Sunday Rundown: Instant takeaways from conference title games

Sunday Rundown recaps the most important developments from the day's action and examines their significance moving forward.

Halftime notes ✍️

Mixed bag for Stidham

Sean Payton seemed supremely confident that Jarrett Stidham would rise to the occasion in place of an injured Bo Nix. Two quarters in, it's easy to see why. But it hasn't been the smoothest ride, either.

Stidham indeed did everything Denver could have asked from him early, putting the ball where it needed to be as the point guard of the offense and even pushing the ball downfield when he got the opportunity. A beautiful 52-yard strike to Marvin Mims on his second drive set up the lone Broncos touchdown of the first half.

But then came the disaster play late in the second quarter. Stidham recklessly continued to hold the ball as he drifted backward under pressure, taking a hit that led to a backward pass and a lost fumble. The turnover deep in Broncos territory set New England up to tie the game at 7-7 before halftime. Stidham doesn't need to provide the same ceiling as Nix for Denver to have a chance, but the floor being this much lower could lead to problems.

Maye under pressure

A lethal pass-rush is the main reason why the Broncos don't need their quarterback to light up the scoreboard to have a chance to win. And with New England having struggled to protect Drake Maye over the last two weeks, this always felt like an area that could swing the game in Denver's favor. The Patriots quarterback was sacked 10 times over the first two playoff games and also lost three of his six fumbles.

The Broncos didn't waste any time exploiting that mismatch, regularly collapsing the pocket en route to three first-half sacks. The good news for New England is that it hasn't led to any turnovers. Maye will have to keep it that way in the second half, as one strip sack could make the difference in a tight game.

Payton gets too cute

I'm almost always in favor of going for it on fourth-and-1, and the analytics tend to agree. But it really felt like Sean Payton should have shown a little restraint midway through the second quarter.

Already up 7-0, the Broncos had a chance to make it a two-score game with a chip-shot field goal. Payton opted to trust Stidham, calling for a play-action rollout. The Patriots had it snuffed out, forcing the incompletion and taking the turnover on downs. I think you have to take those points in a close game with your backup quarterback. Could that decision come back to haunt Payton by the end of the day?

Check back after the game for full analysis.

Kickoff: 6:30 p.m. ET

Dan Wilkins is theScore's senior NFL writer.