and you have to be near perfect on every play. Argue with my if you wish, but you will be wrong.

There is still limited data on the performance of offensive lineman relative to just about every other position in the NFL, but there is more now than there was when I started writing about the Broncos.

There are three...

Welcome to the fourth installment of our AFC Championship Game roundtable discussions. In our first entry, we discussed Jarrett Stidham. The second entry focused on what Denver Broncos players needed to step up to take down the New England Patriots. Yesterday, the staff highlighted what concerned them the most about facing the Patriots.

For my final question, I wanted to focus on the Broncos. The team had a phenomenal regular season and has overcome a lot of adversity. They’ve embraced the underdog status and proved a lot of doubters wrong. They may be without Bo Nix, but you know they...

It’s the calm before the storm. On Sunday, the Denver Broncos will host the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game. The winner punches their ticket to Santa Clara, while the loser will have all offseason to analyze how and where they fell short. In order for the Broncos to be victorious on Sunday, these are three players I believe need to perform well.

Nik Bonitto — Edge Rusher

Last Saturday against the Buffalo Bills, standout edge rusher Nik Bonitto had two huge plays that resulted in turnovers that helped the Broncos advance. This weekend, they will need...

The Denver Broncos final injury report has come out ahead of their AFC Championship matchup with the New England Patriots.

The first notable thing is the situation around J.K. Dobbins. Head coach Sean Payton would not confirm if he’ll be playing earlier today, but now that the final injury report is out we can see he is ruled out for this game. That was something we were all hoping would not be the case, but he did continue to practice so if Denver can get past the Patriots we might see him on the field for the Super Bowl.

Good...

Broncos Country, it is AFC Championship time and that means another special week of the UFG!!!

First up is an “enemy” version with my good friend Mike Grimaldi, who qualifies as a diehard Patriots fan (but does have a son-in-law who loves the Broncos so perhaps one day we’ll win him over!) In fact, it was the classic Manning-Brady rivalry and my posts on MHR back in the day that brought us together. And in spite of him being a fan of a terrible team, we’ve become friends 😉

His wit and knowledge are obvious and give us some fun...

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...

The Denver Broncos have the opportunity to punch their ticket to Santa Clara and represent the AFC in Super Bowl 60. In order to do that, they will have to take down a well-coached New England Patriots squad that is having a banner season of their own. It won’t be easy, but if the Broncos can limit the ability of their X-Factor players on offense and defense, they will have a good shot at winning on Sunday. Here is a deeper look at Denver’s AFC Championship Game opponent.

2025 New England Patriots Regular Season Review

The Patriots sported a...

Welcome to the second installment of our AFC Championship Game roundtable discussions. For the first entry, I asked the staff what gave them confidence Jarrett Stidham could perform well against the New England Patriots. But we all know football is a team game.

It’s not going to just be on the shoulders of Stidham to deliver a victory. Every player on the team will have to execute at a high level. The Broncos need their most complete game of the season. Though there will certainly be some players or position groups that will have to perform extremely well in order...

Welcome to the third installment of our AFC Championship Game roundtable discussions. With the first entry, we talked about our confidence in Jarrett Stidham. For the second entry, we talked about the players and position groups that needed to step up to help defeat the New England Patriots.

For the third question, I wanted to get a pulse on how the staff felt about the Patriots as a team. You don’t win fourteen games in the regular season and topple the Buffalo Bills from being kings of the AFC East without having a well-coached squad. The Patriots are going to...