The Buffalo Bills won’t be impacted by the weather in Denver this weekend when they play the Broncos in the Divisional Round. The forecast calls for a normal winter day in Western New York without snow. One environmental factor that could hinder Bills players is the altitude in Denver. The Bills have been prepping for it all week.
Dion Dawkins spoke with reports Thursday about the team’s altitude chamber in the training facility.
“We go in there every day and I’m in there running, like I’m on one of
those Nike commercials with the mask and stuff on,” Dawkins said. “The whole oxygen thing is, if you ever seen it, it’s just like a room … pumping air in it, almost like a hyperbaric chamber type of thing. That’s been a part of our routine this week … I just want to eliminate it from anything that could possibly shrink the armor. Just trying to stay ahead of it. Man, we’re in a one game season, and I don’t want it to [end] because of me.”
With Denver 5000 feet above sea level, the amount of oxygen in the air is less than what it is 600 feet above sea level in Buffalo. Doctors recommend curtailing your alcohol use and hydrate, something that shouldn’t be an issue with Bills players but fans may want to take heed.
Josh Allen played college football at Wyoming, which sits even higher than Denver at 7220 feet above sea level.
“Physically it’s going to challenge you. I think the best thing we can do is not really talk about it, not really think about it, and not making it a problem. Just going out there and doing our job, getting on the sideline and getting some oxygen if you need it. I know from first-hand experience it is an advantage, but to have that mindset and understanding that it’s going to be tough but we gotta fight through it.”
Cole Bishop’s time at Utah (4600 feet above sea level) made him appreciate the difference in the air, as well. He said he’s confident his teammates have been working through it.
It didn’t impact the Bills in 2020 when they blew out the Broncos in Denver by a 48-19 score to secure the team’s first AFC East division title since the 1990s. Josh Allen threw for 359 yards and two touchdowns adding two rushing touchdowns with 33 yards on the ground. Dawson Knox caught two passes for 36 yards and a touchdown. Ed Oliver and Tre’Davious White had sacks, with White forcing a fumble that was returned for a touchdown.
