told Skip Bayless on The Arena<\/a>, that Payton has always \u201ccarried capable backups,\u201d including Mark Brunell, Chase Daniels, Teddy Bridgewater and Jameis Winston \u2014 each of whom experienced success in the backup role under Payton.<\/p>\n\u201cLook, I have the utmost confidence in Stidham because of Sean Payton, right? And Sean was still winning. And that just goes to show what type of coach he is. And that\u2019s why, you know, I got the utmost confidence in this Broncos team.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 emmanuel sanders<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know Payton saw something in Stiddy because he paid him a two-year, $12 million contract just to make sure he locked in a great backup,\u201d Talib added.<\/p>\n
The two former Broncos also vouched for Stidham\u2019s ability, given what they saw during training camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got to see him against the 1s, and the day I was there, he gave us work,\u201d Talib said. \u201cA pocket passer with a f***ing live arm. He can make every throw. I saw a guy who knows the offense, knows the system, [makes] quick decisions and [has] a live arm.\u201d<\/p>\n
But let\u2019s not fool ourselves. The true Broncos\u2019 X-factor? Its defense.<\/p>\n
In a shootout with the Bills, the Denver defense had five takeaways, one of them being a remarkable game-saving interception from Ja\u2019Quan McMillian.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got the best defense in the league,\u201d Talib added. \u201cWe got the turnover train rolling, so we\u2019re going to create turnovers and that\u2019s how we\u2019re going to win this game. I\u2019m telling you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sanders also believes Stidham should rest easy knowing his defense will have his back.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I\u2019m Jared Stidham, I\u2019m also saying \u2018I got a defense that can back me, I got receivers and I got Sean Payton that\u2019s going to put me in a great position.\u2018 All I got to do is manage the game and complete my passes and do my job.\u2018\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also a slight \u201crevenge factor\u201d for Stidham, who was drafted by the Patriots in 2020 but never got the job, losing out to Cam Newton and later Mac Jones.<\/p>\n
Real or imagined, Sanders advises that Stidham \u201clean into all the things\u201d that can get him ready to compete.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an opportunity of a lifetime. Take advantage of it,\u201d Sanders says. backup QB as his first-ever start comes in the AFC Championship game. \u201cAnd, you know, I got a feeling he\u2019s been ready. Listening to Sean, just how he speaks about him and everything, gives me the ultimate confidence, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sanders is also cautioning the Patriots from getting too confident just because they are \u201cplaying the backup.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got a defense that can create turnovers. We got an offensive coordinator that can put us in the right position,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cThose guys [Patriots] will be fooling themselves if they think this is going to be a cakewalk.\u201d<\/p>\n
And that is especially true at Mile High. Sanders admitted it always felt good to make a play in front of Broncos Country.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s crazy cause I\u2019m finally watching the game in the stands and I\u2019m like \u2018dang I get it man,\u2019\u201d Sanders said. \u201cAnd I knew it was nothing better than making plays in front of Broncos country, getting up, pounding my chest, and the whole crowd just going wild.\u201d<\/p>\n
But ultimately, however Stidham chooses to prepare himself to play the biggest game of his career, Sanders advises just keeping steady.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody should be coming in that huddle saying, \u2018Man, look, one play at a time.\u2019 One perfect play at a time,\u2018\u201d Sanders added. \u201cAnd let\u2019s stack 60-some plays and see what the results end up being.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oh dang, that\u2019s an easy one\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Good morning, Broncos Country! The Jarrett Stidham Hype Train is in full force as the Broncos and fans…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":691233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2062],"tags":[232,231,258,1151,2426,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-691232","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-denver-broncos","8":"tag-broncos","9":"tag-denver","10":"tag-denver-broncos","11":"tag-denver-broncos-news","12":"tag-denverbroncos","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115927662313467455","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=691232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/691233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=691232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=691232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=691232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}