The New England Patriots take their perfect 8-0 road record (although only one of those wins was against a team that finished the season with a winning record) to Denver’s Mile High City, where they will face the Broncos this Sunday for a place in the Super Bowl. However, in the capital of Colorado, they are confident in their good run of 15 wins in their last 18 home games.
Times have changed and now this battle will be in the hands of quarterbacks Drake Maye (Patriots) and Jarrett Stidham (Broncos), with the former vying for MVP at 23 years of age. Gone are the matchups between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning when the latter moved to Denver in the latter stages of his career.
The playoff rivalry between the two franchises began in the 1986 season, with a 22-17 victory for John Elway’s Broncos. The overall postseason record is 4-1 in Denver’s favor (the Patriots only won at home) and the most notable duels were those between Brady and Manning. The score between the two QBs in Broncos vs. Patriots playoff games is in favor of the latter by 2-0.
On January 19, 2014, they faced each other for the AFC Championship with the Broncos winning 26-16. Manning threw for 400 yards and two touchdowns, while Brady had 277 and one TD. The last Brady vs. Manning matchup was in 2016, again fighting for the AFC title. The two stars met for the 17th time in their careers and on this occasion the Broncos won 20-18. Peyton threw for 176 yards and two scores, while Tom reached 310 yards and a touchdown, although with two interceptions.
This year the quarterback duel does not point to a historic rivalry, as Jarrett Stidham will take the starting role as Bo Nix was injured in the last game. Stidham has not played this season and it is worth remembering that in 2019 he was selected by the Patriots to be Tom Brady’s backup. It is Stidham’s time, who has gone two years without throwing a pass in an official game, and the truth is that replacing Nix is very complicated, especially if we take into account his performance with the score against: this season he orchestrated six comebacks in the fourth quarter or in overtime. Who knows if on Monday it is not him who grabs the headlines.
Then there’s Maye at the Patriots, a 23-year-old QB who in his second year in the league is already putting up MVP numbers. On paper he’s the wonder boy, but his playoff performance is not as clean as it is in the regular season: he’s been sacked 10 times, with two passes intercepted and six fumbles. Despite this, the Pats comfortably beat the Chargers and Texans and Maye continued to throw touchdown passes with accuracy. It’s also his time to step up.
Read the full article here
