A Broncos legend was born as an undefeated season for New England died.

Hello, Tom Brady. Meet the new kid on the block, Brock Osweiler. He’s 1-0 against you. That’s how legends are born.

On a wicked-cold, snow-swept Sunday night, Denver kicked the Patriots in the gut with a 30-24 overtime victory. As C.J. Anderson crossed the goal line after a 48-yard run for the game-winning touchdown, 75,617 Broncomaniacs in the stadium screamed a message to New England:

We’re tougher than you!

PHOTOS: Best snow photos from the Broncos win over the Patriots

This victory was exactly what John Elway wanted to see, a Broncos team kicking and screaming to the bitter end. Football does not get any grittier, any tenser or any more personal than this classic game in which New England twice built leads of 14 points but the Broncos kept coming back.

“I love the way they compete,” Denver coach Gary Kubiak said. “They continue to battle. … This league is about overcoming adversity.”

That the biggest Denver victory of the season happened on a miserable evening, when the temperature dropped to 16 degrees, with an injured Peyton Manning sitting inside a warm locker room, is a reality that must be addressed. There is nothing except the utmost respect for Manning, but even if his aching foot, dented ribs and all the other ailments that beset a 39-year-old quarterback eventually heal, he will return as the backup to Osweiler.

PEYTON MANNING: Watches Broncos win over Patriots from the locker area

If jobs are won on the basis of the scoreboard rather than reputation, then the Broncos are Osweiler’s team from now through the end of the playoffs.

The hurry-hurry offense built to Manning’s specifications was a shiny, red Lamborghini. What Kubiak drives is a 1977 Ford Bronco with a crack in the windshield and rusty bumper. So tell me: Which one travels better in the snow? Or is better equipped to survive the nasty pot holes of January on the road to the Super Bowl?

This is Kubiak football. It ain’t pretty. But it hangs around like a bad cold that a foe cannot shake. “We preached at halftime that physical was still going to win the football game and ultimately it did,” Kubiak said.

In all likelihood, Osweiler will never match the number of Super Bowl rings, the fame or the fortune enjoyed by Brady. But it did not matter that New England entered this game with a 10-0 record and a chance to all but guarantee the No. 1 seed for the AFC playoffs. On this night, it was Osweiler that led the fourth-quarter comeback and outplayed Brady when it mattered the most.

How was Denver tougher?

Let us count the ways. The Broncos ran the ball 32 times for 179 yards. Safety Darian Stewart knocked New England tight end Rob Gronkowski from the game. With Manning and linebacker DeMarcus Ware already missing with injury, Denver lost the services of defenders T.J. Ward and Sylvester Williams on one play but kept fighting.

INJURIES: Broncos lose three starters in snowy game vs. Patriots

At the end of a night that will be long remembered in Broncos Country, there was Patriots coach Bill Belichick, looking as grumpy as a guy stuck shoveling for hours, while those snot-nosed neighbor kids pelt him with snowballs.

“I remember when I was a kid, you’d go in the backyard and play football in the winter, and if your receiver didn’t catch it, the ball would go in a snow bank,” said Osweiler, who did throw 23 passes that teammates caught, good for 270 yards and a touchdown, including a 4-yard pass to Andre Caldwell that put the Broncos ahead 24-21 with 1:09 remaining in the fourth quarter.

This does not figure to be the last time that Denver and New England meet during the 2015 NFL season. This could be the start of a beautiful new rivalry between Osweiler and Brady. This victory, while huge for the Broncos, will pale when compared to the stakes on the line in a playoff matchup that feels like destiny.

New England is the more talented team, with a championship pedigree that’s undeniable. The Broncos, however, are the tougher team. They kick. They scream. They never surrender.

BOXSCORE: Broncos 30, Patriots 24 (OT)