Mile High Report
The Denver Broncos get a shot at revenge this Saturday hosting the Buffalo Bills in their Divisional Round gridiron matchup. After an early Wild Card Round Weekend loss last year, the Broncos are looking to topple the Bills this time around to get the chance to host the AFC Championship Game on January 25th. Let’s take a deeper look at the Broncos’ playoff opponent.
The Bills finished 12-5 during the regular season with a second-place finish behind the New England Patriots in the AFC East. Their offense had a stellar season being fourth in both points scored and yards gained. Both quarterback Josh Allen and running back James Cook were stellar performers on that side of the ball.
On defense, they were an above average unit ranking twelfth in points allowed and seventh in yards allowed. However, their one big weakness was stopping the run. The Bills were fifth worst in the NFL in rushing yards allowed, third in yards per carry allowed (5.1) and allowed the most rushing touchdowns during the regular season with 24.
There is no doubt that Josh Allen is the player Broncos Country is most worried about having an incredible performance on Saturday. He proved to be a thorn in Denver’s side last year in the playoffs. And there is no doubt he has the ability to transform a game on his own. The Broncos certainly can’t afford to let him make an impact as a passer and runner if they hope to be victorious.
In seventeen regular season games, Allen completed 69-percent of his passes for 3,668 yards, 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He was sacked 40 times—the most in his career. The former Wyoming standout was also a game-changer on the ground reeling off 579 yards on 112 carries with 14 rushing touchdowns. He’s the total package and will be a great test for Denver’s top-notch defense.
The Bills don’t have the most dynamic set of skill position players. Nevertheless, they are highly efficient when targeted. Only one of their top five most targeted players (Keon Coleman) had a catch-rate below 70-percent this past season. Don’t be surprised if Allen gives a lot of looks to the tight end duo of Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox.
Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph will need to have a gameplan that accounts for Allen’s dual threat nature and how efficient he is getting many players involved on offense. With respect to Kincaid and Knox, over half of the catches between them went for first downs or touchdowns. Those are two guys I’d focus on if I were Joseph.
As mentioned earlier, Allen’s 40 sacks this season is the most of his career. The Broncos will need big games from Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper, Zach Allen, and the rest of the defensive front seven. They led the league with 68 sacks in ‘25—can they come down with enough to limit Allen’s impact...
