The High Cost of QB Injuries: AFC Championship Drives Home the Value of a Reliable Backup
If there’s one lesson the 2025 NFL season hammered home, it’s this: the value of a dependable backup quarterback has never been higher. In a year where injuries derailed contenders and reshaped the playoff picture, the AFC Championship served as yet another reminder of just how fragile a Super Bowl run can be without a steady hand behind the starter.
In Denver, the Broncos’ defense did everything it was supposed to do-and then some. Facing a red-hot New England Patriots team led by MVP candidate Drake Maye, Denver’s defense stood tall, holding the Pats to just 10 points in front of a raucous Mile High crowd.
That kind of performance should win you a conference title. But not this time.
The problem? Bo Nix wasn’t under center.
Nix, who had steered the Broncos to a 14-3 regular season and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, suffered a fractured ankle late in the divisional round win over Buffalo. It was a brutal blow-not just to Nix, who was enjoying a breakout second season, but to a Broncos team that looked like a legitimate Super Bowl threat. With Nix sidelined, Denver turned to Jarrett Stidham, a veteran backup who hadn’t thrown a pass in an NFL game in over two years.
That’s not a knock on Stidham. He was thrust into an impossible situation: AFC Championship, home crowd, a Super Bowl berth on the line, and a Patriots defense that’s been one of the league’s most disciplined units all year.
But the outcome was predictable. Denver managed just one touchdown, and New England punched its ticket to Santa Clara.
This wasn’t just a Denver problem. It was a league-wide issue in 2025.
The Kansas City Chiefs, perennial contenders with Patrick Mahomes at the helm, saw their season unravel in Week 15 when Mahomes tore his ACL against the Chargers. The offense, already showing signs of wear, completely fell apart. The Chiefs didn’t win another game, closing the season on a losing streak that included a 17-point loss to the Titans and a gut-wrenching two-point defeat to the Raiders-two teams that spent most of the year in the NFL’s basement.
Gardner Minshew, brought in as Mahomes’ backup on a one-year deal, didn’t even make it through a full game before suffering a season-ending injury of his own. And just like that, Kansas City was out of answers at the most important position in football. Now, with Mahomes’ rehab timeline uncertain and Minshew set to hit free agency, the Chiefs enter the offseason with more questions than answers at quarterback.
They’re not alone.
The Ravens sputtered without Lamar Jackson. The Bengals never found their footing after losing Joe Burrow early.
The Commanders’ offense collapsed when Jayden Daniels went down. The Colts, who looked like playoff locks at midseason, faded fast after Daniel Jones was ruled out for the year.
Across the league, the story was the same: lose your QB1, and your season likely goes with him.
There were exceptions, of course. The Texans managed to stay afloat with Davis Mills stepping in, thanks in large part to a dominant defense and Mills’ ability to protect the football. But for most teams, the drop-off from starter to backup was steep-and unforgiving.
That brings us back to Denver. The Broncos built a contender around a young quarterback who was coming into his own.
They had the defense. They had the momentum.
They had the home-field edge. But when Nix went down, so did their shot at a championship.
It’s a harsh reality in today’s NFL: you can build the perfect roster, but if you don’t have a Plan B at quarterback, you’re one injury away from watching it all slip away. And in 2025, more teams learned that the hard way than ever before.
For the Broncos, the offseason will be about healing-physically for Nix, and emotionally for a team that came so close. For the Chiefs, it’s about figuring out what comes next at the most important position in sports.
And for the rest of the league, it’s a wake-up call: QB2 isn’t just a roster spot anymore. It’s an insurance policy your season might depend on.