{"id":697830,"date":"2026-01-23T02:32:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T02:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/697830\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T02:32:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T02:32:16","slug":"broncos-offensive-line-gives-backup-qb-jarrett-stidhams-security-in-afc-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/697830\/","title":{"rendered":"Broncos’ offensive line gives backup QB Jarrett Stidham’s security in AFC Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Jarrett Stidham steps under center<\/a> in Sunday\u2019s AFC championship, he\u2019ll confront a defensive kaleidoscope. The Patriots will likely come at Stidham with disguised blitzes, nonstop stunts, defensive linemen dropping into passing lanes and an array of looks.\n<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a lot to decipher for a backup quarterback who hasn\u2019t started in a real NFL game since Week 18 of the 2023 season. But the Broncos have a built-in security blanket for the 29-year-old QB who\u2019s never thrown a postseason pass.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll play behind an offensive line that is among the best in the NFL.<\/p>\n

Faith in that unit, the Broncos insist, has allowed them to go about their regular business after losing starting quarterback Bo Nix<\/a> to a broken ankle in last Saturday\u2019s divisional playoff win over Buffalo.<\/p>\n

All-Pro left tackle Garett Bolles says he doesn\u2019t have to counsel Stidham.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI just tell him, \u2018I got your back.\u2019 \u201d Bolles said Thursday. \u201cHe knows.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the Broncos\u2019 O-line had better be prepared for a New England defense on a serious heater. In the Patriots\u2019 28-16 divisional playoff win last Sunday, the defense forced five turnovers while sacking Texans QB C.J. Stroud three times and holding Houston to 48 rushing yards.\n<\/p>\n

After the game, Pats defensive tackle Milton Williams pulled out the disrespect card, saying that people have not paid enough attention to his team\u2019s defensive performance.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cIt definitely fueled the whole defense,\u201d he told reporters.<\/a> \u201cNobody has been talking about our defense all year. We\u2019ll see what they say today.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery week, we\u2019re trying to come out and dominate, knowing that they do have a great defense, but in our minds, it was our defense versus their defense. See who could make more plays, create more turnovers, stop the run, and get the ball back to our offense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018He knows it cold\u2019
\n\"HeadHead coach Sean Payton of the Denver Broncos speaks to offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi during practice at the Broncos Park in Centennial on Thursday. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

New England\u2019s defense has ramped up its pressure in the playoffs, using a variety of schemes to do so. In two postseason games, the Patriots have generated pressure on only 28.6% of their four-man rushes, but that rate increased to 47.8% when they blitzed. Plus, the Pats are blitzing more, increasing from 27.6% in the regular season to 40.6% in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

The Broncos are aware and vow they\u2019ll be prepared.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure they have something that we haven\u2019t prepared for, something that we haven\u2019t seen on tape,\u201d right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of how these things go, this late in the year, when you are trying to get an edge on somebody. But I\u2019m confident in the way we are able to execute and the way we are able to problem solve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi says he\u2019s not worried that the Patriots will try to take advantage of Stidham\u2019s inexperience and rustiness.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish he had a couple of warm-up games and wasn\u2019t just coming off running the practice squad,\u201d Lombardi said. \u201cBut he\u2019s vet, he\u2019s a professional. When he\u2019s running our plays, or calling plays in our walkthrough period, he never hesitates. He knows it cold.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bolles said the O-line won\u2019t do anything different because Stidham, not Nix, is calling signals and audibles.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust because we have a backup quarterback \u2026 we always prepare the same,\u201d he said. \u201cNothing changes for us. We always prepare for exotic blitzes and teams bringing different looks. Sometimes (the Patriots) drop D linemen, sometimes they bring in corners off the edge. We just have to be prepared for anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides, Lombardi is not certain how exotic the Patriots will get on Sunday, simply because Stidham is playing QB.<\/p>\n

\u201cDepending on which game you watch, they can pressure a lot,\u201d Lombardi said. \u201cLast week, they pressured a lot. But I\u2019m not sure they look at Jared and think they are going to pressure him more than another quarterback. (But) you are always preparing in your mind for when a team starts gassing it up in that way, you always try to have a plan for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Big task for big guys up front
\n\"JarrettJarrett Stidham (8) of the Denver Broncos prepares to work out during practice at the Broncos Park in Centennial on Thursday. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

When it comes to scrambling and throwing on the run, Stidham can\u2019t match Nix. He\u2019s well aware of that, even though he was a dual threat at Stephenville High School in Texas.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, technically, back in the day, I could run a little bit,\u201d he said Thursday. \u201cI guess my age has caught up to me with the old legs a little bit. But I guess, yes, I could run a little bit more in high school and that sort of thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo the dual-threat label, I guess, I had. I think I can move around a little bit still, but I was probably a little faster in high school.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Broncos\u2019 linemen hope the only running its QB has to do on Sunday is on planned plays. The statistics say the O-line is up to the task.<\/p>\n

During the regular season, Pro Football Focus ranked the Broncos\u2019 offensive line as the best in the NFL. Denver\u2019s O-line allowed only 23 sacks, tied with the Rams for a league-low. Denver\u2019s 3.6% sack rate was the NFL\u2019s best, and much better than the league average of 6.9%. And the Broncos allowed just 186 pressures, for a pressure rate of 27.7%, ranking third in the NFL according to Next Gen Stats.\n<\/p>\n

And Denver\u2019s O-line could get a boost on Sunday because starting center Luke Wattenberg is in line to return from injured reserve. Wattenberg suffered a shoulder injury in the Broncos\u2019 Week 15 win over Green Bay.\n<\/p>\n

Lombardi said the big guys up front know what\u2019s at stake Sunday, but said their preparation remains the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if the pressure on the O-line changes this week,\u201d he said. \u201cIn this league, in this game, you always have to be at your best every week, especially as you get deep into the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is going to be the biggest game in most of these guys\u2019 lives. We are expecting them all to be at their best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Jarrett Stidham steps under center in Sunday\u2019s AFC championship, he\u2019ll confront a defensive kaleidoscope. The Patriots will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":697831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2062],"tags":[114,925,232,1028,231,258,2426,7,1713,3872,46166,929,3884,926,6,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-697830","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-denver-broncos","8":"tag-afc-championship","9":"tag-bo-nix","10":"tag-broncos","11":"tag-c-j-stroud","12":"tag-denver","13":"tag-denver-broncos","14":"tag-denverbroncos","15":"tag-football","16":"tag-garett-bolles","17":"tag-jarrett-stidham","18":"tag-joe-lombardi","19":"tag-latest-headlines","20":"tag-mike-mcglinchey","21":"tag-more-broncos-news","22":"tag-nfl","23":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697830","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=697830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/697831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=697830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=697830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=697830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}