Patriots Advance To Super Bowl LX With AFC Championship Victory Over Broncos

FOXBOROUGH, MA — The New England Patriots are heading to the franchise’s NFL-record 12th Super Bowl after they defeated the Denver Broncos by three points in a low-scoring, snow-filled AFC Championship game this Sunday.

What started out as a sunny and comfortable contest turned into a blizzard by the game’s end. Unheralded Broncos backup quarterback and former Patriot Jarrett Stidham did not take long to settle in, as he completed a deep pass to receiver Marvin Mims Jr. for a 52-yard deep pass on third down on his team’s second possession of the game.

Two plays later, Denver found the endzone off the right arm of Stidham when he hit Pro Bowl receiver Courtland Sutton in the back right corner of the endzone. Broncos fans could not have asked for a better start halfway through the first quarter.

From that point forward, both offenses would struggle through the majority of the first half, with the score still 7-0 when the first major turning point of the game took place. Stidham lost the ball under pressure, after originally ruling the play an incomplete pass and an intentional grounding penalty, which was eventually ruled a backwards pass, which gave New England possession in scoring position. Two plays later, Patriots Quarterback Drake Maye ran the ball himself to the house to tie the game up at 7. Both teams’ kickers would then each miss a field goal to finish off a sloppy offensive first half.

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The teams emerged into a wintry scene in the second half, and the offensive struggles only intensified. The Patriots consumed nine minutes and thirty seconds of the third quarter with their opening drive, but the passing game could not get going. Maye had more rushing yards than passing by the drive’s end, and New England could only come away with a field goal, giving them a 10-7 lead.
The Patriots got the ball back once more with the three-point lead in the third quarter, which would end in another field goal attempt, except this time Kicker Andy Borregales would miss his second of the game.

Three straight punts later, the Broncos found themselves with excellent field position, but ever-increasing snowy conditions caused kicker Will Lutz to miss a 46-yard field goal.

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New England seemed to virtually give up on throwing the ball in the fourth quarter as the flurries were blowing against them, and Maye struggled with accuracy in the weather.

Clinging to that three-point advantage with two minutes and 11 seconds, Stidham threw a third-down interception to All-Pro Cornerback Christian Gonzalez. The Patriots only needed one first down to put the game away. After two straight runs by Rhamondre Stevenson, Maye kept the ball himself on third down and got the clinching conversion to send New England back to “the show.”

“I can’t tell you how proud I am to be associated with these guys and this organization,” Patriots Head Coach Mike Vrabel said during the Lamar Hunt trophy presentation after the game. “I and our staff will do everything we can to have them ready for the game.”

The Patriots now await the winner of the NFC Championship between the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks to see who they will face in two weeks at Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, California.

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