Nick Wright Jumps Off Patriots Bandwagon To Pick Broncos

The New England Patriots are favored to beat the Denver Broncos in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game, but Nick Wright went against the grain to forecast an upset.

While Wright hasn’t always been the biggest Patriots supporter, he correctly predicted in November that they would play for an AFC title. The Fox Sports personality also praised New England’s “championship caliber playoff victory” over the Los Angeles Chargers in the opening round.

However, Wright has New England’s magical run ending one win short of the Super Bowl. He picked a Broncos victory on Friday’s “First Things First.”

“I can’t believe it either,” Wright said after revealing his pick. “…When we were here Monday, I did not think that I would be picking the Broncos.”

Jarrett Stidham will start in place of an injured Bo Nix on Sunday. Wright opined that losing their starting quarterback is “least devastating” for the Broncos of all the remaining teams because of their defense and head coach.

“This is the team most equipped to deal with it,” Wright theorized. “Of all the coaches who could have been told you’re gonna have to play a backup quarterback in a big spot … Sean Payton is the one most prepared for it, with the possible exception of our pal Kyle Shanahan.”

Wright noted that Payton got “more than competent play” from backup quarterbacks with the New Orleans Saints. A graphic showed that Teddy Bridgewater and Taysom Hill went 8-1 with a 100.9 passer rating when replacing Drew Brees in 2019 and 2020. The Saints also won five of Jameis Winston’s seven starts the following year.

Furthermore, Wright feels home-field advantage will help Denver’s pass-rush pressure Drake Maye. The pundit is therefore expecting the Broncos to gut out an ugly win at Mile High.

“All of that is why in a tightly contested, low-scoring, very tough game, the Broncos’ crowd and the Broncos’ defense carries them to a 17-13, 17-14 type of victory.”