(Photo: WROC TV)
AFC Wild Card
(7) Denver Broncos at (2) Buffalo Bills
Broncos: I guess the third time is a charm! When they faced the Los Angeles Chargers on a Thursday night in December, the scenario was simple. Win the game and you’re in the playoffs. Unfortunately, they struggled and ended up losing that game, and a week later, they traveled to Cincinnati to face a red-hot Bengals team fighting for their positioning in the playoffs. What a game this was and they lost this one in overtime in what was one of the best games I’ve seen all year long. Something had to give. It had to come down to week 18 and once again, win the football game and you are in, I don’t think it can get any more simple than that. The Broncos faced the Kansas City Chiefs who were benching many of their starters due to having the division clinched and having the number one seed in the AFC locked up, so it made no sense for them to play. Denver got started quickly and never looked back. For the first time since Super Bowl 50, they are here and playing postseason football. He may not win the award, but Bo Nix deserves a lot of credit for putting this football team in the position they’re in right now and he deserves some votes for Offensive Rookie of the Year. With the win on Sunday, he became the first Denver Rookie Quarterback to lead the team to the playoffs since John Elway which is amazing company to be in considering John is a Hall of Famer. I’ve enjoyed watching this team this year and their future is bright. This Sunday, they will face the two-seed in the AFC in their return to the playoffs.
Bills: This was a group that was projected to finish in third place. After they traded Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans and Gabe Davis left, there were so many question marks about them. Let me remind you all that football games aren’t won on paper. I remember people doing this with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2022 after trading away Tyreek Hill and they panned out just fine, right? After all, they did win a Super Bowl and the Quarterback won an MVP. During the Summer, I remember telling a close friend that I was still picking the Buffalo Bills to win the AFC East because the Patriots were in a rebuild, I didn’t trust the Miami Dolphins and the New York Jets weren’t close to being competitive. Whenever a team loses big-time weapons like Diggs, they can use that to their full advantage because q defense won’t know who to zoom in on or take away. I also said the reason why they will still be successful is because of Josh Allen and as long as he is on the field, they will have a chance every week. As we speak, he is the projected favorite to win his first MVP award and has my vote. The Most Valuable Player award is more than stats. It’s who is MOST VALUABLE to their team and their success and nobody has meant more to their team this year than number 17 in Orchard Park. He’s put together the best season of his career. This offense is still potent, they are more balanced and Josh isn’t having to come out of the phone booth to save the day as he once was. For the fifth consecutive year, they will host another playoff game and will battle the Denver Broncos on Sunday afternoon.
Broncos X-Factor: Javonte Williams– I believe he’s attempting to find himself after his injury a few years ago, but, it’s been good to see him on the field once again. Javonte has the ability to shift away, make people miss in the open field, and work his way around a defender. He might be a smaller back, but he’s powerful enough to remain on his feet and keeps moving, even with defenders draped all around him. The Denver Running Backs have been average at best, nothing too spectacular, but in this game on Sunday, they will need an all-out performance from Javonte Williams.
Bills X-Factor: Von Miller– The former Bronco himself (the inspiration for the title). I know he’s not the guy he once was and he’s older now, but he still gets after the Quarterback. He is the veteran pass rusher of this Buffalo defense and when the Bills signed him, I was excited for Gregory Rousseau who would be learning from a future Hall of Famer. What DeMarcus Ware did for Von is what Von is now doing for Rousseau. In 13 games this year. Von has recorded a total of six sacks. He must be the leader of this Buffalo defense not just Sunday, but this entire playoff run.
Final Thoughts: On one side, we have a team that finished the season with the most sacks in the NFL in the Denver Broncos and on the other side, we have the team whose Offensive Line allowed the least amount of sacks in the Buffalo Bills. Denver recorded 60 sacks this year and the Bills only gave up 15 sacks. One thing I will say is the Broncos have truly exceeded their expectations this year and this is a test for them as Bo Nix will get set to make his playoff debut. It’s all about ball control for the Broncos and the best way to keep the ball out of Allen’s hands is to control the clock which means running the football and winning the time of possession battle. Next, they must make 17 operate more in the pocket and not allow him to make magic happen with his feet. Denver has been strong in keeping dual threat Quarterbacks in the pocket this season. This won’t be a cakewalk for the Bills as this will be one of the better defenses they’ve faced all year. For Buffalo, they must focus on making Nix a single-threat Quarterback. I’m keeping a spy in the middle of the field and containing him. Keeping him in the pocket and containing him could force him to make rookie mistakes. The Broncos don’t have the consistency to keep up with Buffalo from an offensive standpoint, I’m picking the Bills to take this game and move on.
Prediction: Bills 30, Broncos 21
