The Buffalo Bills came into the 2025 NFL playoffs with high expectations, hoping to advance to the NFL divisional round for the fifth year in a row. And they did just that with ease.
The Bills slaughtered the Denver Broncos 31-7 in the AFC’s No. 2 vs. No. 7-seed matchup in front of their home crowd, ‘The Bills Mafia’, to set up a classic divisional round date with Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.
“This is what everyone’s been waiting for, right?” coach Sean McDermott said. “So, it’ll be a nice week, and everyone will be looking forward to it, and they’re a great football team. I mean they handled us pretty good the first go around and they’re certainly playing well.”
Rookie quarterback Bo Nix and the Broncos got off to a fast start, finding the end zone on the opening drive of the game and moving the ball well through the air against the Bills. Denver’s defense also did a good job holding Buffalo in check, holding them to pedestrian 10 points in the first half and keeping the game competitive within one score deep into the third quarter.
“I’m really proud of these guys. We’ve overcome a lot and not really been counted in many games,” Nix said. “But to make the playoffs was a special moment for this group. It’s something we can build off of. … Our goals are changing.”
However, MVP candidate Josh Allen and the Bills finally asserted themselves, putting their foot on the throat of the Broncos after deciding to be aggressive and take the bull by the horns and go for it on a fourth-and-1 on Denver’s 24-yard line. A Tyler Bass field goal would have extended Buffalo’s lead to nine; instead, Allen managed to find Ty Johnson for a spectacular touchdown that gave the Bills a 14-point edge.
Embed from Getty ImagesAllen had a dominant performance during the contest, completing 20-of-26 passes for 272 yards and two scores, while adding 46 yards on eight rushes. His teammate, James Cook also got the job done on the ground and had a massive outing. He racked up 120 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. Both were able to take a rest and get off their feet late in the blowout win.
“I don’t think there was one certain thing over another. We just wanted to come out and execute well,” Allen said. “At the end of the day, we just wanted to come out and play our best football, and I feel like we did that today.”
Allen spread the wealth around, completing passes to eight players, including getting receiver Curtis Samuel involved by all intents and purposes sealing the victory with a 55-yard touchdown catch on the opening snap of the final frame.
“I’ll speak on behalf of Curtis. He probably didn’t have the season that he wanted to have,” Allen said of the eighth-year veteran who was limited to 31 receptions for 253 yards and a touchdown. “But he just continued to work hard, and that’s kind of the mentality we’ve had all year is everybody eats. And today was his day.”
Sean Payton’s Broncos will now go back into the lab, but at least they now know they have a franchise quarterback in Nix. He finished his first taste of the playoffs completing 13-of-22 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown while leading the team with 43 rushing yards on four carries.
After forcing the Broncos into a turnover on downs, the Bills needed just one first down to bleed the rest of the clock. They managed to get that on a carry from Johnson, who took over primary running responsibilities alongside quarterback Mitch Trubisky for Buffalo’s final series of the game.
Broncos: offseason.
Bills: Host the Baltimore Ravens next weekend in a matchup of two elite quarterbacks selected in the first round of the 2018 draft, Allen No. 7 out of the University of Wyoming and Jackson No. 32 out of Louisville.
