The Patriots have gotten on the board first in Sunday’s divisional round matchup with the Texans.
Quarterback Drake Maye threw a fourth-down touchdown to receiver DeMario Douglas to put New England up 7-0 with 9:35 left in the first quarter.
After the two teams traded punts to open the game, the Patriots started to get going with Rhamondre Stevenson’s 20-yard run to put the club in Houston territory at the 37.
New England then had third-and-14, but made it fourth-and-1 with Maye’s 13-yard completion to Stefon Diggs.
With head coach Mike Vrabel taking an aggressive mindset fourth down from the Houston 28, Maye connected with DeMario Douglas over the middle on a short pass, with Douglas taking it all the way to the end zone for the score.
Maye has started the game against this vaunted Houston defense 5-of-6 for 54 yards with a touchdown.
The Texans will not have their right tackle for Sunday’s divisional round matchup with the Patriots.
Trent Brown is inactive with an ankle injury. While multiple reporters on the scene note Brown tried to test his ankle out pregame, he will not play against New England.
Brown did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday this week before he was limited on Friday.
With Brown out, Tytus Howard is expected to slide over from left guard to right tackle. Jarrett Patterson is expected to play left guard.
The Texans will be shorthanded offensively, as receiver Nico Collins is also out with a concussion suffered in Monday night’s win over the Steelers.
Receiver Braxon Berrios is active with Collins and receiver Justin Watson out.
For the Patriots, linebacker Harold Landry (knee) is active after he was questionable for the contest.
In all for Houston, Brown, Collins, Watson, running back Jawhar Jordan, quarterback Graham Mertz, and cornerback Alijah Huzzie are inactive.
New England’s inactives are quarterback Tommy DeVito, outside linebacker Bradyn Swinson, offensive tackle Marcus Bryant, guard Caedan Wallace, tight end CJ Dippre, cornerback Kobee Minor, and defensive tackle Eric Gregory.
Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham can view it as a tall test, or a golden opportunity.
If Stidham manages to engineer a victory next weekend in the AFC Championship, he’ll become only the second quarterback in the modern era of football to get his first start of the season in the playoffs and win.
Stidham will get the start in place of Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, who suffered a broken ankle near the end of Saturday’s overtime win against the Bills.
Via Kalyn Kahler of ESPN.com, six quarterbacks since 1950 have started a postseason game after not starting a single game in the regular season. Only Frank Reich won, replacing Jim Kelly for the epic 1992 wild-card game against the Oilers, in which the Bills erased a 35-3 third-quarter deficit for a 41-38 overtime win.
Reich got another win the next weekend, beating the Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium in the divisional round, 24-3. (Kelly took over from there.)
Even though Reich hadn’t started a game during the 16-game 1992 season, he had thrown 47 passes in five appearances. Stidham didn’t throw a single pass during the 17-game 2025 regular season. Or during the 17-game 2024 regular season.
Stidham, via Kahler, will be only the second quarterback to get his first start of the season in the conference title game or later. In 1972, Roger Staubach made his first start of the year in place of Craig Morton in the NFC Championship; the Cowboys lost to Washington, 26-3.
Stidham last played in Weeks 17 and 18 of the 2023 season, after the Broncos benched Russell Wilson for financial reasons. Stidham also started two games at the end of the 2022 season, after the Raiders benched Derek Carr for financial reasons. Those are Stidham’s only four career starts.
In seven days, he’ll be facing either the team that drafted him in 2019 (the Patriots), or the Houston successors to the Oilers franchise that fell victim to Frank Reich, 33 years ago.
Saturday’s stunning AFC division-round game between the Bills and Broncos carried an even more stunning post-script.
Denver quarterback Bo Nix has a broken ankle, and he’s done for the year.
Enter Jarrett Stidham, a 29-year-old career backup who has four career starts in seven NFL seasons.
And if the Patriots beat the Texans to advance to the AFC Championship, Stidham will be facing the team that made him a fourth-round pick in 2019, Tom Brady’s final year in New England.
Stidham played sparingly during his three years with the Patriots. In 2020, Cam Newton started 15 games, with Brian Hoyer starting one. In 2021, Stidham missed much of the season after offseason back surgery, eventually landing at No. 3 on the depth chart, behind Mac Jones and Hoyer.
Stidham was traded to the Raiders in 2022. He started two late-season games after Derek Carr was benched for financial reasons. A year later, in his first year with the Broncos, Stidham started two late-season games after Russell Wilson was benched for financial reasons.
Next Sunday, Stidham will have the biggest start of his career, by far. And it could come against the team that drafted him and employed him for three seasons. Or, alternatively, he’ll be facing the best defense in the entire NFL.
Bo Nix didn’t miss a play during Saturday’s wild 33-30 overtime win over the Bills. The Broncos quarterback, though, will miss the AFC Championship Game.
Broncos coach Sean Payton announced that Nix fractured his right ankle, which will require surgery and will end his second season. Dr. Norman Waldrop will perform the surgery in Alabama.
Jarrett Stidham is the Broncos’ backup, with Sam Ehlinger behind him.
“It’s not good news,” Payton said. “On the second-to-last play in overtime, Bo fractured a bone in his right ankle. He’s scheduled to have surgery on Tuesday of this week, which will put him out for the rest of the season. [Stidham] is ready to go.”
Nix had a kneel down after a deep pass to Marvin Mims that drew a 30-yard interference penalty to set up the game-winning field goal.
Nix did not celebrate as if he had led his team to the AFC Championship Game afterward, and CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson tweeted after the game that “Nix got hurt at the end of the game. . . . Something to watch.”
Payton had already finished his postgame news conference but returned to share the bad news.
“It is what it is, and we felt it would be best to tell everyone now,” Payton said.
Nix went 26-of-46 for 279 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.
