The Patriots are AFC Champions — and on this week’s Patriots Roundtable Podcast, Eddie and Tyler break down how New England survived a 10-7 grinder in Denver, why the defense has defined January, and what a worst-to-first Super Bowl LX berth really says about the Vrabel-era foundation.
The 2025 New England Patriots are AFC Champions.
On Sunday, New England secured its spot in Super Bowl LX by outlasting the Denver Broncos, 10-7, in an AFC title game that turned into a defensive struggle shaped by the elements from start to finish. It was the Patriots’ first postseason win in Denver in franchise history — and fittingly, it took a full-team identity win to get it done.
On this week’s episode of the Patriots Roundtable Podcast, Eddie and Tyler react to the AFC Championship Game victory and zoom out to put the entire 2025 season in context. From January on, Mike Vrabel rebuilt more than a roster. He rebuilt the way the Patriots operate — and now that vision has carried New England back to the sport’s biggest stage.
The episode opens with immediate reaction from Denver and the defining swings of the game. The Broncos struck first with a 7-0 lead, but New England answered in the second quarter when Drake Maye cashed in a short-field opportunity by running in a six yard quarterback keeper to tie it. From there, it became the kind of game the Patriots have been winning all postseason: tight, physical, and decided by who could survive the final sequence.
That sequence, of course, belonged to the defense. Christian Gonzalez sealed the AFC title with his first interception of the season on Denver’s final possession — the finishing play on another January performance that has become routine for this group. New England also made the critical special teams play late, with Leonard Taylor III blocking a game-tying field goal attempt to keep the Patriots ahead when Denver threatened to flip the script.
The Patriots did it on the road, again. New England finished the regular season as the 12th team in NFL history with an undefeated 8-0 road record — and with Sunday’s win, became the first team in NFL history to go 9-0 on the road in a season.
The offense didn’t have to be pretty — and it wasn’t. Maye finished 10-of-21 passing for 86 yards and was sacked five times, but his legs were the difference. He finished with 10 carries for 65 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown, converting six first downs on scramble attempts and sparking the game-deciding third quarter drive: a 16 play, 64 yard march that ate up 9:31 and set up the field goal that made it 10-7.
The Patriots didn’t just get hot in December. They arrived early, and they arrived ready — built to handle moments like this.
Up next: a full Super Bowl LX matchup breakdown against the Seattle Seahawks.
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