Time-Lapse Video of Wintry Broncos-Patriots AFC Title Game Is Absolutely Stunning

The Patriots and Broncos played the AFC title game in a wild blizzard.

The Denver Broncos and New England Patriots line up during the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship game. | Via CBS

The Patriots and Broncos played in one of the wildest AFC championship games in recent memory on Sunday, and we now have visual evidence of how crazy it was.

New England beat Denver 10-7 in a contest that featured less than 400 yards of total offense. While both teams feature excellent defenses, the weather was the main cause of the offensive outage. Despite kicking off the game with no snow on the field, by the fourth quarter the teams were battling each other and a blizzard.

CBS posted time-lapse video of the conditions during the game, and it is mesmerizing.

Video is below.

This snow timelapse 😮 pic.twitter.com/zDwTSxfWXX

— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 25, 2026

That is a stunning change from kickoff until late in the fourth quarter.

The Broncos’ offense struggled all day thanks to having to use backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham. With Bo Nix out for the season with a broken ankle, Stidham was forced into action. He finished the game 17-of-31 for 133 yards, with one touchdown and a late interception. He added 23 yards on four carries. It wasn’t enough to push Denver to victory.

On the other side, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye had his worst statistical game of the season but managed to lead his team to victory. Maye finished 10-of-21 for 86 yards, with no touchdowns or interceptions, and added 65 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. It’s worth noting that, on the most important play of the game, the second-year quarterback stepped up.

The New England faced third-and-5 on its own 41-yard line with 1:57 to go, needing six yards to essentially end the game. Maye took the snap and ran a bootleg to the left on a designed run and picked up seven yards for the first down. That run sent the Patriots to their first Super Bowl since 2018.

The Broncos will look back on Sunday’s loss thinking “what if?” Had Nix not been injured or had the weather cooperated, the story may have been different. Instead, New England is heading to Santa Clara for the Super Bowl, and Denver is done for the year.

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