More than a decade ago, the Broncos and Patriots were intertwined in one of the NFL’s best rivalries, featuring two of the league’s all-time great quarterbacks in Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.
Between 2011 and 2015, Denver and New England met three times in the playoffs, including twice in the AFC championship game. The Broncos claimed the latter two clashes. Now, the Denver–New England rivalry is back on the big stage, with a Super Bowl LX berth on the line in Sunday’s conference title clash at Empower Field at Mile High.
The quarterback situation, however, is quite different than before—but it likely points toward another big era for the league with significant ramifications on the field and for the business of the NFL.
New England is led by second-year signal-caller Drake Maye, a breakout star from the University of North Carolina and one of the top two candidates for this year’s MVP. The other is the Rams’ Matthew Stafford. While plenty of observers, and the Patriots themselves, certainly had high hopes for Maye, nothing from his rookie season suggested the rapid ascendancy that now has him as the league’s top-rated passer.
Working closely with first-year head coach Mike Vrabel, Maye and the Patriots won 14 games in a breakout regular season. It’s the team’s best since 2016, and also marks a 10-game improvement from 2024. New England also claimed its first division title since Brady’s departure in early 2020. Beyond Maye’s stardom, a key element of the team’s resurgence has been a clear focus on team selflessness and unity—a marked departure from the colder, more detached environment of former coach Bill Belichick.
“I think the hardest thing with a team is to get everyone to put team first and their own personal records in the background,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft said recently on ESPN NFL Countdown. “[Vrabel] has done that and they really feel connected to him.”
Denver, meanwhile, is forced to go with backup Jarrett Stidham at quarterback against the Patriots, after starter and second-year star Bo Nix fractured an ankle in an overtime victory against the Bills in the divisional playoffs. That game also cost Buffalo coach Sean McDermott his job, but for the Broncos, expectations remain high. In a certain irony, Stidham will also face the team that drafted him in 2019.
The Broncos’ change at quarterback has made the team the largest home underdog ever in an NFL conference championship game, with the Patriots favored by as many as five and a half points. That hasn’t fazed Denver, though.
“Broncos Country, in my opinion, is arguably the best fan base in sports,” Stidham said. “I’m really excited to get out there in front of them. And it’s been a long time since this game has been played here. I know they’ll be rocking on Sunday.”
Long term, Nix is expected to be a fixture for the Broncos, with plenty more high-profile clashes with Maye and the Patriots anticipated in the coming years. The teams will play in the 2026 regular season, and that game at Gillette Stadium will likely be one of the most coveted matchups as broadcasters lobby the league between now and the May release of next season’s schedule.
Beyond the extensive lore surrounding both franchises, the revival of the Patriots and Broncos and their young star power also bring the No. 10 and No. 17 U.S. media markets with Boston and Denver, respectively, back into the NFL limelight. That suggests more viewership boosts for the league and its rights holder networks that are already unfolding in historic fashion.
The owners of the two teams in the AFC championship, meanwhile, are a study in contrasts. Kraft, in place since 1994, is one of the league’s elder statesmen; he holds a close ear of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and he plays a key role on several league committees. The Broncos are conversely led by owner and CEO Greg Penner, part of the Walton-Penner family who oversees the Walmart empire, and they acquired the team less than four years ago.
The relative neophytes are definitely not lacking for ambition, though, and the Broncos under that leadership unveiled plans last year to open a retractable-roof stadium in 2031 in Denver’s Burnham Yard neighborhood.
The immediate term is focused on an intended return to the Super Bowl for the first time since winning Super Bowl 50 a decade ago with Manning.
