The Denver Broncos won the Divisional Round, but lost their starting quarterback in a shocking situation.
The Denver Broncos had mere minutes to enjoy their 33-30 overtime victory over the Buffalo Bills before head coach Sean Payton delivered the stunning news postgame that quarterback Bo Nix would miss the rest of the postseason due to a fractured right ankle suffered on the second-to-last play of the game. In his place, backup Jarrett Stidham will get the start in the AFC Championship game next Sunday. The news was hard to process in real-time.
Now, Payton has a belief in Stidham, who the Broncos signed in 2023 as a free agent the first season that Payton began coaching in Denver. He hasn’t made an appearance this season and played in three games in 2024 but did not attempt one pass. The last time Stidham saw real action was in his first season with the Broncos in 2023 when Payton benched Russell Wilson. Payton pointed to the fact that Stidham faces the starting defense in practice to help with installs as a beneficial factor in his preparedness.
Here is the full story from Broncos Roundtable writer Bob McCullough on the stunning injury news and what’s unfolding in Denver as Stidham gets the start.
If there’s anyone to point to that’s had success with backup quarterbacks, it would be Payton, who almost initiated the strategy to carry a credible backup on the roster ready to step in – which was Teddy Bridgewater in 2019. Bridgewater went 5-0 in place of Drew Brees. Then there’s the famous case of Nick Foles stepping in and taking the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl victory. Denver fans are hoping for a similar case of magic.