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The Broncos–Patriots rivalry is a rivalry between the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots in the National Football League's American Football Conference. Since the American Football League was established in 1960, the Broncos and Patriots have faced off 51 times. The series was very commonly played in the AFL, but with the merger to the NFL, games became a lot rarer. This didn't stop Denver from winning eleven straight games against the Patriots from 1984-1998. With the arrival of Tom Brady to the Patriots the rivalry heated up as the Patriots and Broncos met four times in the playoffs from 2006-2016. In 2012 Peyton Manning joined the Broncos, and the Tom Brady–Peyton Manning rivalry escalated the intensity of their match-ups. The two teams have met yearly from the 2011 to the 2016 season despite being in different divisions. The two teams won three straight Super Bowls, Super Bowl XLIX and Super Bowl LI were won by the Patriots while the Broncos won Super Bowl 50 in the intervening year.

1960-2000

 * September 29, 1960: In the very first game in American Football League history, the Broncos traveled to Boston to play the then Boston Patriots. Denver took a 7-3 lead in the second quarter on a 59-yard touchdown pass from Frank Tripucka to Al Carmichael. In the third quarter Gene Mingo returned a punt for a score, and Denver walked away with a victory in their first game, and the first game of the NFL.


 * December 3, 1961: After leading 14-10 into the fourth quarter, the Patriots found themselves giving up the lead after an Al Frazier punt return. Larry Garron threw 51 yards to Babe Parilli for a touchdown, and Parilli rushed for another afterwards. Frazier returned a late kickoff 90 yards to bring the Broncos within four, but Boston's defense preserved the lead.


 * September 29, 1963: The Broncos scored an unlikely win over the Patriots with a comeback from a 10-0 deficit. In the third quarter Donnie Stone rushed for a touchdown, and in the fourth John McCormick threw 72 yards to Lionel Taylor for another touchdown to win 14-10.


 * November 11, 1979: Denver scored the largest victory in their history against New England with a 45-10 romp at Mile High Stadium. The Broncos scored 25 points in the first quarter alone against the Patriots, and their lead was 38-7 at halftime. Craig Morton threw for two touchdown passes, and Rob Lytle ran two in. Rob Nairne ran a blocked New England punt for a Denver touchdown in the third quarter.


 * September 29, 1980: New England was down 14-10 entering the fourth quarter, but found the will for a comeback victory. Steve Grogan threw 45 yards to Stanley Morgan, and John Smith kicked two fourth quarter field goals to finish up a 23-14 victory.


 * November 4, 1984: A 6-6 game was tied at halftime and ended very dramatically. Both teams exchanged touchdowns in the third quarter, but Rich Karlis missed his second extra point of the day to have New England leading 13-12 into the fourth. The Patriots added two field goals to their lead, but John Elway led the Broncos on a scoring drive with Butch Johnson catching the pass that led to Karlis' equalizing extra point. Late in the fourth quarter Dennis Smith recovered a Patriot fumble and ran it 64 yards for the winning touchdown.


 * January 4, 1987: The defending American Football Conference champion Patriots met the Broncos in the divisional round of the 1986-87 NFL Playoffs, the teams' first playoff meeting. Tony Eason had the Patriots up 7-3 after the first quarter was over, throwing a 19=yard pass to Stanley Morgan. However, John Elway ran for 22 yards for a touchdown, and Denver took a 10-7 lead that went into halftime as a 10-10 tie. Eason and Elway traded deep touchdown throws in the third quarter, but a Rich Karlis field goal had the Broncos up 17-20. The only points in the fourth quarter came off a safety when Eason was tackled in the end zone, and the Broncos advanced to the AFC Championship Game.


 * October 27, 1991: In an unusually low-scoring affair, neither offense was able to score a touchdown. David Treadwell had three field gols from 35, 18, and 34 yards out while Jason Staurovsky had two from 20 and 17 yards. The Broncos walked away with a 9-6 victory.


 * October 24, 1999: The Patriots finally beat the Broncos for the first time since 1980 with a dramatic victory in Foxboro Stadium. New England had a 10-0 lead after a Kevin Faulk 15-yard run, and an Adam Vinateri kick. Denver evened things up, but New England scored another touchdown with only 27 seconds left in the half. Terry Allen ran in a touchdown that extended their lead to 24-13 in the third quarter, and a Denver comeback fell one point short as Brian Griese's rushing touchdown and Jason Elam's field goal kept them at 23 points behind the Patriots' 24.

2000-Present

 * November 3, 2003: The game was tied 7-7 after a Clinton Portis rush, and a Deion Branch touchdown pass from 66 yards out from Tom Brady. Jason Elam and Adam Vinateri traded field goals, but Danny Kanell's pass to Mike Anderson for a touchdown gave the Broncos a 17-13 halftime lead. Daniel Graham scored for New England in the third quarter to go up 20-17, but Deltha O'Neal returned a punt 47 yards to give the Broncos a 24-20 lead heading into the fourth. Another Vinateri field goal for the Patriots made it 24-23, but Ken Walter fumbled a punt in the end zone for a Denver safety to increase the Broncos' lead to 26-23. Tom Brady led the Patriots on a game-winning drive, throwing to David Givens for a the touchdown with 36 seconds left for a 30-26 New England win.


 * January 14, 2006: For the second time the Broncos and Patriots squared off in the divisional round of the playoffs. The Patriots committed five turnovers during the game, which led to their downfall. Denver converted a Kevin Faulk fumble into a touchdown to make a 7-3 second quarter lead, and another fumble into a Jason Elam field goal to go up 10-3. In the third quarter Champ Bailey intercepted Tom Brady in the end zone and ran it 100 yards before Ben Watson forced him out at the one yard line, the Broncos scored on the next play to take a 17-6 lead. A muffed punt led to another Denver touchdown, and a late New England rally was held off for a 27-13 Broncos win. Tom Brady was handed his first playoff loss after three Super Bowl titles, and the Broncos won their first playoff game since Super Bowl XXXIII.


 * October 20, 2008: New England had their biggest win of the rivalry with a 41-7 romp over Denver at Gillette Stadium. They scored 34 unanswered points into the fourth quarter with Matt Cassell throwing threw touchdown passes. Daniel Graham caught a touchdown for the Broncos' only points of the game, but with 3 minutes left the Patriots scored again to seal the win.


 * October 11, 2009: Before the 2009 season the Broncos hired Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as their new had coach, and he faced his former team trying to keep Denver's unbeaten start alive. New England had a 10-0 lead entering the second quarter, and Ben Watson scored with 7 seconds left in the half to make it 17-7. However, the Patriots would not score again as a Matt Prater field goal and a Brandon Marshall pass from Kyle Orton tied it 17-17 to send it to overtime. Tom Brady never got the ball as Orton led a lengthy drive that ended in a Prater game winner to end the game 20-17.


 * January 14, 2012: For the third time the two teams met in the divisional round of the playoffs, the Patriots hosting for the first time. Denver, who had been on a miracle Cinderella run to this point with quarterback Tim Tebow was shredded by a powerful New England squad. Tom Brady threw six touchdown passes in the game to torch the Broncos, and Willis McGahee scored their only touchdown of the game in the second quarter. The final score was 45-10 as the Patriots moved on to the AFC Championship Game.


 * November 24, 2013: The Broncos were stunned in Gillette Stadium by the Patriots. A Von Miller fumble returned had sparked a stellar 24-0 first half from Denver, who went into halftime confident about their chances to win. New England came out firing in the second half, with three Tom Brady touchdown passes making up the bulk of a 31 point run from New England in the third quarter and half of the fourth. Demariyus Thomas caught a Peyton Manning pass to even it at 31-31, but in overtime Tony Carter muffed a punt recovery with three minutes remaining, easily setting up Stephen Gostowski for a game-winner in a 34-31 stunner.


 * January 19, 2014: The Patriots travelled to Denver to play the Broncos in the AFC Championship Game. The Broncos controlled the game form the outset, Matt Prater's field goal and Jacob Tamme's touchdown opened a 10-0 lead. At halftime Denver led 13-3, and Peyton Manning threw to Demaryius Thomas for a touchdown, and another Prater field goal made it 23-3. Tom Brady had a touchdown pass and run in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough as Denver advanced to Super Bowl XLVIII with a 23-16 win.


 * November 29, 2015: With Peyton Manning injured, the Broncos offense was led by Brock Osweiler, and initially they struggled in a snowy primetime game. Tom Brady's two touchdown passes had New England up 14-0 late in the second quarter before Ronnie Hillman rushed to half the deficit 14-7. After a scoreless third, Brady threw 63 yards to Brandon Bolden to extend the Patriots lead to 21-7. In eleven minutes the Broncos took the lead, a C. J. Anderson run scored for a touchdown, Brandon McManus kicked a field goal, and Osweiler threw to Andre Caldwell to take a 24-21 lead. Stephen Gostowski tied it with a field goal as time expired, but the Broncos defense forced a New England three and out in overtime, and C. J. Anderson ran 48 yards to score, winning the game 30-24 for Denver in the 50th meeting of the tow teams.


 * January 24, 2016: For the second time in three years the Broncos hosted the Patriots with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line in the AFC Championship Game. Peyton Manning threw to Owen Daniels for an opening touchdown, but a Ronnie Hillman fumble set up an easy Steven Jackson touchdown. Stephen Gostowski shockingly missed the extra point, and Daniels to Manning was good for another touchdown and a 14-6 halftime lead. The teams traded field goals twice until Tom Brady finally broke through Denver's defense to hit Rob Gronkowski for a touchdown with 12 seconds left after throwing two interceptions earlier in the game. Aqib Talib broke up the two-point conversion, and Shiloh Keo recovered the onside kick attempt to seal a 20-18 Denver win to send them to Super Bowl 50.

Game results
Note: All game dates occur on Sunday unless indicated otherwise. Source: Pro-Football-Reference.