The Denver Broncos have had a season to remember. The Broncos tied a franchise record with 14 regular-season victories, tying the 1998 team, which won Super Bowl XXXIII. Denver has reached the AFC Championship Game for the first time since 2015, another Broncos team that won the Super Bowl.

But after beating the Buffalo Bills 33-30 in a Divisional Weekend game last week, Denver will face the New England Patriots on Sunday for the AFC’s spot in Super Bowl LX without quarterback Bo Nix. The former Pleasant Valley High School and Auburn QB started 25 wins in his first two seasons, the third-most in NFL history, but an ankle injury sustained on the game-winning drive against Buffalo won’t allow Nix to add to his total. He had surgery for the injury on Tuesday.

“It was a bummer,” Broncos Pro Bowl cornerback Patrick Surtain II said. “I feel for him, just the work that he put in consistently and having a season end like this. Obviously, after the game, emotions running high, then when I heard that news, it felt like my energy was drained a little bit.”

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But the former Alabama All-American isn’t throwing in the towel on the 2025 campaign.

“We ain’t make it this far just to come this far,” Surtain said. “So we realize that we have a lot on the horizon to look forward to, and, I mean, this is championship football now, so we got to lock in and buy into the process.”

Surtain is still looking ahead for two reasons – backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham and the Denver defense.

“I’ve seen a lot of confidence,” Surtain said of Stidham, who has taken four snaps this season. “He’s got a type of mojo with him, a type of confidence with him that you rarely see. And I’m excited for him for this opportunity. He’s got everything it takes to shine on this level, and I’m looking forward to it.”

Surtain defined Stidham’s mojo as “just the way how he operates, man. He’s just cool, calm and collected. He come into the building every day with a smile on his face, and, you know, he talks a little trash here and there, and you got to enjoy that and you look forward to that when you see that confidence. It definitely resonates with the whole team, for sure.”

RELATED: JARRETT STIDHAM: ‘I’M JUST GOING TO GO OUT THERE AND PLAY AND BE MYSELF’

During the regular season, the Denver defense yielded the second-fewest yards and the third-fewest points in the NFL and led the league with 68 sacks, 11 more than any other team.

“We always feel like every time we step out there on the field that we could change the game and always make game-changing plays,” Surtain said, “and that’s what we put on our shoulders. We just have full trust in each other to make plays throughout the game and to change the outcome of the game.”

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New England also won 14 regular-season games, but the Patriots had to play an extra postseason contest by placing as the No. 2 seed in the AFC field. The Broncos got a bye as the No. 1 seed. New England defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 16-3 on Jan. 11 and the Houston Texans 28-16 on Jan. 18 to reach the AFC Championship Game.

“They possess a lot of challenges,” Surtain said. “Obviously, Drake (Maye), he’s a great quarterback. He’s got a lot of playmakers on the perimeter. They got a great run game. So we got to find a way to eliminate the explosives on their side and find a way to contain them, so looking forward to the matchup.”

The Broncos and Patriots square off at 2 p.m. CST Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver. CBS will televise the game.