The New England Patriots are back in the Super Bowl after defeating the Denver Broncos in a game featuring limited scoring opportunities and cold, snowy conditions.
Ultimately, the Patriots’ defense and quarterback Drake Maye led the team to a victory at Denver’s home stadium, 10-7. It wasn’t pretty, as both teams traded first-half touchdowns to head into halftime deadlocked at 7-7.
That included Stidham connecting on several impressive passes early, before the conditions worsened for the second half, and Maye running the ball in for his team’s only touchdown.
The Patriots got close enough for a field goal in the second half and connected, and their defense then prevented the Broncos from getting close enough for a good kick or touchdown.
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There weren’t a ton of significant highlights, with the exceptions of Stidham’s huge pass in the first half, Maye’s touchdown run, and the Patriots’ huge interception of a Stidham pass late in the fourth quarter.
However, a pregame moment featuring veteran wide receiver Stefon Diggs caught attention as he was indeed fired up for the game and trying to get his teammates hyped up for the AFC Championship Game.
ESPN’s SportsCenter shared a highlight clip from the pregame, featuring a CBS reporter speaking into a microphone near Patriots players. Suddenly, Diggs, without a helmet on, emerged from the side of the screen and delivered a helmetless headbutt to his teammate, who had his helmet on.
The pregame moment captured on camera went viral on social media, including X, where many fans reacted to seeing Diggs’ pregame antics.
“Love the enthusiasm but dont CTE yourself dog,” one X commenter wrote.
“They gonna throw him in the blue tent now,” another commenter said.
“Too bad he isn’t firred up during the game. They could of used some 1st down’s,” a commenter wrote.
Diggs didn’t have the best performance in the game, recording five receptions for just 17 yards. Only Mack Hollins did better, achieving two receptions for 51 yards upon his return to the Patriots lineup for this game after an injury sidelined him in late December.
However, it was also a snowy and cold field, and New England faced a tough Denver Broncos defense at their home stadium.
That said, the next Patriots game, which is the Super Bowl, will have more favorable conditions as they’ll take on the winner of the NFC Championship Game- either the Seattle Seahawks or Los Angeles Rams- at Santa Clara’s Levi Stadium in California.
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