The Patriots punched their ticket to the 12th Super Bowl with a gritty 10-7 win over the Broncos in snowy Denver, despite the harsh conditions. Drake Maye's 68-yard rushing and 86-yard passing performance, including a 6-yard touchdown run, propelled New England to victory. Christian Gonzalez's interception of Jarrett Stidham's pass with 2:11 remaining sealed the deal, as the Patriots iced their first playoff win in Denver. This AFC championship victory marks the third time in the Super Bowl era that a team has won with 10 points or less, following Buffalo's 1991 AFC title game win and the 1979 NFC championship game. Mike Vrabel, a former Patriots player, could become the first person in NFL history to win as a head coach for the same franchise. The Patriots' 40th playoff victory broke a tie with the San Francisco 49ers for the most in NFL history. The game's atmosphere was challenging, with a sunny kickoff at 26 degrees, but the snowflakes began falling by halftime, and grounds crews had to use snowblowers to mark the field. The Patriots' comeback started with a key fourth-down stop near their own end zone, and they capitalized on a short field, with Maye scoring a 6-yard touchdown run. Stidham, making his first start since the 2023 regular-season finale, struggled with a backward pass recovery, but the Patriots' defense set up Maye for the game-tying score. The Broncos, led by Sean Payton, fell short of their preseason prediction of a Super Bowl 60 trip, with both kickers missing field goals in the frigid conditions.
