Bills batter Broncos, punch ticket to fifth-straight divisional round

ORCHARD PARK, NY (WHEC) – The Bills batter the Denver Broncos 31-7 to advance to their fifth-straight divisional round where they’ll host the Baltimore Ravens.

Final stats

Josh Allen: 20/26, 272 passing yards, 46 rushing yards, two passing touchdowns

James Cook: 23 rushes for 120 yards, one touchdown

Curtis Samuel: three catches for 68 yards, one touchdown

Khalil Shakir: six catches for 61 yards.

The Bills have now advanced to the Divisional Round in five-straight seasons, in their last four games, however, they are 1-3.

Buffalo’s defense held Denver to just seven points, the lowest amount allowed by the Bills in the playoffs since the 2020 Divisional Round against the Ravens.

FIRST QUARTER

The Broncos received the opening kickoff to start the game and quickly found themselves in a 3rd & 8 situation. But Denver’s quarterback Bo Nix stepped up in the pocket and found Courtland Sutton for a 19-yard gain to move the sticks. Two plays later, Nix split Taylor Rapp and Rasul Douglas up the seam to find Troy Franklin deep, punching in a 43-yard passing touchdown to take a 7-0 lead with 12:36 to go in the first quarter.

Buffalo swung back on the ensuing drive, picking up 15 yards with a Josh Allen pass to Khalil Shakir then another 16 with a James Cook run to the outside. The Bills continued to march with gains of seven, six, five and three before facing a 3rd & 2 that turned into a Josh Allen QB sneak on 4th & 1. The drive stalled inside Denver’s 10-yard line with back-to-back incomplete passes from Allen. Tyler Bass knocked in the 26-yard field goal as Denver retained a 7-3 lead with 7:07 left in the first quarter.

After forcing a three-and-out, Buffalo’s offense committed to the run, passing on the first play of the drive before six-straight runs to get inside Denver’s 35-yard line. The Bills passed on three-straight plays, picking up 12 yards on two completions to convert on 3rd & 5. Buffalo will take over inside Denver’s 25-yard line to start the second quarter.

SECOND QUARTER

Four plays into the second quarter, the Bills took a 10-7 lead after James Cook punched it in from five yards out to cap off a 13-play, 81-yard drive.

Throughout the rest of the second quarter, neither team got much going, other than one Broncos drive was aided by a fake punt, despite ultimately ending in a real punt, until the two-minute warning.

Denver took over at their own eight-yard line and drove 60 yards on seven plays before setting up fror a 50-yard field goal, that hit off the upright to keep the score at 10-7 in favor of Buffalo.

First half stats

Bills

Josh Allen: 9/12, 69 passing yards, 35 rushing yards

James Cook: 13 carries for 78 yards, one touchdown

Khalil Shakir: three catches for 34 yards

Broncos

Bo Nix: 8/12, 102 passing yards, 14 rushing yards

Javonte Williams: five carries for 22 yards

Courtland Sutton: three catches for 51 yards

THIRD QUARTER

The Bills received the opening kickoff of the third quarter and took it to the ground, running for six yards on back-to-back plays. Then Josh Allen found Dawson Knox for a 25-yard pass to put the Bills in Denver territory. Cook picked up where he left off, racing for 19 yards to get inside the 10-yard line where the drive stalled. Buffalo settled for a 27-yard field goal that Bass knocked in to take a 13-7 lead.

With 3:06 left in the third quarter, on 4th & 2 at the 25-yard line, Josh Allen surveyed the field before heaving it towards the back of the endzone where running back Ty Johnson slid for the ball, catching it before it could hit the ground to score a 25-yard receiving touchdown. The Bills attempted and converted a two-point conversion to take a 21-7 lead. To watch that play, go here. The passing touchdown gave Josh Allen his 22nd postseason passing touchdown, surpassing Jim Kelly for most in Bills history.

FOURTH QUARTER

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Josh Allen found Curtis Samuel deep to the right and Samuel reversed course, broke a tackle and took it the rest of the way for a 55-yard touchdown. Bills lead 28-7 with 14:49 to go in the fourth quarter. To watch that play, go here.

With 4:41 left in the fourth quarter, Buffalo kicked their third field goal of the game to take a 31-7 lead to cap off a 14-play, 70-yard drive that was kicked off by a 35-yard pass to Dalton Kincaid.

PREGAME

Buffalo Bills gameday basics:

• Teams: Buffalo Bills (13-4) and Denver Broncos (10-7)
• Kickoff: 1 pm, Sunday
• Location: Highmark Stadium (Orchard Park, NY)
• Network: CBS

What’s at stake?

It’s win or go home. But as you can see here, Buffalo isn’t letting the pressure get to them.

The Buffalo Bills have made it to the AFC’s divisional round every year since 2020, having won four-straight wild card matchups. Despite that stellar record in the first round, Buffalo is just 1-4 in the divisional and championship rounds in the Sean McDermott era.

Since taking over as the Bills head coach in 2017, McDermott is 3-1 against the Broncos but is 1-2 against Broncos head coach Sean Payton who previously served as the Saints head coach.

This is Denver’s first trip to the postseason since winning the Super Bowl in the 2015- 2016 season.

If Buffalo moves on, they will host the Baltimore Ravens in the Divisional Round.

Elite offense vs elite defense

The Bills have the second-highest scoring offense in the NFL while Denver’s defense allows the third-least amount of points coming in.

Buffalo’s offense ranks ninth in both pass yards per game (227.9) and rush yards per game (131.2) but own the best turnover differential in the NFL at +24 thanks to just eight offensive turnovers which is tied for the lowest in a single-season since 1933.

The Broncos give up just 18.3 points per contest. Their rush defense is also third in the league, allowing just 96.4 yards per contest on the ground. Denver’s pass defense, however, ranks 19th in the NFL. Denver excels at sacking the quarterback, picking up 63 on the season, the most in the NFL.

On top of pressuring the passer, the Broncos also have the favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year, cornerback Pat Surtain.

On the flip side, Denver’s offense ranks 10th in the league with 25 points per game while Buffalo’s defense sits 11th with 21.6 given up.

For more on this matchup, check out 10’s Takes here.

Buffalo Bills player to watch: Khalil Shakir

The Bills offense does not have a real number-one wide receiver. That isn’t a slight at Buffalo, it’s just the truth, they didn’t have a single wide receiver cross the 900-yard threshold, let alone the 1,000-yard mark.

The team’s leading receiver is third-year man Khalil Shakir who caught 76 passes out of 100 targets for 821 yards and four touchdowns.

Typically, Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain follows a team’s number-one wide receiver, but Shakir is a typical slot receiver and does not line up on the perimeter where Surtain would typically play.

Buffalo will have their full arsenal of receivers-Keon Coleman, Amari Cooper, and Mack Hollins to fill the outside which could leave Shakir with some open middle-of-the-field routes.

Inactives

Bills

CB Kaiir Elam

QB Mike White (emergency third quarterback)

Return specialist Brandon Codrington

Ryan Van Demark

S Kareem Jackson

WR Jalen Virgil

Broncos

LB Levelle Bailey

RB Audric Estime

G Nick Gargiulo

DL Eyioma Uwazurike

RB Blake Watson

QB Zach Wilson (emergency third quarterback)

Bills vs Broncos prediction

News10NBC’s sports team predicts Sunday’s game. Both sports anchors pick Buffalo to move on.

Ian Mills: Bills 24, Broncos 20

Mat Mlodzinski: Bills 27, Broncos 17