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BRONCOS: Roster | Depth Chart | Stats | Roster Flip-Card (PDF)

The New England Patriots advanced to their 16th AFC Championship Game with a 28-16 victory over the Houston Texans in the AFC Divisional Game. This week, the Patriots will travel to face the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game for the third time. The teams faced each other in the Conference Championship Game in 2013 and 2015, with both games played in Denver with Broncos wins. The 2025 Patriots finished the season tied with the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks for the best record in the NFL with a 14-3 record to earn the No. 2 seed in the AFC Playoffs. The 14-3 record is a 10-game difference from the 4-13 finish in 2024. The 10-game improvement tied the 1999 Indianapolis Colts and the 2008 Miami Dolphins for the best turnaround in NFL history. The 1998 Colts were 3-13 and improved to 13-3 in 1999, and the 2007 Dolphins were 1-15 in 2007 and improved to 11-5 in 2008.

PATRIOTS IN THE AFC CHAMPIONSHIP

The Patriots enter this week with an 11-4 record in the AFC Championship Game and will look to improve to a 12-4 record and advance to their 12th Super Bowl with a win at Denver.

SERIES HISTORY

The New England Patriots and Denver Broncos will meet for the sixth time in the postseason and for the third time in the AFC Championship. The Patriots and Broncos have played in three Divisional Playoff games and two AFC Championship Games. The Patriots lost both of those championship games with a 26-16 loss in the 2013 AFC Championship Game and 20-18 in the 2015 AFC Championship Game. Both of those games were played in Denver.

The Patriots are 0-4 in the postseason in Denver. In addition to the two AFC Championship Game losses, the Patriots also lost in the Divisional round in 1986 and 2005. The Patriots have played more games against the Broncos than any other team that has never been in New England's division with 55 matchups. At Denver, the Patriots are 12-17 in the regular season and 12-21 overall including the postseason. The teams last faced off in the 2023 season when New England prevailed, 26-23, on Dec. 24, 2023.

The history between the teams dates back to the initial season of the American Football League in 1960. The Patriots played the Broncos in the inaugural game of each franchise, a 13-10 Denver win on Sept. 9, 1960, at BU Field in Boston. The teams squared off twice a year in the decade prior to the AFL-NFL merger, except for 1967 and 1969.

SERIES BREAKDOWN

DENVER 31, NEW ENGLAND 24 (INCLUDING POSTSEASON)

• Home Record 12-10 (1-0 playoffs)
• Road Record 12-21 (0-4 playoffs)

TALE OF THE TAPE

CONNECTIONS

FORMER PATRIOTS

Players

• ILB Alex Singleton (2015)
• QB Jarrett Stidham (2019-21)
• WR Lil'Jordan Humphrey (2022)

FORMER BRONCOS

Coach / Exec

• Offensive Coord. Josh McDaniels (Head Coach) (2009-10)
• Head Strength & Conditioning Coach Deron Mayo (2011)

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

• The Patriots enter this week tied with San Francisco for the most postseason wins with 39 postseason victories. A win this week at Denver in the AFC Championship Game will give the Patriots 40 postseason wins for the most postseason wins in NFL history.
• The Patriots enter this week with an 11-4 record in the AFC Championship Game and will look to improve to a 12-4 record and advance to their 12th Super Bowl with a win at Denver.
• The Patriots will advance to their 12th Super Bowl with a win this week in the AFC Championship Game at Denver. New England's 11 Super Bowl berths are the most in NFL history.
• If the Patriots reach the Super Bowl, they will have a chance to break a tie with Pittsburgh for the most Super Bowl wins. The Patriots and Steelers both have six Super Bowl wins.
• The 2025 Patriots improved from a 4-13 record in 2024 to a 14-3 record in 2025. They can become the 15th team to reach the Super Bowl a year after finishing with a losing season. The Patriots have done that two different times in their history, reaching the Super Bowl in 1996 after a 6-10 finish the year before and reaching the Super Bowl in 2001 a year after finishing with a 5-11 record.
• If the Patriots win at Denver in the AFC Championship Game, they are guaranteed to face a Super Bowl rematch with the winner of the NFC Championship game between the Seattle Seahawks and the L.A. Rams. The Patriots and Rams have met in two Super Bowls - Super Bowl XXVI and Super Bowl LIII. The Patriots and Seahawks met in Super Bowl XLIX. There have been nine Super Bowl rematches, and the Patriots have been involved in three of them, after facing the N.Y. Giants twice, the St. Louis/L.A. Rams twice and the Philadelphia Eagles twice. Dallas and Pittsburgh have played in three Super Bowls against each other.
• The Patriots and Broncos will meet in the postseason for the sixth time and for the third time in an AFC Championship Game. A victory over Denver this week would be the Patriots first postseason win in games that were played in Denver.
• The New England Patriots have won 35 playoff games since Robert Kraft bought the franchise in 1994. The 35 wins rank third among ownership groups in NFL history and are the most by any team since he entered the NFL.
• Robert Kraft has 35 career postseason wins, which are the third-most in NFL history. With a win this week at Denver in the AFC Championship Game, Kraft will join the Rooney family with 36 postseason wins and be one behind the 37 by The Green Bay Packers.
• Kraft can earn his 11th conference championship with a win at Denver this week. His 10 conference championships are the most by any owner in the Super Bowl era.
• Mike Vrabel is one of seven head coaches that won a Super Bowl for a team and then became the head coach of that team. Vrabel won three Super Bowls during his seven seasons as a player for the Patriots. The other coaches to win a Super Bowl for a team and then become the head coach for that team are Jerod Mayo (New England), Forrest Gregg (Green Bay), Bart Starr (Green Bay), Art Shell (Oakland), Jeff Saturday (Indianapolis) and Jason Garrett (Dallas). Vrabel can become the first of that group to lead his team to a Super Bowl appearance as a head coach.
• Vrabel can become the seventh head coach to lead the team he played for to a Super Bowl berth, joining Don Shula (Super Bowl III with Baltimore), Tom Flores (Super Bowl XV and Super Bowl XVIII with the Raiders), Mike Ditka (Super Bowl XX with Chicago), Sam Wyche (Super Bowl XXIII with Cincinnati), Gary Kubiak (Super Bowl 50 with Denver) and Doug Pederson (Super Bowl LII with Philadelphia).
• Vrabel can become the eighth head coach to lead his team to the Super Bowl in his first season with the team. Don McCaffrey, George Seifert, Jon Gruden and Gary Kubiak were the only head coaches to win a Super Bowl in their first season as a head coach for that specific team.
• WR Stefon Diggs has played in 16 postseason games and has 75 receptions for 965 yards and 5 touchdowns. He needs 35 postseason yards to become the 19th NFL player to reach 1,000 postseason yards and the second Patriots player. Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski are the only Patriots to eclipse the mark. He is currently 21st on the NFL's all-time postseason list for receiving yards. He is currently tied for 14th with 75 postseason receptions and needs 11 postseason receptions to move past Andre Reed (85 postseason receptions) into the top 10 for most postseason receptions in NFL history.
• Diggs has four career 100-yard receiving games in the postseason and needs one more to become the 10th player with at least five.
• Diggs has played in the most postseason games among all Patriots players with 16 postseason games. CB Carlton Davis III is second with 11 postseason games.
• CB Marcus Jones returned a second quarter interception 26 yards for a touchdown vs. Houston in the AFC Divisional playoffs. It is the seventh interception returned for a touchdown in New England postseason history and the first since CB Asante Samuel returned a pick 39 yards for a touchdown at Indianapolis in the 2006 AFC Championship Game (1/21/07). If Jones returns a pick for a touchdown this week at Denver, he will be the second player in postseason history with an interception returned for a touchdown in back-to-back postseason games. Carolina LB Luke Kuechly returned a pick in back-to-back games during the 2015 postseason.
• LB K'Lavon Chaisson had 2 sacks in the win vs. the L.A. Chargers and then added an 8-yard sack in the third quarter in the AFC Divisional win vs. Houston. If he records a sack in the AFC Championship Game at Denver, he will join Willie McGinest and Garin Veris as the only Patriots with at least 4 sacks in a single postseason.
• CB Carlton Davis III registered 2 interceptions in the win over Houston last week in the Divisional playoffs. If he records a pick this week in the AFC Championship Game at Denver, he will join Rodney Harrison, Ty Law and Fred Marion as the only Patriots players with at least 3 interceptions in a single postseason. If Davis has 2 interceptions this week at Denver, he will be the first NFL player with two picks in back-to-back games since CB Darrien Gordon for Denver in the 1998 postseason.

BROADCAST INFO

TELEVISION: This week's game will be broadcast by CBS and can be seen locally on WBZ-TV Channel 4. Jim Nantz will handle play-by-play duties with Tony Romo as the color analyst. Tracy Wolfson and Evan Washburn will report from the sidelines. The game will be produced by Jim Rikhoff and directed by Mike Arnold.

NATIONAL RADIO: This week's game will be broadcast to a national audience on Westwood One. Ryan Radtke will call the game with Mike Golic providing analysis. Laura Okmin will work from the sidelines.

LOCAL RADIO: 98.5 The Sports Hub is the flagship station for the Patriots Radio Network. A complete listing of the network's 33 stations can be found here. Play-by-play broadcaster Bob Socci will call the action along with former Patriots quarterback Scott Zolak, who will provide color analysis. The games are produced by Marc Cappello.

For information on how to stream the game please visit our Ways to Watch guide.