The AFC Championship Game between the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots changed in the second half when the snow started falling.
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The only score in the second half came via a 23-yard field goal by Patriots kicker Andy Borregales on the first drive of the third quarter. New England was able to rely on its defense to earn a 10-7 victory in front of 76,862 fans at Mile High.
Denver scored the first touchdown of the game. The Broncos had a chance to extend their lead to 10-0 early in the second quarter.
On 4th-and-1 from the New England 14-yard line, Broncos head coach Sean Payton opted to go for it instead of giving kicker Wil Lutz an opportunity to make a chip shot.
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Backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham’s pass ended in an incompletion, and the Broncos turned over the ball on downs.
During his postgame news conference, Payton explained his reasoning for putting the ball in Stidham’s hands instead of settling for an easy kick. Payton wanted to be aggressive and go up 14 points, thinking his defense could contain the Patriots to fewer than 14 points the rest of the way.
“We had momentum,” Payton said, via Denver Sports 104.3. “Get up 14, and felt like we had a good call… I think the feeling was, let’s be aggressive–to get up 14. I was just watching where defense was going, and… the turnover on our end, resulting in a touchdown. Outside of that, they did a good job of contain.
“There’ll be a number of things when we watch the tape, I’ll look at and critique and pay close attention.”
That fourth-down opportunity was the best chance the Broncos would have the rest of the way to put points on the board.
Lutz missed a 54-yard field goal attempt late in the second quarter. He had a 45-yard attempt blocked in terrible conditions with 4:46 remaining in the fourth quarter.
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