DENVER — In a game defined by brutal weather and defensive grit, the New England Patriots punched their ticket to Super Bowl 60 with a 10-7 victory over the Denver Broncos on Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High.
Quarterback Drake Maye accounted for the game’s only touchdown on a 6-yard keeper in the second quarter, and the Patriots’ defense made the lead stand up in the second half as snow blanketed the field. New England (17-3) will now face the winner of the NFC Championship for the Lombardi Trophy.
The victory was the Patriots’ 40th in the playoffs, breaking a tie with the San Francisco 49ers for the most in NFL history. It also marked the third time in the Super Bowl era that a team won a conference championship with 10 points or fewer, joining the 1991 Bills (10-7 over Denver) and the 1979 Rams (9-0 over Tampa Bay).
Denver (15-4) started Jarrett Stidham at quarterback after Bo Nix underwent ankle surgery earlier in the week. Stidham, making his first start since 2023, threw a 52-yard strike to Marvin Mims Jr. in the first quarter that set up Courtland Sutton’s 6-yard touchdown catch, giving the Broncos a 7-0 lead.
The Patriots answered before halftime after a turnover gave them the ball at the Denver 12-yard line. Maye scrambled for 6 yards on the next play to tie the game. Both kickers struggled in the cold: Denver’s Wil Lutz and New England’s Andy Borregales each missed two field goals.
New England’s defense took over in the second half. After gaining just 72 yards in the first half, the Patriots mounted a 16-play, 64-yard drive that consumed 9½ minutes and ended with a 23-yard Borregales field goal to take a 10-7 lead early in the third quarter.
Denver had one final chance when Stidham drove the Broncos to the Patriots’ 36-yard line with 2:11 remaining, but cornerback Christian Gonzalez intercepted a pass intended for Mims to seal the win. Maye then converted a third-and-5 with a 7-yard run to run out the clock.
“It was a battle out there,” said Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel. “Our guys never flinched.” Broncos head coach Sean Payton, who had predicted a Super Bowl trip before the season, saw his team fall one game short.
