Millions of Broncos fans surely have heard of Stidham’s name at this point, as he is set to start in place of Bo Nix, who is out with a fractured ankle.
But few Broncos fans probably know what Stidham looks like. Though he has been a Bronco for three years, Stidham has barely gotten off the bench.
Nix led the Broncos to a 14-3 record, the AFC’s No. 1 seed, and a 33-30 overtime victory over the Bills on Saturday. Now the Broncos’ Super Bowl hopes ride with Stidham, a seven-year veteran and former Patriots backup who hasn’t thrown a regular-season pass in over two years and has just four career starts.
Get Starting Point
“I’ve prepared the same every single week like I am the starter,” Stidham said. “Just, obviously, hasn’t been that way. But my preparation hasn’t changed one bit.”
It’s the opportunity of a lifetime for “Stid the Kid,” a fourth-round pick of the Patriots in 2019. He will be the first quarterback ever to get his first start of the season in the conference championship game.
Stidham took all the reps Wednesday, then handled the press conference responsibilities for the starting quarterback.
“I’ve been impressed with the way he’s handled it,” said Sam Ehlinger, now the Broncos backup quarterback. “He’s been really excited, but also taking the same steps he always takes. The only thing that’s really changing is his reps on the field in practice and in the games.”
The last time Broncos backup QB Jarrett Stidham, a 2019 fourth-round draft choice of the Patriots, completed a pass in an NFL game was Jan. 7, 2024, in a start against the Raiders.Jack Dempsey/Associated Press
Stidham’s opportunities to play have been few. Two starts came for the Raiders at the end of the 2022 season, and two came at the end of 2023 as Stidham replaced Russell Wilson. Stidham hasn’t thrown a pass in a real game since Jan. 7, 2024, not even in mop-up duty.
For his career, Stidham has completed 59.4 percent of his passes, with eight touchdowns, eight interceptions, a 78.3 passer rating and a 1-3 record as a starter.
Despite his lack of game action, Stidham, 29, has played in Sean Payton’s system the last three years, and has his coach’s confidence.
“He’s very accurate. He has a lot to his ball,” Payton said. “In our three years, watching him day-in and day-out that you guys don’t have access to. He will be ready to go and ready for the moment.”
One game by Stidham, in particular, impressed his current teammates and coaches. When Stidham was a Raider in 2022, he completed 23 of 34 passes for 365 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions in a 37-34 overtime loss to the 49ers, who went 13-4 that year and reached the NFC Championship. That performance prompted Payton to sign Stidham in free agency two months later even though he had never worked with Stidham before.
Payton also liked that Stidham had been trained by Josh McDaniels for three years in New England and one in Las Vegas. Stidham’s only two offensive playcallers in the NFL have been McDaniels and Payton.
“I have a lot of respect for Josh, and I knew that he liked [Stidham],” Payton said. Then Stidham “really played well in that 49er game. That’s when we became aggressive.”
Stidham’s performance against the Niners stuck with Raiders pass rusher Maxx Crosby, too.
“He was out there slinging the ball, confident, breaking tackles,” Crosby said on the Let’s Go! podcast. “He’s not just going to go in there and dink and dunk and play it safe. He’s going to go out there and play quarterback and try to help them win the game.”
Backup quarterbacks have succeeded in the playoffs before — think Nick Foles, Jeff Hostetler, and some guy named Tom Brady all winning Super Bowls — but none had to make their first start of the season in the conference championship game. Ehlinger said he and Stidham never get practice reps with the starters during the regular season.
“One of ‘Stiddy’s’ great strengths is his mental aptitude and his progressions in understanding plays,” Payton said. “There’d be practices where I’m looking at [defensive coordinator] Vance [Joseph], like getting pissed off because ‘Stiddy’ is making our [starting] defense look bad.”
Stidham also said that the Broncos’ defense will get him prepared for Sunday’s game. The Broncos finished No. 3 in points allowed and No. 1 in sacks.
“Reps are obviously everything, but we practice full-speed here,” Stidham said. “That’s one thing I love about Sean — when I played for Bill [Belichick] in New England it was the same way. They try to make practices as hard as possible. That way, Sunday is not a shock.”
Payton has been pumping up Stidham’s stature this week, calling him better than some NFL starters, without naming any.
“I said this at the start of the season, I felt our [No.] 2 was inside the best 32 [NFL quarterbacks], and I think everyone feels that way,” Payton said. “He’s going to rip it, and that’ll be our approach. He’s got this calm demeanor that I think suits him well.”
The pressure is on Stidham to keep his team’s dream season alive and lead his teammates to the Super Bowl. The betting markets are skeptical, with the Patriots sitting as 5½-point favorites as a road team. But Stidham is trying to just enjoy the moment.
“We’re playing in the AFC championship, we’re one of the last four teams playing, what’s not fun about this?” he said. “So we’re going to go out there and give it the best we’ve got.”
Ben Volin can be reached at [email protected].
