Last year, the Denver Broncos made the playoffs and faced the Buffalo Bills in the wildcard round. During that game, the Bills’ offense exposed a vital weakness of the defensive side of the ball for the Broncos.
Josh Allen and the Bills’ running backs and tight ends attacked the Broncos’ linebackers and safeties throughout that game, and it led to a 31-7 loss.
After that game, the Broncos would head into the offseason with the plan of upgrading their linebacker and safety positions in the offseason. Well, they went out and signed safety Talanoa Hufanga, who went on to have an All-Pro season, and linebacker Dre Greenlaw. Now, both players are healthy and good to go for this Saturday’s Divisional Round game vs. the Bills, and the Broncos will need them to step up in a big way if they want to win.
The Denver Post’s Luca Evans spoke to Hufanga after practice on Tuesday and asked him about this. Hufanga told reporters that he wanted to play the Bills because they were the team the Broncos lost to last season. He added that even though he wasn’t on the team last season, he’s holding a chip against them.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton was also asked about this and told reporters that they were simply looking to add good football players. He did admit that they did help in the areas that the Bills exposed last season and that they will need them this time around because the Bills have the number one rush game in the NFL this season.
“We were looking to improve our team. We knew we were playing a really good team a year ago. There were a lot of things that we felt coming away from a game like that, like, ‘Hey, we’re not there yet, but we need to improve.’ Certainly, those are players that help us in that regard, but we’re playing the No. 1 rushing team in football. It’s the runner, it’s the scheme. They’re very well coached. Three or four of the offensive coaches were on my staff in New Orleans that are there now and doing a great job. So we’ll have to be ready.”
To their credit, Hufanga and Greenlaw (when healthy) have helped the Broncos defense. They had the second-ranked run defense in the league, trailing only the Jaguars, whom the Bills struggled to run against last weekend. This season, the Broncos allowed an average of 91.1 yards per carry on the ground and allowed 11 rushing touchdowns. If they can slow the Bills’ run game this weekend, they will have a good shot at winning this game.
In the loss to the Bills last year, the Broncos allowed James Cook to rush for 120 yards, 1 touchdown and average 5.2 yards per carry. Backup running back Ty Johnson had 9 carries for 44 yards, as well as 2 receptions for 26 yards and 1 touchdown. The Bills’ tight ends also abused the Broncos’ defense. Dalton Kincaid had 3 receptions for 47 yards, and Dawson Knox had 2 receptions for 37 yards.
The Broncos cannot allow this to happen again.
You can add first-round pick Jahdae Barron to this conversation. The rookie corner has routinely been matched up against opposing teams’ tight ends and could see a lot of Kincaid and Knox in this one.
If the Broncos want to defeat Josh Allen and the Bills, they cannot have a repeat of last season. The Bills enter this game beaten, bruised, and down multiple wide receivers. Their tight ends and running backs will be vital to their gameplan this time around, and these Broncos additions need to step up and do what the team brought them in to do.
If they can, the Broncos will be advancing to the AFC Championship game.
