Who do the Patriots play next? AFC title at stake in Mile High matchup

One of the most remarkable one-year turnarounds in NFL history is now just one win away from a spot in the Super Bowl. After so much talk about the Houston Texans' defense, it was the New England Patriots who punched early and often in the Divisional Round on Sunday afternoon, forcing five turnovers and getting a pair of touchdown passes from Drake Maye en route to a 28-16 win.

With that, New England is now back in the AFC title game for the first time since 2018. But who will they face with a trip to Santa Clara on the line?

Patriots playoff schedule: Trip to Denver stands between New England and a Super Bowl return

With the win on Sunday afternoon, the Patriots are moving on to the AFC Championship Game. And after Saturday's results, they know who they'll be playing and where: It's off to Denver for a matchup against the No. 1-seeded Broncos.

Patriots next game:

• AFC Championship Game at Broncos: Sunday, Jan 25 at 3:00 p.m. ET on CBS (Empower Field at Mile High, Denver. Colo.)

Denver survived an instant classic in the Divisional Round against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, with Bo Nix (with some help from the officiating crew) leading his team down the field for a game-winning field goal in overtime. But that win came at a cost: Nix suffered a fracture on the second-to-last play of that drive, and has already been ruled out for the rest of the season.

As a result, New England will get to go up against Denver backup Jarrett Stidham — who just so happened to be selected by the Patriots in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Stidham sat behind first Tom Brady and then Cam Newton and Mac Jones, appearing in just eight games (zero starts) over three years before being traded to the Las Vegas Raiders.

Now Stidham will be in position to try and exact revenge on his former team, while also authoring one of the most unlikely Cinderella stories in NFL playoff history. He'll have his work cut out for him, coming in cold against one of the best teams in the league. But at least he'll have some history on his side.

Patriots vs. Broncos recent history

Denver leads the all-time series between these two teams, 31-24. They didn't meet this year during the regular season; their most recent matchup came back in 2023, with the Patriots earning a 26-23 win.

The results have been even more uneven come playoff time, though. Across five all-time meetings in the postseason, the Broncos have won four of them, including AFC title game victories in both 2013 and 2015.

Can Drake Maye and Co. flip that script come Sunday? They'll certainly be favored, considering the injury to Nix and how good New England's defense has looked of late. But traveling to Mile High is no joke, adn the Broncos boast a great defense of their own.

Full NFL playoff schedule

The NFL playoffs will conclude on Feb. 8 with Super Bowl XL. First, Super Bowl hopefuls need to make it through the remaining divisional games and then the two conference championship games on Jan. 25.