Miracle @ Mile High! Broncos +180

[Headsterx]

West Coast Super Bowl needs Broncos to win. Doesn’t matter about Rams/Seahawks game as either team is West Coast. But to make it a Wild West Coast Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium, Broncos with a backup QB needs a miracle at Mile High.

New England Patriots @ Denver Broncos +180
OVER 43 (-105)

[Headsterx]

He’s been tucked away on the shelf, and now he’s being asked to come in cold and spark the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game.

No, not Jarrett Stidham.

Running back J.K. Dobbins. He has been out with a foot injury since Nov. 6 but returned to practice this week. He has been sorely missed, as rookie RJ Harvey has a total of 91 yards rushing on 35 carries in the past three games. Dobbins led the Broncos in rushing in the regular season despite missing seven games. Not only is he a more decisive runner than Harvey, but also Dobbins has a higher percentage of explosive rushes (11 percent to 3 percent) and a lower percentage of rushes for no gain or a loss (14 to 21).

It got us thinking. We picked the Los Angeles Rams to win the Super Bowlbefore the playoffs began — we’re sticking with that — but in the AFC, we think people are overreacting to the Bo Nix injury news. The Broncos would surely be favored by a couple of points at home if he were playing, and now they’re five-point underdogs?!? I’m not sure Nix’s mom thinks he is worth seven points against the spread.

We’re definitely taking the points … and maybe even the upset at +210. The New England Patriots had a historically easy schedule, then got a Los Angeles Chargers team with a turnstile offensive line in the first round and faced C.J. (stands for Careless Juggler) Stroud last week. They’ll finally get tested here, against a No. 1 seed that gets to play the no-respect card as the largest home underdog in a conference championship since 1968, per Pro Football Reference.

And there’s some value with Stidham …