Empower Stadium at Mile High (Denver) — For a franchise that has won its share of playoff games over the years, never have the Patriots leaned on their defense more than they did Sunday.
The Patriots are going to the Super Bowl for the 12th time in their history thanks to a snowy 10-7 win over the Broncos, and as the harsh weather shut down two offenses in the second half, New England was happy to win with its defense, a challenge it embraces this time of year.
“It’s been that way, all playoffs, and we knew it was going to be that way,” cornerback Carlton Davis told me in the corner of a joyous locker room after the win. “Because you get to the playoffs, there’s nothing but good defenses. So we knew he had to play better than their defense, and that was the whole story this whole playoff run. We’ve got to do it again in a couple of weeks, but this team, we’re built for it.”
Never have the Patriots won a playoff game while scoring fewer points. They had been 1-12 all-time when scoring less than 16 in a playoff game, with the lone win being a 13-3 victory over the Rams in Super Bowl LIII. They mustered 206 yards of total offense, again the fewest in their 40 playoff wins, trumping the 228 they had in a 1997 win over the Dolphins.
And if the playoffs are when teams lean on their defenses more, the same is true for games in harsh conditions like Sunday.
“We kind of always feel like it’s on us, even though we’ve got Drake Maye the MVP running the offense,” cornerback Christian Gonzalez, who ended Denver’s last scoring chance with an interception (his first of the 2025 season), said while celebrating at his locker. “As a defense, that’s what you want. You go out there thinking it’s on us. That’s how it is.”
Christian Gonzalez came down with the game-sealing interception with 2:11 remaining. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
New England’s lone touchdown came largely on the back of its defense as well. Late in the second quarter, trailing 7-0 when it was still cold but sunny, Patriots linebacker Christian Ellis pressured Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham, and in trying to throw the ball away, he threw it backwards for a live ball the Patriots recovered. Were it not for the play being whistled dead, the defense would have scored the touchdown, but it set the offense up at the Broncos’ 12-yard line. Two plays later, the game was tied.
For the Patriots’ defense, the motivation wasn’t playing better than their offense, but rather outplaying the Broncos’ defense, which they felt got too much of the attention going into the game. The Broncos, in fairness, ranked third in points allowed and second in yards, but the Patriots ranked in the top six in both categories as well.
“I feel like every week, we show who we are, and we still don’t get [any] respect,” defensive tackle Milton Williams said in a locker room scrum. “I didn’t expect [success] this fast, but we’ve got a bunch of dawgs over there that are hungry, a lot of guys that have been counted out, told they can’t do this, can’t do that. Nobody really believed in us all year, picking everybody else all year, all this noise. None of that matters.”
The Patriots’ offense has been a big part of their success this season, with Maye making a case for MVP and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels in the mix for Assistant Coach of the Year. But after averaging 28.8 points per game in the regular season, second-best in the league, they’ve managed just 18 points per game in their three playoff wins.
New England’s defensive line was motivated Sunday by talk of Denver having the best offensive line in the league, but they came through with three sacks and held the Broncos to 181 yards of total offense. Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore, asked about finding success against Broncos guard Quinn Meinerz, was blunt.
“First-team All-Pro. Our coach tells us all the time that All-Pro [doesn’t] mean s—,” Barmore said in a locker room scrum. “It doesn’t matter. Our coaches tell us every time, they’re All-Pros, so they’re the targets. That’s the mission. He’s a hell of a player, but this is for us, our team.”
Even with a backup at quarterback, the Broncos played with confidence. Up 7-0 in the second quarter, facing a fourth-and-1 at the Patriots’ 14-yard line, they could have taken a field goal but went for it, with the Patriots getting a key stop with pressure on a Stidham incompletion.
Denver wouldn’t score again, and New England got its first lead on the opening drive of the second half — a 23-yard field goal from Andy Borregales. And as snow quickly covered the field, the scoring for both teams just froze.
Christian Barmore and the Patriots’ defense were able to sack Jarrett Stidham three times and hit him seven times in their AFC Championship Game win. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
The Patriots didn’t let the Broncos cross midfield on their next three chances, and when an errant punt under such poor conditions set the Broncos up at the New England 36, the Patriots’ defense stepped up again, allowing five yards on three plays. That set the Broncos up for a 45-yard field goal that could have tied the game, but that was blocked by defensive lineman Leonard Taylor. As the snow got steadier, so did the Patriots’ defense in response.
“It just kept getting worse and worse and worse, and our defense was playing really good, and we were able to do just enough offensively to give them a break,” Vrabel said at the podium.
New England’s defense has carried it in the playoffs, allowing just 26 points in three games. In 12 previous playoff runs of three games or more, the Patriots had given up at least 44 points in each. All but one of their Super Bowl teams have only played three playoff games, and the fewest points those teams gave up was a combined 47 points in 2001.
The Patriots weren’t expected to be here, not after back-to-back 4-13 seasons that resulted in the firings of former head coaches Bill Belichick and Jerod Mayo. To go from 4-13 to 14-3 in one season is incredible, but to validate that success by making the Super Bowl makes the turnaround something else, something that can be completed in two weeks.
“It’s amazing. You can’t even describe this feeling,” Davis told me. “One thing I can say is I’ve got a good group of guys with me. Coaches, players, the whole organization. We all deserve this. We’ve been putting in the work to get here, and we’re finally here.”
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