We have to start by acknowledging the elephant in the room.  It’s a cloud that hangs over this game that seriously dampens any level of excitement I would have normally had for this matchup.  Bo Nix played his butt off last weekend and literally laid it all on the line to get his team to the conference finals.  

Unfortunately for all of us, that included breaking his ankle on the third-to-last play of the game.  He actually took at least one snap with that broken ankle when he downed the ball in position for Will Litz to kick the game-winning field goal, ending the season for Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills.  

No more Nix:Jan 4, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) looks on during the second half against the Los Angeles Chargers at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

But now he’s lost for the rest of these playoffs, and instead of getting a head-to-head matchup of the #3 and #12 picks from last year’s draft, we get….Jared Stidham.  The talking heads will try to spin this and tell us that Stidham is a solid player, that he’s the guy that Josh McDaniels took with him when he left New England for Oakland some years ago.  

They’ll invoke names like Jeff Hostetler and imply that anything can happen on any given Sunday.  While that may be true, the Broncos just aren’t running the ball well enough to cover for the loss of Nix.  For some reason, Sean Payton has no faith in their running game.  

Can they get the ground game going?Jan 4, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos running back RJ Harvey (12) runs with the ball during the game against the Los Angeles Chargers during the first half at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

There is just zero reason that any team should have thrown the ball in excess of 30 times while only attempting 10 rushing plays from their backs against a Buffalo defense that ranked near the bottom of the entire league against the run in 2025.  

So now, I’m supposed to buy that the Broncos will be able to run the ball against a Patriot defense that was ranked 6th in the league overall against the run and just held Houston to 2.2 yards per carry last weekend?  It seems a bit hopeless to me.

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