Patriots outlast Broncos in snowy AFC Championship game to reach Super Bowl 2026

The Patriots are going to Super Bowl 2026.

In an ugly AFC Championship game impacted greatly by the snow in Denver, the Patriots outlasted the Broncos, 10-7, to get back to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 2018-19 playoffs, the last time Tom Brady and Bill Belichick won together.

The Broncos had a chance with backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham filling in for the injured Bo Nix, but Stidham’s interception just before the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter helped seal top-seeded Denver’s fate.

Patriots quarterback Drake Maye was just 10-for-21 with 86 yards but he ran for a 6-yard touchdown late in the second quarter after a Stidham intentional grounding call was reversed to a fumble, tying the game going into halftime.

There were four missed field goals in the brutal snowy conditions, but Andy Borregales’ 23-yard field goal in the third quarter made the difference.

The Patriots advance to play the winner of Sunday’s NFC Championship game between the Seahawks and Rams.

Super Bowl 2026 will be played on Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, Calif.