The Denver Broncos advanced to the AFC Championship Game with a 33–30 overtime win over the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, but the win came with a season-altering loss. Starting quarterback Bo Nix suffered a broken bone in his ankle on the second-to-last play of the game and will miss the remainder of the season, head coach Sean Payton confirmed after the game. Nix is scheduled to undergo surgery on Tuesday, officially ending his postseason run.
Nix completed 26-of-46 for 279 yards with three touchdown passes and one interception and rushed for 29 yards on 12 carries in the divisional round victory. Denver went 14–3 in the regular season with the 25-year-old as the starter and reached its first AFC Championship Game since the 2015 season.
With Nix unavailable, Payton confirmed veteran quarterback Jarrett Stidham will start the AFC Championship Game. Sam Ehlinger will serve as the No. 2 quarterback. Stidham, a seventh-year NFL player and six-year veteran overall, has been with the Broncos since the 2023 offseason and is in his third season with Denver.
Stidham has made 20 career appearances and four starts in the regular season. Over those games, he has completed 59.4% of his passes for 1,422 yards, eight touchdowns, and eight interceptions. As a starter, he holds a 1–3 record. His last meaningful starting experience came in 2023, when he started two games for the Broncos. The 29-year-old has not attempted a pass in a game since the 2023 season and appeared only once during this season, when he carried the ball once for minus-one yard against the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 26.
The AFC Championship Game will be Stidham's first career postseason appearance. He entered the league as a fourth-round pick by the New England Patriots in 2019 and spent two seasons in New England backing up Tom Brady in 2019 and Cam Newton in 2020. During the 2019 season, Stidham attempted just four passes for 13 yards. In 2020, he appeared in five games, completing 22 of 44 passes for 256 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions. He later spent one season with the Las Vegas Raiders before joining Denver.
Behind Stidham on the Broncos depth chart is Ehlinger, a former sixth-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts in 2021. He has played in eight NFL games with three starts, completing 63.4% of his passes for 573 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions. The 27-year-old has not thrown a pass in a game since the 2022 season.
Denver will host the AFC Championship Game at Empower Field at Mile High, facing the winner of the New England Patriots versus Houston Texans matchup. The injury to Nix has drastically upended the Broncos' postseason outlook, with Super Bowl odds jumping from +325 to +900. Nonetheless, Payton expressed confidence in Stidham, recognizing his familiarity with the offense after multiple seasons under the same system.
