He was selected by the Patriots in the fourth round of the 2019 draft and started a grand total of zero games for them. There were some mitigating factors such as backing up Tom Brady in his first season in the NFL. But when Cam Newton came to town in 2020, he was the backup Brian Hoyer's backup so New England clearly didn't think too highly of him.
The Broncos, who beat Josh Allen and the Bills in the divisional round, 33-30 in overtime, are the top seed in the conference and feature perhaps the NFL's biggest home-field advantage because of the high altitude in Colorado. They feature a hellacious defense - the Broncos ranked second in the NFL in yards allowed (278.2 per game) and third in points allowed (18.3) during the regular season.
Following the Denver Broncos' 33-30 overtime win over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC divisional round, a major quarterback shake-up quickly reshaped the point spread -- and sparked unexpected interest elsewhere. With rookie starter Bo Nix's season-ending injury, Denver turned to backup Jarrett Stidham, a move that flipped the Broncos from 1.5-point favorites to 5.5-point underdogs against the New England Patriots.
What New England need to do to win: Clean up their act. Last week against the Houston Texans, Drake Maye was blindsided too often by edge rushers Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter. The pair wreaked havoc, sacking Maye five times and forcing him into three of his four fumbles. The Los Angeles Chargers also forced two from him in the wildcard round. Denver led the league in sacks (68) in the regular season, and will be intent on causing similar damage on Sunday.