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Talk about a rollercoaster of emotions.
The Denver Broncos won their first playoff game since 2015 last week. But mere minutes after the final whistle, they were greeted by tragic injury news.
Starting QB Bo Nix would not be available for the AFC Championship Game due to a broken ankle suffered during their 33-30 overtime win over the Buffalo Bills.
That put backup Jarrett Stidham front and center and also made the Broncos massive underdogs despite hosting the AFCCG against the New England Patriots in Denver.
Thankfully for the Mile High crowd, however, that rollercoaster of emotions has not stopped. And it’s set to bounce back with a big high here this week: RB1 J.K. Dobbins has returned to practice for the first time since he broke his foot and underwent surgery to mend the Lisfranc injury back in mid-November.
The Broncos listed the running back—who is as talented as any in the league but who also has possibly the worst injury record in NFL history—as a limited participant for Wednesday’s practice.
That is not only encouraging, but shocking considering he was placed on season-ending injured reserve shortly after that surgery a couple of months ago.
And if Dobbins is healthy enough to go, he could be the catalyst for an exceedingly unlikely Super Bowl appearance for the Broncos.
Denver’s only chance at a win is to run the ball
With Nix out, the Broncos turn to backup Jarrett Stidham. He has played 18 snaps and thrown zero passes over the last two seasons since Nix took over under center for Denver.
However, Stidham did start two games late in the 2023 season during that whole Russell Wilson debacle. He went 1-1, throwing two TDs against one interception. Overall, Stidham has played in 20 career games and started four. His career numbers are: 117-for-197 (59.4 completion percentage), 1,422 passing yards, eight TDs, and eight INTs.
He has also rushed just 37 times for 101 yards, so he’s definitely not bringing the dual threat that Nix did either.
Clearly, the Broncos are going to need to rely on the running game to win this one. Asking Stidham to put the team on his back considering how much rust he’s got to knock off would just be irresponsible.
Denver can certainly win this game with a reliable running game, a few key passes (and no turnovers) from Stidham, and solid defense. Heck, C.J. Stroud tried to hand the Patriots the game last week and New England still barely got by the Texans.
Before he was injured, J.K. Dobbins was having a career year averaging a personal-best 77.2 yards a game and averaging 5.0 per carry. Rookie R.J. Harvey has filled in admirably, but it was the combination of the two that really got this team going early in the season.
For the 10 games where Dobbins was in, the Broncos averaged nearly 130 rush yards, top 10 in the league. Over the final seven without him, they averaged about 100 rush yards a game, which was bottom 10 in the league.
Dobbins matters: the Patriots run defense has looked good since Milton Williams' return for the playoffs, but that was against Houston’s and L.A.'s suspect ground attacks.
If Dobbins is back, the Broncos could put up 150+ on the ground against this New England team the same way the Jets, Ravens, and Bills did in December.
And if they do that, it could spell Super Bowl 60.
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