Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills kept their Super Bowl dream alive as they defeated the Denver Broncos 31-7 and had a blockbuster matchup against Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens.
It comes as two NFL MVP leaders in Allen and Jackson, the latter of whom threw for 175 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 81 yards, led Baltimore to a 28-14 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Allen was just as dominant on Sunday as he completed 20 of 272 yards and two scores to Ty Johnson and Curtis Samuel.Meanwhile, James Cook starred on the ground as he accounted for 120 of Buffalo’s 200 total rushing yards. , when the Bills steamrolled through the Sean Payton era early on the Broncos with 31 unanswered points after a touchdown on the game’s opening drive.
For Bo Nix, it marked the end of an otherwise brilliant rookie campaign for the first-round pick, who led the Broncos to a 10-7 finish and their first playoff appearance since winning Super Bowl 50 at the end of the 2015 campaign.
Now the Bills and Ravens will meet again after Baltimore was a dominant 35-10 winner in the fourth week of the regular season, with Derrick Henry rushing for 199 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries.
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Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills extend their lead with a touchdown by Ty Johnson.
Statistics leaders
Denver Broncos
- Passing by. Bo Nix, 13/22, 144 yards, 1 TD
- In a hurry. Javonte Williams, 7 carries, 29 yards
- Receiving. Courtland Sutton, 5 catches, 75 yards
Buffalo Bills
- Passing by. Josh Allen, 20/26, 272 yards, 2 TDs
- In a hurry. James Cook, 23, 120 yards, 1 TD
- Receiving. Curtis Samuel, 3 catches, 68 yards, 1 TD
Nix, the first rookie in Broncos history to start the first playoff game, made an emphatic statement on the opening drive when he unleashed a dime to connect with Troy Franklin on a post route for a 43-yard touchdown to put Denver up.
Amid some nervous energy in the early exchanges, the Bills responded by emphasizing their ground game, but were limited to just a 26-yard field goal by Tyler Bass at the end of their next 12-play drive.
A quick 3-out for Denver followed before Cook rushed for a five-yard run to cap a seven-and-a-half-minute, 13-play, eight-play drive to put Buffalo up 100 rushing yards two minutes into the second quarter.
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The Denver Broncos strike first against the Buffalo Bills with an early 43-yard touchdown catch by Troy Franklin.
Payton rolled the dice a few minutes later when he faked a punt on fourth-and-8 from the Broncos 43, with Riley Dixon catching the punt and instead throwing a 15-yarder to Marvin Mims Jr. Following suit after four plays though , that Dixon and Mims connect in spectacular fashion with the Bills yard line.
The Broncos could have gone on the field but were denied when Will Lutz’s 50-yard field goal attempt hit the post as time expired.
Bass added to Buffalo’s lead early in the third quarter with a 27-yard field goal, but Allen was confused after the officials missed a simple penalty on Patrick Surtain II in the backfield on the final third.
It wouldn’t matter for a long time as the Bills’ defense forced another three-and-out to pave the way for Johnson’s 24-yard touchdown run.
Allen contemplated a fly on the run on fourth-and-one, sliding to his right before Johnson made a stunning catch while twisting his body and managing to keep his feet in on the slider. The Bills then took a 14-point lead to 21-7 as Allen picked off Keon Coleman for the two-point conversion.
It was two touchdowns in a three-and-a-half-minute span when Samuel zigzagged downfield for a 55-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter, the Buffalo receiver catching a deep ground end before cutting back inside and running for the house.
Bass iced the game with a 34-yard field goal and ended a seven-minute, 14-play clock-chewing machine with five minutes to play, allowing the Bills to pull Allen out for Mitchell Trubisky for next weekend’s Ravens showdown.
Allen braced himself for the Jackson clash
Bills quarterback Josh Allen. “They (Ravens) followed us early this year. It’s a great time to watch. What Lamar can do, he’s one of the most dynamic defenders in the league. He’s so fun to watch.” , but I’ll be keeping an eye on their defense this week…
Sky Sports NFL’s Ndamukong Suh. “We’re really going to see who the MVP is. That’s what it comes down to. Which quarterback is going to step up, or which of these defenses is going to step up?”
Sky Sports NFL’s Jason Bell. “I love watching this guy (Allen). It doesn’t matter to him. He started aggressively and then took over the new game. That’s why we celebrate him.
“Great defenders figure out what you’re trying to do and they manipulate it. Then when they have to make a play, they clean you up. And that’s what he was doing. when things broke down, he made a play.
“You knew he had a handle on things. We felt it, and you knew Denver felt it when he played defense.”
Sky Sports NFL’s Phoebe Schecter. “You want to be able to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. That’s good to see with the Bills team, they didn’t let the Broncos come back, they ran the ball and let their identity be known.”
What next?
The Bills will now host the Ravens next weekend in the divisional round, while CJ Stroud’s Houston Texans face the defending champion and No. 1 seed Kansas City Chiefs as the lowest seed remaining in the AFC.
Wild Card Weekend concludes Monday night when the Minnesota Vikings take on the Los Angeles Rams early Tuesday morning at 1:00 p.m.
Super Bowl LIX will take place on Sunday, February 9 at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, live on Sky Sports NFL.
