The New England Patriots will face the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, marking the sixth time the two teams have met in the postseason.
The Patriots have become one of the league’s legendary franchises, winning six Super Bowls (11 total) and posting a 39-22 overall playoff record. As for the Broncos, Denver has three Lombardi players (eight Super Bowl appearances) and they have a 24-20 playoff record.
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But when it comes to the playoff history of these two teams, it’s even more one-sided.
Good for Denver.
The Broncos will likely start backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham in this game due to Bonix’s season-ending ankle fracture, but Denver fans will have to look to history for comfort heading into Sunday’s game.
Let’s review each of the previous meetings.
New England Patriots vs. Denver Broncos
Divisional Round: January 4, 1987
The first playoff meeting between these two teams dates back to the 1986 NFL season. New England entered the game with an 11-5 record and was the AFC East champion.
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The Denver Nuggets are the AFC West champions with an 11-5 record.
It’s a rematch of the teams’ Week 4 game, also in the Mile High City. Like the Week 4 game — which the Broncos ultimately won by a score of 27-20 — Denver also won the divisional round. John Elway connected with Vance Johnson 48 yards out late in the third quarter to give the Broncos a 20-17 lead, and Rulon Jones sacked Tony Eason on New England’s final drive to give Denver another two points.
Final score: Denver 22, New England 20.
While the Patriots return home to start the offseason, Denver heads into the AFC Championship Game against the Cleveland Browns.
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The game will also end in dramatic fashion thanks to The Drive. Denver took over at its own 2-yard line after trailing by seven yards, but Elway led the Broncos nearly all the way to tie the game with 37 seconds left.
Denver advanced to the Super Bowl on Rich Karlis’ 33-yard field goal in overtime. Although they lost to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXI, Elway’s legend continues to grow…
New England Patriots vs. Denver Broncos
Divisional Round: January 14, 2006
You may know this game as “Champion Pele Game”.
I know I broke a cell phone that night in a fit of pure, unbridled rage.
Saturday night in Denver, Mike Shanahan and the Broncos welcome Bill Belichick and the Patriots. New England is looking to reach the big game for the third straight season after winning the Super Bowl last year over the Philadelphia Eagles. But after going 10-6 and becoming the No. 4 seed in the AFC, they defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars on wild-card weekend to advance to the divisional round.
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There they met the second-seeded Denver Nuggets.
Adam Vinatieri’s 32-yard field goal cut Denver’s lead to 10-6 midway through the third quarter, and Brady got New England back in action after the Patriots forced the Broncos’ ensuing drive to stall. Troy Brown’s 33-yard pass put New England in Denver territory, and a few plays later, Brady connected with Deion Branch for a 5-yard gain, giving the Patriots second-and-goal at the Denver 5-yard line.
The second failure leads to a third failure, which is:
That’s when my phone – an old-fashioned phone with an antenna and everything – hit the couch at quite a high speed.
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To this day I still firmly believe that the correct ruling was touch. But the play was called out of bounds at the 1-yard line and Denver scored on the next play to take a 17-6 lead from which they would not look back.
Final score: Denver 27, New England 13
Denver lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game, and the Steelers went on to defeat the Seattle Seahawks to win Super Bowl XL.
Denver Broncos vs. New England Patriots
Divisional Round: January 14, 2012
The next time these two AFC giants reunited in the playoffs was at the end of the 2011 NFL season. New England finished the regular season with a 13-3 record, becoming the AFC East champion and the top seed in the division. Brady still leads the way for the Patriots.
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The Broncos countered with Tim Tebow, 8-8.
But Denver pulled off a thrilling overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on wild-card weekend, wowing the visitors when Tebow connected with Demaryius Thomas for an 80-yard touchdown on the first play of overtime.
The divisional round games are less exciting, especially if you’re a Broncos fan.
After the Patriots took a 14-0 lead, Willis McGahee’s 5-yard rush cut the Patriots’ lead to 14-7. But the Patriots scored the next 21 points to take a 35-7 lead into the locker room, and Brady’s sixth touchdown pass of the night gave the Patriots a 42-7 lead early in the fourth quarter.
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Final score: New England 45, Denver 10.
However, the Patriots’ Super Bowl championship dream was once again dashed by Eli Manning as they lost to the New York Giants in Super Bowl 46.
New England Patriots vs. Denver Broncos
AFC Champions League: January 19, 2014
The rivalry between Brady and Peyton Manning has played out over the years between the Patriots and Indianapolis Colts.
But when Manning joined the Broncos as a free agent before the 2012 season, the rivalry took on a new form.
Although the two teams played some thrilling games during the regular season, they did not meet in the playoffs until the end of the 2013 regular season. The Broncos won the AFC West Division with a 13-3 record, locking up the No. 1 seed, and beat the Chargers 24-17 to secure a spot in the championship game. As for the Patriots, they became the second seed with a 12-4 record and defeated the Colts 43-22 in the divisional round to prepare for the AFC Championship Game.
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Dubbed the “Manning-Brady XV” — the 15th meeting between the two quarterbacks and the fourth in the postseason — the Broncos led 20-3 entering the final quarter. Denver built its lead with two long touchdown drives that lasted more than seven minutes — Denver’s two longest touchdowns of the season — and left Brady as a spectator.
Although the Patriots scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, it was not enough.
Final score: Denver 26, New England 13.
The Broncos advance to Super Bowl XLVIII to face the Seattle Seahawks outdoors at MetLife Stadium. The game was the first outdoor, cold-weather Super Bowl.
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Seattle won that game in blowout fashion, beating the Broncos 43-8.
New England Patriots vs. Denver Broncos
AFC Champions League: January 24, 2016
The 2015 NFL season began with the Patriots defending their Super Bowl title, but Brady missed four games due to the Deflategate investigation.
Still, New England is tied with the Broncos for first place in the AFC with a 12-4 record. But the Broncos’ overtime victory over New England in Week 12 was enough to seal the No. 1 spot and guarantee that any rematch would be in Denver.
When the Patriots eliminated the Chiefs and the Broncos eliminated the Steelers in the divisional round, another Manning-Brady game was set.
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Of the many incidents the two have had over the years, this may have been the most emotional.
Instead of two legendary quarterbacks carving up opponents, two defenses led the way in a big way. New England sacked Manning three times during the game, but the Nuggets defense hammered Brady all afternoon. The Broncos sacked Brady four times in the fourth quarter, took him down 20 times, intercepted him twice and stopped the Patriots from trailing in the fourth quarter twice. With Manning’s two touchdown passes, the Nuggets led 17-9 at halftime.
Still, the Patriots trailed by just two points when Brady caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Rob Gronkowski with 12 seconds left.
New England’s ensuing two-point conversion attempt failed when Brady’s pass intended for Julian Edelman was intercepted by Bradley Roby. The Patriots tried to stay on the sidelines to keep hope alive, but Shiloh Keogh’s recovery ended any chance of a miracle.
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Final score: Denver 20, New England 18.
The Broncos eventually defeated the Carolina Panthers to win Super Bowl 50.
New England Patriots vs. Denver Broncos
AFC Champions League: January 25, 2026
As for what happens on Sunday?
We don’t know.
But we know the name has changed. We know Jarrett Stidham will play center for the Broncos. We know that the two legendary teams will meet again in the AFC Champions League.
We also know that the Broncos hold a 4-1 all-time advantage in the playoffs.
Will that trend continue this weekend?