Bo Nix’s broken ankle has placed Jarrett Stidham into most unusual territory.
After throwing no passes and taking four offensive snaps all season, Stidham will now take over as starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos in the AFC title game against New England on Sunday.
Stidham hasn’t thrown a pass in a regular-season or playoff game since starting the final two contests in 2023, getting his only action in practice and the preseason since then.
According to Sportradar, Stidham will be the seventh quarterback since starts began being tracked in 1950 to start a playoff game in a season when he didn’t start in the regular season.
Frank Reich was the only one of those six QBs to win as a fill-in when he won two starts for Buffalo in the 1992 playoffs in place of Jim Kelly.