It’s official, Buffalo’s playoff push is under way. The Buffalo Bills begin face the Denver Broncos in the Wild Card Round. The Bills hilariously lost to the New England Patriots today in Foxboro, ensuring the Patriots lost the #1 pick (they ended up with #4).
The Broncos smoked the Chiefs B-team and solidified their first playoff appearance under Coach Sean Payton and QB Bo Nix.
The seeding in the AFC is as follows:
- #7 Denver @ #2 Buffalo
- #6 Pittsburgh @ #3 Baltimore
- #5 Los Angeles @ #4 Houston
We’ll talk about the rest of the playoff picture later in the week, but let’s start with the one game we all care about.
Matchups to watch:
Broncos’ elite pass rush vs Bills’ elite offensive line + escape artist QB
The Broncos have amassed the most sacks in the NFL this year, while the Bills have allowed the fewest.
Let’s start with the Bills. Part of their success is due to the evolution of this offensive line, which is Buffalo’s best unit since Josh Allen was drafted.
However, one of Allen’s superpowers is his ability to escape pressure and turn a would-be sack into a positive, sometimes highlight reel, play.
This is strength on strength for each team. The Bills have succeeded this year because they have been bullies on the offensive line. If they continue that trend, they will have success against Denver’s defense.
Denver has also sneakily struggled against good offense this year, especially lately. Honestly, if you look at Denver’s season as a whole, it’s not as impressive as one might think. A lot of their wins are over the bottom half of the league, and when they played proper competition, they fell short.
That doesn’t mean they don’t present a tough matchup. Sean Payton is smart. He will have a good game plan for his rookie quarterback to be successful and keep the Bills’ offense off the field.
Bo Nix and Sean Payton vs Sean McDermott and Bobby Babich
Sean McDermott has dominated rookie quarterbacks in the past. But the playoffs are a different animal, and so is Sean Payton. This is a great coaching matchup, and the Bills need a smart game plan to pressure the young quarterback.
The Bills led the league in turnover differential, and Nix is sometimes known to be chaotic. I watched a lot of Bo Nix in college. There were a lot of good moments, but also a lot of big-game head-scratching moments. The Bills defense should feast on him.
Overall? This is an excellent matchup for the Bills. The Broncos offense can’t keep up with Buffalo if Allen and Co. click on all cylinders. But as the story has been for years, the Bills are their own worst enemy.
If they aren’t buttoned up, a well-coached Denver team with a strong defense can make this game enjoyable. The Bills have shown more of a killer instinct this year. Now is the time to prove they can have it when it matters most.