Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills kept their Super Bowl dream alive as they beat the Denver Broncos 31-7 to set up a blockbuster Division Round matchup against Lamar Jackson's Baltimore Ravens.
It calls for a matchup of two of the NFL's MVP leaders in Allen and Jackson, the latter of whom threw for 175 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 81 yards to lead Baltimore to a 28-14 wild-card victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday night.
Allen was similarly dominant Sunday as he completed 20 of 26 for 272 yards and two scores to Ty Johnson and Curtis Samuel. James Cook, meanwhile, played the field as he accounted for 120 of Buffalo's 200 total rushing yards as the Bills stuffed Sean Payton in front of the Broncos with 31 unanswered points after surrendering a touchdown on the game's first drive.
For Bo Nix, it marked the end of an otherwise sparkling rookie campaign for the first-round pick, who led the Broncos to 10-7 and their first playoff berth since winning Super Bowl 50 at the end of the 2015 campaign.
The Bills and Ravens will now meet again after Baltimore was a dominant 35-10 winner in Week 4 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 catch by Ty Johnson just in the end zone
Statistics leaders
Denver Broncos
- Passage: Bo Nix, 13/22, 144 yards, 1 TD
- rush: Javonte Williams, 7 carries, 29 yards
- Receiving: Courtland Sutton, 5 catches, 75 yards
Buffalo Bills
- Passage: Josh Allen, 20/26, 272 yards, 2 TDs
- rush: James Cook, 23 carries, 120 yards, 1 TD
- Receiving: Curtis Samuel, 3 catches, 68 yards, 1 TD
Nix, the first rookie quarterback to start a playoff game in Broncos history, made an emphatic statement on the opening drive when he took a dime to connect with Troy Franklin on a 43-yard route to put Denver on top.
Amid some nervous energy in the early exchanges, the Bills responded with an emphasis on their ground game, but were limited to just a 26-yard field goal by Tyler Bass at the end of their ensuing 12-play drive.
A quick Denver 3-and-out followed before Cook ran in a five-yard field goal to cap a 13-play, 81-yard drive in seven and a half minutes that took eight plays to lift Buffalo to 100 yards two minutes in the second quarter.
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Denver Broncos strike first against Buffalo Bills with early 43-yard touchdown catch by Troy Franklin
Payton rolled the dice moments later as he picked off a fake punt to convert a fourth-and-eight from the Broncos 43, Riley Dixon faked a punt and instead completed a 15-yard strike to Marvin Mims Jr. They picked against it four plays later, though I saw Dixon and Mims connect impressively again to bring down a punt at the Bills' one-yard line.
The Broncos were able to pull within half, but were denied when Wil Lutz's 50-yard field goal 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 officials missed what appeared to be a clear pass interference call on Patrick Surtain II in the back of the end zone on the previous third-and-goal opportunity.
It wouldn't matter for long, the Bills defense forcing another three-and-out to pave the way for Johnson's 24-yard catch.
Allen considered going for a run on fourth-and-1, sliding to his right before firing a pass downfield with Johnson at hand to make a stunning grab as he contorted his body and managed to keep his feet in bounds on a slide. The Bills then built a 14-point lead at 21-7 as Allen picked off Keon Coleman for the two-point conversion.
It was two touchdowns in the space of three and a half minutes when Samuel zigzagged down the field for a 55-yard catch-and-run touchdown early in the fourth quarter, and Buffalo's speedy receiver made a deep catch before I got back inside and we raced to the house .
Bass iced the game with a 34-yard field goal to cap a seven-minute, 14-play drive with five minutes to play, allowing the Bills to go with Allen instead of Mitchell Trubisky with an eye on next weekend's showdown with the Ravens.
Allen was preparing for the Jackson clash
Bills quarterback Josh Allen: “They (the Crows) chased us earlier this year. We've got a lot of film to watch. It's a great time, with a great quarterback. What Lamar can do, he's one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the league — if not the most dynamic, he's so much fun to watch, but I'll be watching 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 one of these defenses is going to step up.”
Sky Sports NFL's Jason Bell: “I love watching this guy (Allen). It just doesn't matter with him. He started aggressively, then struggled a bit, before just taking over the game. That's why we celebrate it.
“Great quarterbacks recognize what you're trying to do and take advantage of it. Then when they have to make a play, they clean you up. And that's what he did — when things were breaking down, he made a play.
“You knew he had a command of things. We felt it, and you know Denver felt it playing defense. He got it done.”
Sky Sports NFL's Phoebe Schecter: “You want to be able to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. What's great to see with this Bills team is they didn't let the Broncos back in, they ran the ball and made their identity known.”
What next?
The Bills will now host the Ravens in the Divisional Round next weekend, while CJ Stroud's Houston Texans will play the defending champion and top seed Kansas City Chiefs as the lowest remaining seed in the AFC.
Wild Card Weekend concludes Monday night when the Minnesota Vikings face off against the Los Angeles Rams at 1 a.m. in the early hours of Tuesday.
Super Bowl LIX takes place on Sunday February 9 at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, live on Sky Sports NFL.