DENVER — Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton is convinced that backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham can double his career win total when he takes Bo Nix’s place under centre in the AFC championship game against the New England Patriots next week.
Although Stidham received a paucity of the practice snaps during the season, he did get some more work during the playoff bye week after the Broncos (15-3) earned the AFC’s No. 1 seed.
“There’d be practices where I’m looking at (defensive coordinator) Vance (Joseph) and getting (mad) because Stiddy’s making our defence look bad,” Payton said. “He’s very accurate. He’s got a lot to his ball.”
Losing a starting quarterback to injury — as the Broncos lost Nix to a broken ankle as he led them to a 33-30 overtime win against Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills on Saturday — can devastate a team and short-circuit title hopes.
Payton points to many examples of teams that overcame similar adversity such as when Jeff Hostetler famously stepped in as the starting quarterback for the New York Giants in December 1990 when Phil Simms broke his foot and led the team through the playoffs, culminating in a 20-19 win over the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl 25.
Or when Nick Foles took over late in the season in Philadelphia when Carson Wentz tore an ACL in 2017 and led the Eagles to their first Super Bowl win, beating Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
“I understand where it’s coming from,” this notion that losing a starting QB is a death knell, Payton said, “but historically speaking, all bets weren’t off with Hostetler, they weren’t off in Philly, when we lost (Drew) Brees midseason against the Rams and (Teddy) Bridgewater won five in a row.
“All bets can be off. (But) they weren’t off for Houston this year when Davis Mills came in for (an injured C.J. Stroud) and I don’t know if he lost a game.”
Mills went 3-0 in three starts.
Stidham will be the seventh QB since starts began being tracked in 1950 to make his first start of a season in the playoffs, according to Sportradar. Frank Reich of the Bills is the only one to earn a win. Reich went 2-0 in place of an injured Jim Kelly in 1992, including a comeback from a 35-3 third-quarter deficit against Houston, before Kelly returned for the AFC title game.
Stidham started two games for the Raiders in 2022 and two for Denver in 2023, when he replaced a benched Russell Wilson and beat the Chargers before losing to Las Vegas. But he hasn’t thrown a pass in a game since.
The playbook will certainly change for Stidham, who took just one snap this season, a kneel-down against Dallas in Week 8.
“The plan’s always got to be built around the type and the skill sets of the players you’re playing with,” Payton said. “And so are there certain things that Bo does differently than Stiddy? Absolutely. And that’s where the work begins tonight.”
A fourth-round draft pick by New England out of Auburn in 2019, Stidham is largely an unknown commodity after appearing in just 20 games over six NFL seasons. But Payton has long touted his backup QB as one who could easily start for many teams.
Payton said he targeted Stidham in the draft when he was in New Orleans and watched as Stidham built his resume as Tom Brady’s No. 2: “I know exactly how he was coached in New England, and then I know how (Josh) McDaniels felt about him when he brought him from New England to Vegas. And then I know reports on how he played and then we saw him play in real time,” Payton said.
“But ultimately … it’s our three years here and our three years watching him day in and day out … And so he will be ready to go and ready for the moment.”
Nix will undergo surgery Tuesday in Birmingham, Alabama, but Payton demurred when asked if he had a sense of a recovery timeline or whether Nix would be back by training camp next summer.
“The surgeon gets his hands on the X-rays and so we have enough information now for everyone and the focus is now on the next week’s game,” Payton said.
Part of what made Payton’s postgame announcement about Nix’s injury so stunning was that Nix didn’t leave the game after driving Denver into range for the game-winning field goal for the Broncos’ first playoff win since Super Bowl 50. He even spoke with CBS in a postgame interview in which appeared eager to play in the conference championship.
When Wil Lutz trotted out for the game-winning field goal, Payton gave Nix a chest bump as he got to the sideline. Nix told him to be careful, saying his right ankle was really hurting. Payton figured it was just a sprain.
“I said you’ll be fine and I tapped him in the chest again,” Payton recounted. “I said just enjoy this field goal.”
The on-field jubilation filtered into a locker room celebration and Payton held his postgame news conference. When he returned to his office, GM George Paton and Beau Lowery, the team’s vice president of player health and performance, solemnly showed him the X-ray.
Payton went right to find Nix, who was outside the locker room surrounded by family members and some teammates including Stidham.
“And I just asked him how he was doing, are you hanging in there? And as I said to you guys last night, this is a strong-minded individual,” Payton said.
Payton is usually loathe to discuss injuries, such as those to wide receivers Troy Franklin (hamstring) and Pat Bryant (concussion) Saturday. But he said he decided to return to the lectern an hour after the game to deliver the news of Nix’s injury because he didn’t want his players to hear it from a news outlet with the big scoop before they held their team meeting Monday morning.
“I would have liked to have talked to the team first but like half of the locker room had left,” Payton said.
