ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Denver’s defense carried Peyton Manning across the finish line in Super Bowl 50 and Vance Joseph’s bunch will almost certainly have to lead the way for the Broncos to get back to Levi’s Stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area for Super Bowl 60.The Broncos (15-3) host the New England Patriots (16-3) in the AFC championship Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High with a journeyman backup QB making his first start in more than two years, a tattered receiving corps and no ground game to speak of unless J.K. Dobbins somehow returns from a mid-November foot operation.Bo Nix broke his right ankle on Denver’s game-winning drive in overtime as the Broncos wrestled their biggest win in a decade from Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills with a 33-30 thriller that sent both tears and barbs flowing in the Bills locker room.Jarrett Stidham, who has appeared in 20 games in six NFL seasons, starting four and winning one, will step in for Nix, who’s undergoing surgery Tuesday in Birmingham, Alabama. Save for the preseason, Stidham hasn’t started a game — or even thrown a pass — in more than two years.“He will be ready to go and ready for the moment,” coach Sean Payton said.Stidham almost certainly won’t have two of the Broncos’ best receivers after Troy Franklin pulled a hamstring and Pat Bryant suffered his second concussion in a month during the Broncos’ first playoff victory since Super Bowl 50.In their absence, Marvin Mims Jr. caught all eight passes thrown his way for 93 yards, with the biggest grab a 26-yard over-the-shoulder touchdown catch from Nix with 55 seconds left in regulation.Denver’s defense heeded Payton’s edict ahead of the playoffs to produce more takeaways after the Broncos were minus-3 in turnover differential during the season despite an NFL-leading and franchise-record 68 sacks. They forced the Bills into five turnovers, including four by Allen, who hadn’t turned the ball over in his previous six playoff games, and finished the game plus-4.The Broncos’ ground game was almost nonexistent against the Bills with Nix leading the way with 29 yards on a dozen carries. Jaleel McLaughlin had 21 yards on four rushes and rookie R.J. Harvey had 20 yards on six handoffs. Harvey also had five catches for 46 yards, including a key 24-yarder on the game-winning drive in overtime.OLB Nik Bonitto had a strip sack and forced both of Allen’s fumbles. He became just the third Denver defender to force multiple fumbles in a playoff game, joining LB Tom Jackson and OLB Von Miller. Safety and All-Pro special teams ace Devon Key r …
