Bills vs Broncos - Playoffs Round 2

[H2o]

Last year's matchup was the upstart Broncos coming in to face the #2 seed Bills. Bo Nix hit a 43 yard TD pass to Troy Franklin on the first drive and Broncos fans everywhere were rejoicing. Could they really take down the Bills in a road Playoff game? The answer was quickly shown to be no. The Bills scored 31 unanswered and the Broncos were outclassed across the board. A great learning experience for a young, up-and-coming Broncos team. 

 

Fast forward to 2025. The Broncos defense is #2 in ypg, just barely behind the Houston Texans (277.2), at 278.2 ypg. They are #1 in the league in sacks with 68, besting the next closest team by 11. Their defense was good enough that they were able to overcome a -3 turnover differential on the year to still be the #1 seed in the AFC. They boast some of the best players in the game right now on defense. Pat Surtain II, Nik Bonitto, and Zach Allen. Talanoa Hufanga has been a great get for them as well at the Safety position flying around all over the field. They hold victories over two teams the Bills lost to this season, Houston (18-15 in week 9) and Philly (21-17 in week 5). They had won 11 games in a row until Jacksonville came to Denver in week 16 and beat them soundly in their own house. Jacksonville pretty much controlled the game from the 2nd quarter on. They have some quality weapons in the receiving game in Sutton, Franklin, and Evan Engram at TE. Their rushing attack took a huge hit when they lost JK Dobbins for the season back in the first week of November. He still leads the team by a wide margin in rushing yards even though he had not played in 2 months. RJ Harvey hasn't proven to be that much on the ground yet, only averaging 3.7 ypc, but he has been a reliable target out of the backfield with 47 receptions. From top to bottom, you can see why this team won so many games this year and is hosting a Playoff game for the first time since the 2015-2016 season. 

 

This 2025 team I have called many times the Bipolar Bills. We started out hot, but week 5 to week 12 was a roller coaster of roller coasters. We lost to New England in Buffalo, then were smacked the next Monday by the Falcons on national TV. Coming off of our bye we stomped the eventual NFC South champ in Carolina 40-7, then beat KC in our house again during the regular season. After that, we're all talking #1 seed again only to be smacked by the Dolphins 30-13 in a game that was never close. Josh puts on the cape against Tampa going for 6 TD's in a win. YES!!! The #1 seed is back on! Then we go to Houston and catch a whoopin from Davis freakin Mills and that Texans defense. We had 3 turnovers, Josh was sacked 8 times, and hit a lot more. He was basically running for his life every play. Still, down the stretch, we started to see the Bills rounding into form. The comeback win against a Cincy team that always gives us trouble. A massive comeback win on the road in NE when we were down 24-3 at halftime. We outscored them 28-7 in the 2nd half to snap their 10 game win streak. We are their only loss since week 3. The Cleveland game was hot garbage, but you will have some games like that during the year. We should and would have won the Philly game if we had an actual NFL caliber Kicker. Even at the end we had a chance, but Josh just missed the throw on the 2pt conversion attempt. We have battled through countless injuries this year to many of our key players. Our WR corps is one of the weakest in the league. But in the end, Josh is still Josh and James Cook has become one of the best RB's in the NFL. The defense, despite all of their shortcomings against the run, was still #7 in the NFL. We boast the best pass defense in the league allowing just 156.9 ypg. We may not create a ton of turnovers, but the defense has made timely plays, especially down the stretch. Last week, despite not being able to do a lick on the ground against Jax, Josh threw on the cape and the Bills got the job done on the road, against one of the best defenses and hottest teams in the NFL. This Bills team is about as resilient a bunch as I have seen in the last 7 years.

 

All of these things noted, today will come down to one positional group. Our OL. If the offense can open lanes for James Cook today, and get the running game going, it will take a huge load off of Josh and we can control the clock. The last thing we want to see is Josh having to throw the ball 35 times today, not against this front. And when we do throw the ball, it will need to be just like last week. Josh will need to get the ball out of his hands quickly to the open man and methodically go down the field. The OL needs to give Superman enough time back there and keep his jersey clean. Gameplan wise, I want to see what Brady comes up with for this game, against this defense. This game right here, if he can stack another quality gameplan against a top tier defense like he did last week, could really put him on a team's radar as a HC imo. For our defense, we have to keep contain on Bo Nix just like we had to do last week with Lawrence. He can hurt you with his legs. We need to keep Benford following Sutton all day long and let the rest of the defense pass off Franklin, Engram, and Bryant. The Broncos do not have a Parker Washington or Jakobi Myers type of WR on their team, but they do have two guys who can burn you deep in Franklin and Mims. I like our defense's chances in matching up against this offense, though I do wish we had a healthy Poyer to play out there. 

 

All in all, I like our chances at pulling off the upset over the #1 seed today. I feel like our defense matches up well against their offense and I think our offense CAN do enough to win. The OL needs to earn their keep today and help to bring this one home. We are also 5-0 when wearing the white jersey, blue pants, and blue socks combo this year so far. Let's hope we keep that type of energy going. We get back two potential difference makers today in Ed O and Curtis Samuel. Samuel should help a decimated WR corps and offset the absence of Ty Johnson. Ed O looked like a one man wrecking crew in the three games he appeared in this season with 7 TFL's and 3 sacks. If that dude shows up today, and he's as hype to be back on the field as I think he will be, then the Broncos could be serious in trouble. I'm not into score predictions and all of that really, but let's just say I am overly optimistic that we can get the job done today and be playing for an AFC Championship next week. 

 

Edited January 17 by H2o

[Coach Tuesday]

Agree it all comes down to the trenches.  Can the o-line hold up.  That’s the game.

[dayman]

Board needs AI summary like Gmail if we’re going to be posting novels

[Whites Bay]

"This game right here, if he can stack another quality gameplan against a top tier defense like he did last week, could really put him on a team's radar as a HC imo."

 

Good point.  If this is what he wants for his career, today is the day to make the step.  On the national stage.

[bills6969]

We need to get Jimbo going this game. Jax pretty much took him out of the game last week.  JA had almost as many carries (11) as Jimbo (15).  Can’t have that. More carries for Jimbo this game!

[BuffaloBillyG]

4 minutes ago, Whites Bay said:

"This game right here, if he can stack another quality gameplan against a top tier defense like he did last week, could really put him on a team's radar as a HC imo."

 

Good point.  If this is what he wants for his career, today is the day to make the step.  On the national stage.

He's already been requested for 3 interviews this year. That number will likely go up over the next week or two. He has interviewed for HC position many times over the years. He likely would be the Saints HC today if he didn't pull his name out of the running near the end. His offense has produced an MVP and rushing champion in the last two seasons. I'd say he's already firmly on teams radar. 

 

In fact, past HC hiring history would suggest his chances of landing a HC gig go UP with an elimination today because he's available sooner. 

[Bray Wyatt]

I think we need to attempt a deep shot or two early, to keep their secondary honest. That will at least give the impression that we will attack all parts of the field and hopefully open up a lot of quick underneath stuff to negate their pass rush.

 

A good running game also helps negate that, being good on 1st down is important too

[boyst]

I know this is a great write up but the Broncos game isn't that deep. The bills are a seasoned bunch of players and that's a big advantage. They have guys who have been here before and guts to handle the experience.

 

The Broncos have seasoned coaches and names we all know. But if this Broncos team is so much better than why didn't they handle business at home like they should have? Why wasn't Bonito an all pro? Why wasn't Greenlaw the factor all pretend they wish he was. The Broncos are a sum of their collection, much like Buffalo. This isn't a bad thing but the reality is they're being over hyped. Even if they win they're not a top talent.

 

Similarly the Bills winning it all are not a better team than they were in the previous years.