In the midst of Saturday's play-off celebrations, the "most unusual" NFL season in years got even stranger. The Denver Broncos had just beaten the Buffalo Bills to move within one win of the Super Bowl when head coach Sean Payton revealed that, on one of the last plays of the game, quarterback Bo Nix suffered a broken ankle. In his second year in the NFL, Nix has led Denver to the AFC's top seed and the AFC Championship game, but he has now been denied a shot at Super Bowl glory. Then as the NFL world reacted to that cruel blow, it dawned who would be tasked with keeping the Broncos' championship hopes alive: Jarrett Stidham. So now the man once seen as the heir apparent to Tom Brady will face the legendary quarterback's eventual successor, Drake Maye, for a place in Super Bowl 60.

Source: BBC January 22, 2026 13:45 UTC