ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Denver's defense did all it could to carry the offensively challenged Broncos to Super Bowl 60.
Vance Joseph's unit sacked Drake Maye five times, limited him to 65 net yards passing, allowed just two sustained drives that netted three points, and the only touchdown the Broncos allowed came on a 12-yard drive following Jarrett Stidham's panicked chest-pass turnover when he should have taken the sack and allowed punter Jeremy Crawshaw to flip the field on an opponent that hadn't yet crossed midfield.
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New England Patriots linebacker Christian Elliss (53) sacks Denver Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham (8) during the first half of the AFC Championship NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Denver Broncos running back RJ Harvey (12) runs as New England Patriots linebacker Jahlani Tavai (48) pursues during the second half of the AFC Championship NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton speaks during a news conference after the AFC Championship NFL football game between the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Garrett W. Ellwood)
Denver Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham leaves the field after the AFC Championship NFL football game between the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/John Locher)
All of that wasn't enough to prevent New England's 10-7 win in the snow Sunday that was fueled partly by Broncos coach Sean Payton's decision to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the Patriots 14 instead of kicking a field goal for a double-digit lead before the blizzard arrived at halftime.
The fourth down pass attempt failed and the Broncos never got inside New England's 30-yard line again.
“It was a slip or naked (bootleg) that we have run pretty well. They played a 6-1 front with a two-deep shell. Hindsight, the initial run thought was a better decision,” Payton said. “There’s always regrets. Look, I felt like here we are fourth-and-1. I felt close enough. Also, it’s a call you make based on the team you are playing and what you are watching on the other side of the ball. But, there will always be second thoughts.”
Kick the field goal. Take the sack. And it might have been Denver heading to Santa Clara, California, to face the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl instead of the upstart Patriots (17-3).
The Broncos (15-4) lost a conference championship for just the third time in 11 tries and they lost to the Patriots at home in the playoffs for the first time in five tries. Payton himself fell to 1-3 in conference championships.
Watching it all from a suite was quarterback Bo Nix, who broke his right ankle on Denver's game-winning drive in overtime against Buffalo in the divisional round. He's looking at a three-month recovery from surgery last week in Alabama.
The recovery time for the Broncos will be a lot longer.
“We'll remember it for the rest of our lives,” linebacker Alex Singleton said.
One thing that was solidified this season: the Broncos have their franchise quarterback in Nix, who's won 25 games and led 11 game-winning drives in his first two seasons.
“This dude, he's special,” safety Talanoa Hufanga said. “There's a reason I wore a T-shirt with him on it because I want him to feel the confidence that I have in him. But, a dude who just goes out there and regardless of the situation, you all saw it all year, these fourth quarters and he pulls them out and you're like, ‘How does he do it?’”
Several Broncos, starting with OLB Nik Bonitto after the game, said they felt the better team lost Sunday.
“It's sickening ... knowing we're definitely the better team," Bonitto said.
Singleton said he had booked an Airbnb for his family in Santa Clara.
“I think a lot of us had plans,” Singleton said. “I think we knew that we were the better team. And it (stinks).”
The Broncos could be losing Joseph to a head coaching job, although OLB Jonathon Cooper appeared to let slip news that Joseph was staying in Denver.
“He's the best D.C. I've had. I'm happy that he's ...,” Cooper said, catching himself mid-word. “I don't know exactly what to say because I don't know all that he said. But he's a great coach and I'm happy to have him.”
Joseph interviewed for several of the 10 jobs that came open this cycle but he likely would be back in demand a year from now — and have a deeper college QB class to help turn around a franchise in 2027.
Running back J.K. Dobbins said the plan was for him to play in the Super Bowl if the Broncos had beaten the Patriots.
Dobbins had Lisfranc foot surgery in mid-November after rushing for 772 yards and four touchdowns in 10 games while averaging five yards per carry. The Broncos’ backfield averaged one fewer yard per carry and 31 fewer yards per game since Dobbins got hurt Nov. 6.
“Well, I wouldn’t call it rushing back,” Dobbins said. “We were just doing what my body was allowing us to do. It wasn’t a rush. I just wanted to win. I’ve been in the playoffs a lot. I felt like I could have helped my team. I wasn’t there for them so it hurts. It hurts to watch. It hurts to not be out there and help the team win.”
He returned to practice last week and said he was very close to playing against the Patriots: "There were even discussions about me playing yesterday, but this organization is so great. They want to do right by me. So they decided — we decided — to not go out there.
“I wanted to be out there. Like, I wish I could have. Stupid hip-drop tackle however many weeks ago, that's what put me out. I can't control it. But what I can control is how I come back ... and I will be back even better."
And he hopes it's in Denver.
“Yeah, I'm a Bronco. I'm a Buckeye and I'm a Bronco,” said Dobbins, a pending free agent. “I wasn't drafted here but I do firmly believe that I'm a Bronco.”
Other pending unrestricted free agents include John Franklin-Myers, P.J. Locke, Justin Strnad and Singleton.
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New England Patriots linebacker Christian Elliss (53) sacks Denver Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham (8) during the first half of the AFC Championship NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Denver Broncos running back RJ Harvey (12) runs as New England Patriots linebacker Jahlani Tavai (48) pursues during the second half of the AFC Championship NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton speaks during a news conference after the AFC Championship NFL football game between the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Garrett W. Ellwood)
Denver Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham leaves the field after the AFC Championship NFL football game between the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/John Locher)
The White House on Monday made an effort to distance President Donald Trump from comments made by several members of his administration that criminalized Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti, who was shot and killed Saturday by a Border Patrol officer.
In the immediate aftermath of Pretti’s killing, Deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller labeled the protester “an assassin” who “tried to murder federal agents.” When asked about the comment during a briefing, press secretary Karoline Leavitt stressed that Trump hadn’t used such words.
Leavitt also said she “not heard the president characterize” Pretti as a domestic terrorist, a label Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem used a day earlier.
The White House’s seeming retreat comes as a growing number of Republicans call for a deeper investigation into Pretti’s killing, a sign that the Trump administration’s accounting of events may face bipartisan scrutiny.
Hours before the briefing, a federal judge began hearing arguments on whether she should at least temporarily halt the immigration crackdown in Minnesota.
Here's the latest:
Democrats on the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee held a congressional field hearing in New Orleans Monday on a recent federal immigration enforcement operation in south Louisiana.
Residents and city leaders lambasted federal officials over “Catahoula Crunch” – the deployment of hundreds of immigration agents to, and around, the blue city. The operation began in December and largely concluded this month.
Mayor Helena Moreno said while Homeland Security officials described the operation as targeting the “worst of the worst” that was not the case. Moreno said “non-violent individuals” were “overwhelmingly targeted and profiled” by agents, causing “widespread fear.” Documents previously reviewed by AP showed the majority of people arrested in the Louisiana crackdown’s first days lacked criminal records.
Advocates called for sweeping changes to immigration enforcement, with some suggesting the abolishment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Many reiterated concerns over the constitutionality of raids and detention – pointing to not only New Orleans but also the immigration crackdown in Minnesota that’s led to the fatal shootings of two people by government officers.
“What we saw here, and now in much more severe fashion, in Minneapolis is no longer an issue of immigration, public safety or even politics,” Moreno said. “This is a cruel, divisive agenda lacking humanity.”
The Federal Aviation Administration has created a no-fly zone for drones near immigration enforcement operations, including moving vehicle convoys.
The agency issued the security notice earlier this month, prohibiting unmanned aircraft from operating within 1,000 feet above or 3,000 feet adjacent to Department of Homeland Security assets, including ground vehicle convoys and escorts.
The no-fly zone also includes Department of Defense, Department of Energy and and Department of Homeland Security facilities, and the FAA says violators can face criminal and civil penalties. The area around the immigration enforcement operations is considered “national defense airspace,” according to the notice.
The Jan. 16 notice expands nationwide and does not have an end date. It says drone operators should coordinate in advance with the appropriate federal entities, but does not say how drone operators are expected to identify moving no-fly zones when immigration raids or other federal vehicle convoys are not announced in advance.
The chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is inviting three top Homeland Security Department officials to testify before Congress after a fatal shooting of a protester in Minneapolis over the weekend.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., sent letters Tuesday to the heads of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) inviting them to a hearing on Feb. 12. His letters come after the GOP chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, New York Rep. Andrew Garbarino, requested a similar hearing over the weekend.
In the letters, Paul wrote that Congress has a duty to oversee taxpayer dollars and “ensure the funding is used to accomplish the mission, provide proper support for our law enforcement and, most importantly, protect the American people.”
Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, also a candidate for Wisconsin governor, said Monday he has not seen any of the videos of Alex Pretti being shot and killed by a federal Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis.
“I have not seen the video,” Tiffany told reporters at a news conference called to release his property tax plan.
Tiffany said he was also not aware of comments from Trump administration officials alleging that Pretti was a “would-be assassin” who intended to “massacre” federal agents.
“I didn’t see those comments, but I’d have to see the context of them,” Tiffany said.
Tiffany said he supports a “full investigation” into what happened that includes Minnesota officials working with those from the federal government. He called the loss of life in Minnesota “tragic.”
“Let’s get all the facts on the table and be sure to make a reasoned decision in what has been a chaotic time,” Tiffany said.
Tiffany is a strong supporter of President Donald Trump and said if elected governor of Wisconsin he would work closely with federal immigration officers.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump wants to see the bipartisan spending package passed this week to avoid the possibility of a government shutdown.
Leavitt said that “policy discussions on immigration in Minnesota are happening” and that Trump as president “is leading those discussions.” But she said those conversations “should not be at the expense of government funding for the American people.”
“We absolutely do not want to see that funding lapse,” Leavitt said. “And we want the Senate to move forward with passing the bipartisan appropriations package that was negotiated on a bipartisan basis.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison says a federal judge’s decision on whether to halt an immigration crackdown in the state will have major ramifications for the rest of the nation.
“This decision is extremely important to the sovereignty of every single state,” Ellison said shortly after the hearing before U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez came to a close on Monday. State and Twin Cities officials have asked Menendez to order a halt to the crackdown.
“We’re asking for preliminary relief,” he later continued. “The case will go on. But what is decided in Minnesota, overall, this case, and everything that we’re doing to try to protect our state, has great ramifications for the rest of the country.”
Menendez’ ruling will not weigh in on the merits of the case, but instead determine if the crackdown needs to stop temporarily while the lawsuit moves forward in court.
“We’re never going to stop defending Minnesota, If things go our way, great. If they don’t, we’re right back to the drawing board,” Ellison said. “The moment will never arrive when we stop fighting for this state. Full stop.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Tom Homan, the administration’s border czar, would be “the main point of contact on the ground in Minneapolis” during continued operations by federal immigration officers.
That marks something of a change as Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino had been the public face of operations in the city.
Leavitt said that Bovino would “very much continue to lead Customs and Border Patrol, throughout and across the country.”
“While Americans have a constitutional right to bear arms, Americans do not have a constitutional right to impede lawful immigration enforcement operations,” Leavitt said, adding that, when an armed person is confronted by law enforcement, “you are raising the assumption of risk, and the risk of a force being used against you.”
Leavitt was asked about FBI Director Kash Patel’s remarks that someone could not bring a loaded firearm to a protest.
Family members said Pretti owned a handgun and had a permit to carry a concealed handgun in Minnesota, but that they had never known him to carry it.
The Department of Homeland Security has said Pretti was shot after he “approached” Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun but did not specify if he brandished it.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at the news briefing that she has not heard Trump commit to release body camera footage from federal immigration officers involved in the shooting and killing of Alex Pretti, who was protesting the administration’s actions.
Leavitt later said that the administration is talking with members of Congress about requirements to have federal immigration officers wear body cameras.
Asked if Noem had made a mistake that led Trump to send border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota, Leavitt said no.
Noting that Noem oversees “the entire Department of Homeland Security,” Leavitt stressed that that includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is managing response to “a brutal winter storm, where hundreds of thousands of Americans have been impacted by that.”
Leavitt said that Homan “is in a unique position to drop everything and go to Minnesota to continue having these productive conversations with state and local officials,” adding that he would be “catching a plane in just a few hours to do just that, at the at the request of the president.”
White House press secretary says that she has “not heard the president characterize” as a domestic terrorist Alex Pretti, the Minneapolis protester shot and killed on Saturday by a federal immigration officer.
That marks something of a difference with the message of other administration officials. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has labeled Pretti as committing an act of domestic terrorism.
Leavitt said she has “heard the president say he wants to get the facts on the investigation” of the shooting
Asked about deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller’s social media characterization of Pretti, without offering any evidence, as “an assassin” who “tried to murder federal agents,” Leavitt stressed that Trump hadn’t used such words.
“This has obviously been a very fluid and fast moving situation throughout the weekend,” Leavitt said, adding that Trump “has said that he wants to let the investigation continue and let the facts lead.”
Asked if Miller would apologize to Pretti’s family, Leavitt again turned to Trump’s position.
“Nobody here at the White House, including the president of the United States, wants to see Americans hurt and losing their lives,” she said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the shooting and killing by a federal immigration officer of Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti “occurred as a result of a deliberate and hostile resistance by Democrat leaders in Minnesota.”
Her remarks showed the administration still seeks to blame the violence on political rivals, despite Trump seeking to ease tensions by saying Monday that he had a productive phone conversation with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
The White House continues to say that resistance to Trump’s agenda is what led to the shootings and killings of Pretti and Renee Good after ICE agents have engaged in aggressive operations in Minnesota.
Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other elected Democrats “were spreading lies about federal law enforcement officers,” Leavitt said at the White House briefing.
“They have also used their platforms to encourage Left-Wing agitators to stalk, record, confront, and obstruct federal officers who were just trying to lawfully perform their duties, which has created dangerous situations threatening both these officers and the general public and Minnesotans alike,” Leavitt said.
During a briefing on Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that a trio of “active investigations” and internal probes of the shooting were underway by federal agencies.
Leavitt said that the Department of Homeland Security and FBI were investigating the shooting and that U.S. Customs and Border Protection was “conducting their own internal review.”
“As President Trump said yesterday, the administration is reviewing everything with respect to the shooting, and we will let that investigation play out,” Leavitt added.
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who has been a strong supporter of Trump’s crackdown on immigration, said Monday the White House needs to “recalibrate” what it is doing in Minnesota.
Abbott spoke with conservative radio host Mark Davis and said immigration agents deserve respect as law enforcement.
Abbott said he believes the White House is working on a “game plan” for immigration agents to “go about their job in a more structured way to make sure that they are going to be able to remove these people, but without causing all the kinds of problems and fighting in communities that they are experiencing right now.”
Abbott also blamed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor for not doing enough to calm the situation on the ground.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey renewed her calls for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign when asked by reporters on Monday.
In a lengthy response, Healey accused the head of the FBI of not understanding the Second Amendment and Attorney General Pam Bondi of extorting Minnesota for its voter rolls.
Healey added that Trump’s administration was “doing a huge disservice” to the American public.
Monday’s hearing in federal court on Minnesota and the Twin Cities’ suit aiming to halt the Trump administration’s surge of immigration law enforcement has ended without the judge ruling from the bench.
U.S. District Court Judge Katherine Menendez emphasized the urgency of the case, saying she plans to issue a written opinion, though didn’t specify when.
A Monday morning call between President Donald Trump and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz about fatal shootings by immigration officers appears to have been well-received by both sides.
Walz’ office said the call was “productive.”
“The Governor made the case that we need impartial investigations of the Minneapolis shootings involving federal agents, and that we need to reduce the number of federal agents in Minnesota,” his office wrote in a release.
Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both Minnesota residents and U.S. citizens, were fatally shot and killed by federal immigration officers in separate incidents in Minneapolis.
Trump agreed to talk to the Department of Homeland Security about ensuring the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is able to conduct an independent investigation, Walz’ office said, and also agreed to look into either reducing the number of federal agents in Minnesota or working with the state “in a more coordinated fashion on immigration enforcement regarding violent criminals.”
Trump wrote in a social media post earlier Monday that the two “actually” seem to be on the same page in wanting to work together on immigration issues in Minnesota. He said the people the administration is seeking “are any and all Criminals that they have in their possession” and Walz “very respectfully, understood that.”
More than 3,000 federal immigration officers are part of the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota, a Department of Justice attorney told a federal judge on Monday.
Brantley Mayers, counsel to the DOJ’s assistant attorney general, told U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez that at least 2,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and at least 1,000 Customs and Border Patrol officers were part of the operation, and that he would provide her with an exact number later.
Minnesota state and Twin Cities officials have asked Menendez to halt the immigration crackdown, which has led to widespread unrest. Two Minnesota residents have been shot and killed by immigration officials since the crackdown began.
Menendez asked Mayers why so many officers were needed. Mayers said it had to do with complications surrounding how immigration officers typically stage for enforcement operations, gathering in parking lots.
Twin Cities officials have taken steps to prohibit city-owned parking lots and garages from being used in immigration enforcement operations. Chicago officials took similar steps after immigration crackdowns in that city last year.
“I failed to view the DHS funding vote as a referendum on the illegal and immoral conduct of ICE in Minneapolis,” Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., posted on social media. “I hear the anger from many of my constituents, and I take responsibility for that. I have long been critical of ICE’s unlawful behavior and I must do a better job demonstrating that.”
Suozzi was one of the seven moderate Democrats who voted with Republicans last week to pass a tranche of funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
The congressman added that the “senseless and tragic murder of Alex Pretti underscores what happens when untrained federal agents operate without accountability” and called on President Donald Trump to end ICE’s enhanced enforcement operation in Minnesota.
Federal agents try to clear demonstrators near a hotel, using tear gas during a noise demonstration protest in response to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A federal agent stands guard near a hotel during a noise demonstration protest in response to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A federal agent holds a person as the agents try to clear the demonstrators near a hotel, using tear gas during a noise demonstration protest in response to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A federal agent stands guard near a hotel during a noise demonstration protest in response to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
