FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Behind a late charge and some controversial calls, the top-seeded Denver Broncos beat the Buffalo Bills and are headed to the AFC championship game.
Now, the road to the Super Bowl to represent the AFC goes through Denver.
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The winner between the Texans and New England Patriots advances to face the Broncos next Sunday at 2 p.m. Central time . The victor earns a trip to the Super Bowl.
The fifth-seeded Texans lost to the Broncos in a narrow defeat, 18-15, at NRG Stadium as quarterback C.J. Stroud was knocked out of the game with a concussion that forced him to miss the next three games.
The Broncos beat the Texans in Houston behind an 11-point fourth quarter with kicker Will Lutz making the game-winning field goal from 34 yards out as the clock ran out. The key play on the drive: Broncos quarterback Will Lutz scrambling for 25 yards.
The Texans rebounded from a 3-5 start to the season after going 0-3 at the start to go on a 10-game winning streak. That includes the Texans’ AFC wild-card victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Now, the Texans could face the Broncos again with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. If the Broncos had lost to the Bills and the Texans defeat the Patriots, then the AFC championship game would have been played at NRG Stadium.
A new wrinkle in that prospective game: the Broncos will play without starting quarterback Bo Nix.
Nix broke his right ankle in overtime and will undergo season-ending surgery.
Next man up: backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham. The Stephenville native and former Patriots quarterback started his college career at Baylor before transferring to Auburn.
Stidham has won one of his four career starts and has eight touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Nix got hurt on a quarterback run when he was tackled by safety Cole Bishop.
Nix will undergo surgery Tuesday.
Should the Texans or Patriots advance to the AFC title game, both teams would likely be favored to win with Nix out of the equation.
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com