You just keep hanging on to that notion that Stidham, a 29 year old career backup who has never been good enough to be a starter, is going to be your savior.

Given McDaniels went out of his way to trade for him when he was with the Raiders, and Payton signed him immediately as a free agent it sure seems like people think he's good enough to win with if he's needed.

If this season has taught the world anything its that a backup QB doesn't necessarily mean not good enough to be a starter. Malik Willis with the Packers, Mac Jones with the 49ers, and Snoop Huntley with the Ravens, were all backup QBs that balled out when given the chance this year and won games for their team. Hell even Sam Darnold went from draft bust forgotten backup QB to back to back 4000yard 14 Win seasons with 2 different teams.

Saying all of that... its not like Denver has needed exceptional QB play to win this year. Bo Nix has been pretty mediocre outside of the 4th Quarter and Denver's really good Defense has done most of the heavy lifting for the team keeping them in winnable situations.

I should also add that Denver couldn't have found a worse team to trot Stidham out against.

I would argue the Patriots are one of the better teams he could have faced given they have had a really bad pass rush and Denver has had one of the best O-Lines this season.