DENVER — Drake Maye ran for 68 yards and threw for 86 in sloppy, snowy conditions and scored New England’s only touchdown on a 6-yard keeper, propelling the Patriots to their 12th Super Bowl appearance with a 10-7 win over the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
Christian Gonzalez intercepted a pass from Jarrett Stidham, who was starting in place of an injured Bo Nix, at New England’s 36-yard line with 2:11 remaining. The Patriots (17-3) iced their first playoff win in Denver when Maye ran for 7 yards on third-and-5 from the Patriots’ 41.
The Patriots will play the winner of the NFC Championship Game between the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, California.
Buffalo beat Denver 10-7 in the 1991 AFC title game, and the Rams beat Tampa Bay 9-0 in the 1979 NFC championship game.
Vrabel, who won three Super Bowls as a playmaking linebacker for the Patriots, could become the first person in NFL history to also win as a head coach for the same franchise.
«I won’t win it. It’ll be the players that’ll win the game,» Vrabel said. «I promise you, it won’t be me that’ll win it, and I promise you that I’ll do everything I can, and our staff, to have them ready for the game.»
Wil Lutz and New England’s Andy Borregales wide on long tries just before the snow began falling at halftime.
«It wasn’t ideal,» Maye said of the conditions. «Defense, they’ve been stepping up all playoffs. We’re going to play better. But man, I’m just proud of this team. … It took everybody.»
The Patriots fell behind 7-0, but had a key fourth-down stop near their own end zone to spark the comeback. Their victory was their 40th in the playoffs, breaking a tie with the San Francisco 49ers for the most in NFL history.
Marvin Mims Jr. to the New England 7 that set up Courtland Sutton’s 6-yard touchdown catch that started the scoring.
The Broncos reached New England’s 14 early in the second quarter, but Payton decided to go for it — and Stidham’s throw to RJ Harvey was incomplete on fourth-and-1.
Instead of going up double digits, the Broncos were left clinging to a 7-0 lead, and Elijah Ponder recovered Stidham’s backward pass at the Denver 12, setting up the tying touchdown two plays later.
Stidham, who was drafted by the Patriots in 2019, made his first start since the 2023 regular-season finale. The Broncos were the only team in the league that didn’t give their backup QB any snaps or handoffs the last two seasons.
Nix, who had 11 game-winning drives in his first two NFL seasons, got hurt on Denver’s final drive in overtime against Buffalo last week. But he didn’t come out of the game and the extent of his injury — a broken right ankle — wasn’t known until he went for X-rays after the 33-30 win.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
