Buffalo Bills fans started shaking in their boots after Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix went down the field in the first five plays and found his former Oregon teammate Troy Franklin for a 43-yard touchdown.
The Bills’ postseason run couldn’t have started worse, and it is dangerous to give life to a young team that isn’t even supposed to be in the playoffs.
Buffalo knew that Denver would bring their A-game, and there is no such thing as an easy test during playoff time.
The Bills quickly answered on their first possession, moving the ball to the Broncos’ eight-yard line, but they had to settle for a field goal.
Even though Buffalo was still down 7-3, getting points was significant, so Denver couldn’t go up two scores with Buffalo not getting on the scoreboard.
Buffalo would stop Denver on their second drive, and running back James Cook would give the Bills a 10-7 lead on his five-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
The Bills Started to Settle In
The Bills defense would settle in, making it a rough day for Nix and the Broncos offense.
The 24-year-old quarterback sometimes moved the ball against the Bills’ defense and even put together a nine-play drive to set up a game-tying field goal at the end of the first half.
Unfortunately, kicker Wil Lutz missed the 50-yarder, and Buffalo was up 10-7 at the half.
The Bills received the second-half kickoff and took it down the field to the Broncos’ nine-yard line. However, a sack of quarterback Josh Allen on third down gave Buffalo another field goal.
It seemed that any time the Bills could score a touchdown and put Denver away, they made a mistake and settled for three points instead of seven.
Everyone was waiting for Allen to turn into Houdini and make a remarkable play, which the seven-year veteran does almost weekly. He finally did it on fourth down towards the end of the third quarter.
Buffalo’s head coach, Sean McDermott, faced a difficult decision on fourth down, as the ball was at Denver’s 24-yard line.
It was fourth down with one yard to go, so they didn’t have to pick up much to get the first, but a field goal made it a 16-7 game. Given how hard it was for Nix and the Broncos’ offense to move the ball the last few possessions, a two-score lead could’ve put them away.
Josh Allen Makes a Miracle Throw
Instead, the 50-year-old head coach put the ball in his quarterback’s hand, and Allen stepped back to throw and had to move around a little because there was nothing there, and threw a rocket towards the back of the endzone with running back Ty Johnson making an excellent touchdown grab.
That felt like the play that would bring Buffalo back to their fifth straight divisional playoff game, and they converted the two-point conversion to go up 21-7 at the end of the third quarter.
Buffalo would add another touchdown and a field goal, winning 31-7.
There was nothing Denver could do after Allen’s excellent touchdown throw, and it took the life right out of them.
The Broncos battled the best they could, but Buffalo was the old dog. They have been in many challenging playoff games, while Denver hasn’t made the postseason since winning the Super Bowl in February 2016.
It was tough to ask for a rookie quarterback to go into Orchard Park and put up a playoff win.
Buffalo is hungry. They are tired of losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in January, and they weren’t going to let a quarterback who hasn’t even been in the NFL for an entire year ruin the chance to face them again.
Looking Ahead
The Bills will have one more test before they can play Kansas City. They will have to take down the Baltimore Ravens and their starting quarterback, Lamar Jackon, who is right there with Allen in the MVP race.
Jackson has already won two NFL MVP awards and is looking for his third, while Allen wants his first. Both quarterbacks are aiming for a Super Bowl victory.
Allen and Jackson have heard from everyone in the national media that they can’t get past Patrick Mahomes and make it to the Super Bowl.
Well, one of them will get a chance to get their revenge on the Chiefs if they get past the Houston Texans next weekend, and hopefully, it is Allen who gets the opportunity.
Buffalo still has everything in front of them this season, and next week against the Ravens will be one for the ages.
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