DENVER, Colo. — Jarrett Stidham will turn 30 years old in a few months, and he's got what a lot of people think is the best job in America. He's a backup quarterback who makes $6 million a year to hold a clipboard on Sundays.

Sure, he practices hard, watches a lot of film and contributes great gems in meetings, but on Sundays, he's watched Bo Nix play quarterback for the Denver Broncos for the past two years. Stidham hasn't thrown a single pass for two years.

That all changes on Sunday when the No. 1-seeded Broncos host the No. 2-seed New England Patriots. Nix was injured late in the Broncos' overtime win over Buffalo last Sunday, and needed ankle surgery.

In steps Stidham, a former Auburn star, to start the AFC Championship Game. He'll be the first quarterback to start a title game without a start all season since Roger Staubach did it for the Dallas Cowboys in 1972. (Staubach lost that NFC title game to Washington, 26-3).

This is very different, of course. Staubach won a Super Bowl for the Cowboys the previous year before a preseason injury knocked him out of most of the 1972 season.

Stidham hasn't done diddly. He played in a meaningless Week 18 game in 2023, and hasn't seen the field since then.

But don't think for a minute that Denver coach Sean Payton doesn't have faith in him. He absolutely does. That's why it was important for the Broncos to sign Stidham to a two-year, $12 million deal.

Just in case.

And now, here's the case. He's ready. That's what veterans do.

“I think every week, going back to when I was backing up (former Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson), I’ve prepared the same every single week like I am the starter,” Stidham said. “Obviously, it hasn’t been that way minus two weeks, but my preparation hasn’t changed one bit. That’s just kind of how I view it.”

Payton understands the value of a backup quarterback that can win games. Teddy Bridgewater won five straight for him in New Orleans in 2019 when future Hall of Famer Drew Brees got hurt. And as a young assistant with the New York Giants, he watched Jeff Hostetler win a Super Bowl in 1991, coming off the bench when starter Phil Simms got hurt.  

Payton and the Saints paid Teddy Bridgewater $7.25 million in 2019, just in case. You always have to be ready, and Payton is a big believer in that. The financial investment is worth it.

Bob McCullough of Broncos Roundtable wrote about the importance of Denver's depth.

The thing to remember about the Payton-Stidham relationship is that they've been together for three years in Denver. Stidham knows the entire playbook, so it's not like Payton — who just might be the best play-caller in the game — will have to simplify things for Stidham.

Sure, during film sessions breaking down the Patriots, Stidham might have some ideas on what he likes most, but Payton will have full confidence in Stidham to successfully run anything he calls.

Nothing will catch Stidham off-guard.

The Patriots, who are 16-3 this season under first-year coach Mike Vrabel, will have something to say about that, of course. Their defense has been great all year, and they've only allowed 19 total points in playoff wins over the Los Angeles Chargers and Houston Texans.

The Pats would have been a serious challenge for Bo Nix, too. Let's not forget that New England is a perfect 8-0 on the road. They've been tough to beat all year, and that will not change.

But the Denver defense is great, as well, and this will likely be a low-scoring slugfest. It just might come down to one play to win the game, and Payton and the Broncos are confident Stidham can make that play when the time comes.

There's no holding back. 

Peyton Manning, who won Super Bowls with Indianapolis and Denver and is one of the all-time greatest quarterbacks, still spends a lot of time with the Broncos. He knows you don't hold back with Stidham.

“I know one thing: don’t hold anything back in this game,” Manning said during a radio interview earlier in the week. “If you've got a good play, if you've got a trick play, if you've got something you think might work, go for it.

"It’s a long offseason if you don’t win this game, so you might as well go for it. I think Sean has a good feel for Stidham and knows the plays that he likes. Certainly Stidham doesn’t get the same amount of reps that Bo does during the regular season, but he had lots of training camp reps and played in the preseason.”

The Patriots know they're still going to get Denver's best shot, and you can never put anything past Sean Payton, who will throw the kitchen sink at them.

"They do a great job with personnel packages, can align in a lot of funky formations and challenge your rules and schemes defensively,'' New England linebacker Robert Spillane said. "Lot of motions. Lot of ways to get people open. So we have to be really good with our matches, our locations in zone coverage and playing sound in the back end, especially this week."

The game starts at 3 p.m. ET today at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver. It will be televised on CBS, and streamed on Paramount-Plus.

As of Sunday morning, the Patriots are 3.5-point favorites, according to the Fanduel.com gambling website. The over/under 43.5. This line has been all over the place since the Nix injury. The Broncos were 1.5-point favorites last Sunday, but then it jumped all the way to Patriots minus-5.5. Money has been rolling in on the Broncos ever since, correcting it to 3.5 as of Sunday morning.

The weather could be a factor as well on Sunday. Temperatures at kickoff are expected to be in the low-20s, and there is a chance of some snow. Winds are expected to be about 10 mph from the east, with gusts to 16 mph. 

DENVER BRONCOS: Denver earned the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC by finishing 14-3 and winning the AFC West by three games over the Los Angeles Chargers. They won the tiebreaker for the top seed by having a better record vs. common opponents against New England. ... In the playoffs, Denver had the first-round bye and then beat Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills 33-30 in overtime last Saturday in Denver. ... Denver last played New England in the AFC title game 10 years ago, when Peyton Manning beat Tom Brady 20-18 in the final game of their historic rivalry.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: New England went 14-3 to earn the No. 2 overall seed. They won their first AFC East title since 2019. In the playoffs, they beat the Los Angeles Chargers 16-3 and the Houston Texans 28-16, both at home at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. ... New England has never won a postseason game in Denver.  They are 0-4 all time. ... Drake Maye, the third-overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, is playing on the road in the postseason for the first time. He's been a bit loose with the football in these first two games, with two interceptions and three lost fumbles. He can't do that against Denver's No. 1-ranked defense, which allowed only 29 touchdowns all season. 

 Tom Brew is the National Editor-in-Chief at Roundtable Sports. You can follow him in Twitter (X) @tombrewsports

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