Jarrett Stidham will try to join Frank Reich as only QB to get first start in postseason, and win

Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham can view it as a tall test, or a golden opportunity.

If Stidham manages to engineer a victory next weekend in the AFC Championship, he’ll become only the second quarterback in the modern era of football to get his first start of the season in the playoffs and win.

Stidham will get the start in place of Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, who suffered a broken ankle near the end of Saturday’s overtime win against the Bills.

Via Kalyn Kahler of ESPN.com, six quarterbacks since 1950 have started a postseason game after not starting a single game in the regular season. Only Frank Reich won, replacing Jim Kelly for the epic 1992 wild-card game against the Oilers, in which the Bills erased a 35-3 third-quarter deficit for a 41-38 overtime win.

Reich got another win the next weekend, beating the Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium in the divisional round, 24-3. (Kelly took over from there.)

Even though Reich hadn’t started a game during the 16-game 1992 season, he had thrown 47 passes in five appearances. Stidham didn’t throw a single pass during the 17-game 2025 regular season. Or during the 17-game 2024 regular season.

Stidham, via Kahler, will be only the second quarterback to get his first start of the season in the conference title game or later. In 1972, Roger Staubach made his first start of the year in place of Craig Morton in the NFC Championship; the Cowboys lost to Washington, 26-3.

Stidham last played in Weeks 17 and 18 of the 2023 season, after the Broncos benched Russell Wilson for financial reasons. Stidham also started two games at the end of the 2022 season, after the Raiders benched Derek Carr for financial reasons. Those are Stidham’s only four career starts.

In seven days, he’ll be facing either the team that drafted him in 2019 (the Patriots), or the Houston successors to the Oilers franchise that fell victim to Frank Reich, 33 years ago.

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