The Buffalo Bills defeated the Denver Broncos 31-7 to advance to the next round of the postseason. This marks the fifth straight year that Buffalo has reached the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs.
Following the win, the Bills will play host to the Baltimore Ravens next weekend while the Houston Texans will travel to Kansas City, Missouri to take on the AFC’s top-seeded Chiefs.
Even though Denver’s defense was one of the best in the NFL this season, the unit struggled mightily today. By the time the game concluded, Buffalo had completely worn down the Broncos’ defense by dominating the time of possession 41:43 to 18:17. The time of possession favored the Bills because their rushing attack finished the day with 210 yards. Coming into this matchup, Denver’s third-ranked rushing defense was only allowing 96.4 ground yards per game.
The Broncos got things going early by scoring a touchdown on the sixth play of the game – the first rookie-to-rookie passing TD in NFL postseason history – when wide receiver Troy Franklin caught a 43-yard bomb from QB Bo Nix to take a 7-0 lead with just 2:24 gone in the first quarter. Though Denver gained 70 yards on its first drive, the team was held to 96 total yards and zero points on its next four possessions.
Bills running back James Cook, who finished the regular season tied with the Ravens’ Derrick Henry and the Lions’ Jahmyr Gibbs for the league lead in rushing touchdowns, had a stellar outing with 120 ground yards and a TD. On Buffalo’s first two possessions, Cook ran for 60 yards and a touchdown to give the Bills a 10-7 lead after the team kicked a field goal on its opening drive.
James is cookin’!
📺: @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/eZzfp51BRG
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) January 12, 2025
Following a failed third-down conversion, Denver’s Riley Dixon faked a punt and completed a 16-yard pass to wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr. for a fresh set of downs. That was just the fifth completion of Dixon’s nine-year career. However, the series stalled out on Buffalo’s side of the field, resulting in a punt.
Broncos leading receiver Courtland Sutton came alive in the second quarter with two catches for 32 yards on Denver’s final drive of the first half. But, kicker Wil Lutz banged a 50-yard field goal attempt off the upright to keep the score 10-7 at the half.
Buffalo continued to ride the run game to start the third quarter, picking up 33 yards on the ground on the team’s first possession of the second half. However, Bills quarterback Josh Allen took his second sack of the game, which led to a 27-yard field goal and a 13-7 lead. Though he was sacked just once in his previous seven games, Allen was taken down twice in this matchup.
Faced with a 4th and 1 from Denver’s 24, Josh Allen scrambled around for several seconds before connecting with running back Ty Johnson in the back of the end zone on a 24-yard touchdown pass. Allen then completed a two-yard pass to rookie wide receiver Keon Coleman for the two-point conversion and a 21-7 lead late in the third quarter. With that TD, Josh Allen became Buffalo’s all-time leader in playoff passing touchdowns, breaking the record previously held by Hall of Famer Jim Kelly.
JOSH ALLEN. TY JOHNSON. WOW
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📱: Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/mG8n29QALD— NFL (@NFL) January 12, 2025
Josh Allen’s MVP campaign got a much-needed boost after the Second-Team All-Pro completed 20 of 26 passes for 272 yards, two passing touchdowns, and another 46 rushing yards. Allen’s second passing TD, a 55-yarder to wide receiver Curtis Samuel, increased the lead to 28-7. One series later, Buffalo kicked a field goal to close things out 31-7.
Denver’s offensive struggles carried over into the third and fourth quarters. The Broncos opened the second half with two three-and-outs and only nine total yards of offense. Despite gaining 61 yards on their third possession of the half, the drive ended with a turnover on downs.
A promising season for quarterback Bo Nix and Broncos head coach Sean Payton ends with a discouraging road loss. While Denver managed to end its eight-year postseason drought, the Broncos still haven’t won a playoff game since the franchise’s Super Bowl 50 victory over the Carolina Panthers on February 7th, 2016.
