Now it gets real. The Denver Broncos (14-3) will collide with the Buffalo Bills (12-5) for the second straight season, but this time around will be a divisional round.
It has been a decade since Denver last won a playoff game, and will hope to turn things around come Saturday, January 17th in the Mile High City.
The Broncos have an advantage over Buffalo considering it has been two weeks since they’ve played their final game of the regular season. By time game day arrives, Buffalo will have only had 6 days off rest, and the Bills must travel to Denver and get acclimated with the altitude.
It is well-known across the league that Mile High Stadium is not an easy place to play in for visiting teams and is considered to have one of the rowdiest live crowds in all sports.
Bo Nix and Sean Payton both shared their thoughts on how tough it has been for opposing teams to perform at Mile High Stadium, and what the crowd can do to put Buffalo at a disadvantage:
“Deafening. When they’re getting in the huddle, deafening. There’s
“The noise level needs to be the loudest when they enter the huddle. And then can you do that collectively… For 65 snaps, 10 seconds. That’s a huge advantage.”
- Denver Broncos Head Coach – Sean Payton
“I expect it to be extremely loud. I expect it to be a a great environment, similar to what it’s been recently, the past several home games… Something tells me that it’ll be kicked up a notch just cause it’s got playoffs on it.”
- Denver Broncos Quarterback – Bo Nix
“You know we have an amazing fan base. I can see the impact and having some boys that have been on the other side of the ball. I’ve been saying that they’ve been loud and rowdy in there and it’s hard to hear on that field.”
- Denver Broncos Wide Receiver – Courtland Sutton
Being the #1 Seed at home has its perks, without question. But more importantly, Buffalo’s offense is a little banged up from their previous game against the Jacksonville Jaguars and will be facing a Top 3 defensive unit on the road in Denver.
Josh Allen will be facing a defense that led the league averaging 4 sacks per game. Each Quarterback that faced Denver’s defense has been sacked at least 3 times, excluding Dak Prescott, who was sacked only twice in the game that Dallas faced Denver.
The Broncos defense has been able to get the job done with a critical list of injuries and has still managed to record 68 sacks this year. The Bills offensive line has allowed Josh Allen to be sacked 41 times, granted Allen ran into a decent number of those sacks attempting to evade the pressure as the pocket collapsed.
The Broncos expect (LB) Dre Greenlaw to be back in the lineup as a full participant which will boost the defense in a major way and will decrease the amount of time that Josh Allen has in the pocket if the Broncos decide to blitz heavy.
Buffalo is thin at the WR position, and James Cook who punished the Broncos defense last year with 120 yards on the ground will be facing a completely different beefed up defensive unit in a few days.
Denver’s Defensive Tackle Zach Allen will also need to bring the pain and put the pressure on Josh Allen as he has all season long. Zach Allen led the league in hits on the Quarterback with 47 this season. Defensive Coordinator Vance Jospeh will expect the same energy and then some from him and his unit come Saturday.
Pressure. Pressure. Pressure.
Talanoa Hufanga and Nik Bonitto will be locked in on Josh Allen, licking their chops waiting for him to scramble out of the pocket. Bonitto has been in the spotlight all season long overshadowing Hufanga who can no longer be overlooked and is equally as talented as Bonitto in my humble opinion.
This season Hufanga has 106 tackles (67 of those solo tackles), 11 passes defended (if he had better hands, he would have at least 4 INT’s), 1 forced fumble, and 6 tackles behind the line of scrimmage for a loss.
Allen will be the ultimate test for Denver, and Denver’s defense will be the ultimate test for Allen. Considering Denver’s success this season, especially defensively. There is no way the Broncos should be considered the underdogs in this game at home.
The Broncos ended the regular season with 14 wins, and this is the second time in franchise history that they’ve done that. The last time the Broncos completed the regular season with 14 wins was in 1998, and they went on to win the Super Bowl. History can repeat itself.
If Denver can get past Josh Allen and the Bills without any injuries and a full healthy roster, there is a substantial amount of potential for them to be able to steamroll through the rest of the post-season, as this might be the game of the year.
Dante Robinson | Senior NFL Analyst for The NSR Network
