The Denver Broncos hosted the Buffalo Bills at Empower Field at Mile High for the AFC’s Divisional Round Playoff matchup. It was a back-and-forth, action-packed battle. When the clock struck zero in regulation, the Broncos and Bills found themselves tied—heading to overtime to decide who would advance to the AFC Championship Game. And wouldn’t you know it—the Broncos were able to topple the Bills 33-30. Here are some instant reactions from this afternoon’s game.
Despite notching five turnovers, Broncos’
defense woefully inconsistent vs. Bills
One thing the Broncos didn’t do a lot of during the regular season was force turnovers. Finally, the defense woke up and answered the call notching several against the Los Angeles Chargers in the final week of the regular season. In order to defeat Buffalo at home, the defense was going to have to come up with a big play or two. That was another point of emphasis of Head Coach Sean Payton all week long.
It wasn’t just a few big plays. How about five? Because that’s exactly what the Broncos were able to do on defense today. In the first half, both Alex Singleton and Nik Bonitto were able to force turnovers that resulted in points on the board for the Broncos’ offense. To kickstart the second half, Bonitto came up big again and secured a strip-sack on Josh Allen. With the Broncos up 23-17, Allen and the Bills had a chance to take the lead. However, an errant deep throw was picked off by safety P.J. Locke to give Denver their fourth turnover of the game.
The fifth and final of the game, a Ja’Quan McMillian interception in overtime—proved to be the biggest difference maker of the game. Hats off to the defense for coming up with all those big turnovers. But if it wasn’t for turnovers, this game could have been a whole lot different.
The Broncos didn’t have an answer for James Cook in the running game. Buffalo’s offense line and penchant for a sixth extra offensive lineman overpowered Denver’s lighter defensive front seven. Additionally, they had trouble defending short passes and stopping yards after the catch. Buffalo’s tight ends did a good job exposing Denver’s poor tight end coverage.
Fans should be stoked about Denver’s defense coming up when it mattered most but mildly concerned how at-will the Bills were able to move the ball against them. Regardless of who they play next, be it the Houston Texans or New England Patriots, they are going to have to clean things up and be much better stopping the run and getting off the field.
Broncos’ offense had some bright spots, but one big serious issue to address
Today’s offensive endeavors for the Broncos were a mixed bag of results. They were pretty hot to start the first half and put 20 points on the board. Alas, were only able to net 10 points in the second half and had a handful of three-and-out drives. However, they came through big late in the game and in overtime which definitely helped disguise some of their issues.
It’s important to keep in Denver lost two receivers in Pat Bryant and Troy Franklin early in the game. That definitely had an impact on the team’s offensive game plans. That put a lot of burden on Bo Nix’s shoulders. Overall, I thought he did quite well. He went 26-of-46 for 279 yards, 3 touchdowns and an interception. I’ll also give praise to Marvin Mims Jr. who caught all eight of his targets for 91 yards and a touchdown. He was a clutch performer and always has been for Denver.
But the biggest concern? Running backs only carried the ball ten times today for the Broncos for 41 yards. Nix had the other 29 yards rushing on 12 attempts. The Bills had one of the worst rushing defenses in the NFL today, but the Broncos, even being down a few receivers, still felt the need to put the game in Nix’s hands and throw the ball that many times.
They won, but I don’t think abandoning the run so early was the right call. In my opinion, they need to make his life a little easier and try and establish the run more next weekend in the AFC Championship Game. Do you want Nix having to throw the ball 40 times against the Patriots or Texans? I sure don’t.
Shoutout to Mar
Today’s loss to the Bills is certainly disheartening. After securing the AFC West after a 14-3 regular season and the top playoff seed, going one-and-done in the playoffs was a worst-case scenario for the team and its fans.
