Buffalo Rumblings
The six-seeded Buffalo Bills (12-5) face the one-seeded Denver Broncos (14-3) at 4:30 p.m. EST Saturday afternoon at Empower Field at Mile High Stadium in the Divisional round of the AFC playoffs, and this will be the third time these two franchises have squared off in the postseason.
This is a matchup of founding members of the American Football League, as both the Bills and Broncos began play in the upstart league during the 1960 season. Buffalo brings a 7-9 all-time record in the Divisional Round, while Denver is 10-6 in previous Divisional Round games.
Before this playoff showdown, let’s revisit the series history, relive some of the more memorable matchups, break down those common connections, and go through the list of players who played for both teams. Hint: there are 85 players who saw action for both the Bills and Broncos.
Saturday’s game will mark the 43rd meeting all time, with Buffalo holding a 24-17-1 edge in the series. The Bills are 22-17-1 against the Broncos in the regular season, including winning five of the last seven games, and 2-0 versus the Broncos in the playoffs.
The first-ever postseason matchup was a defensive slugfest in the 1992 AFC Championship, played at Rich Stadium. The Bills advanced to their second-straight Super Bowl thanks to a relentless defense that held quarterback John Elway and the high-octane Broncos offense scoreless until late in the fourth quarter of an eventual 10-7 victory. David Treadwell, the Broncos’ normally accurate kicker, misfired on three first-half field goals, with two of his kicks clanging off the right upright, as Denver’s offense squandered one scoring chance after another.
On a day where quarterback Jim Kelly, running back Thurman Thomas, wide receiver Andre Reed and the high-flying K-Gun Bills were held scoreless by a stout Broncos defense until the fourth quarter, it was an unheralded member of Buffalo’s defense who came up with the game’s biggest play that led to the first points. Linebacker Carlton Bailey intercepted an Elway pass that was tipped by nose tackle Jeff Wright and returned the interception 11 yards for a 7-0 Bills lead with 5:28 remaining in the third quarter.
Scott Norwood then booted a 44-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead five minutes into the fourth. Buffalo’s defense, which sacked Elway three times and held him to only 121 passing yards, eventually knocked the future Pro Football Hall of Famer out of the game with a deep thigh bruise early in the fourth. Backup quarterback Gary Kubiak came on and engineered the Broncos’ only scoring drive when he capped an eight-play, 85-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run with 1:43 remaining.
Denver recovered the ensuing onside kick, but on the first offensive play, defensive back Kirby Jackson delivered a punishing hit on running back Steve Sewell after a short completion, knocked the ball loose and fell on the fumble to seal the win and send the sellout crowd into a state of Fandemonium.
The Bills...
