The second day of the Wild Card weekend will kick off in Buffalo. The Bills are ready to square off with the Denver Broncos in the cold and snowy Northeast. The Bills are the second seed in the AFC and the Broncos 7th. It’s Josh Allen vs. Bo Nix. Las Vegas has The Bills as an 8.5-point favorite.
The city of Buffalo in upstate New York is mostly known for two things: very cold winters and the Buffalo Bills. The Bills are the number one sports team in the region. The Buffalo Bills have huge support at Highmark Stadium, and their fans are known for being loud. The fans of the Buffalo Bills share the same dream—to see the Bills win the Super Bowl, which has never happened to date. The Bills have played four Super Bowls and lost them all.
The Bills won their division, The AFC East, with a record of 13 wins and 4 losses. Only the two-time reigning champions, The Chiefs, had a better record than the Bills in the AFC this regular season. They lost to the Patriots in the last game of the regular season but won three straight just before that loss. Josh Allen had 28 touchdown passes in the regular season. Allen passed for 3,700 yards in total. Allen is also good at the rushing part of the game, and that would be a weapon versus the Bills.
The Denver Broncos have not been in the playoffs since 2015. The Broncos won the Super Bowl then and have pretty much been in purgatory ever since. The MVP of the Super Bowl back then was Von Miller. Miller is a hardcore Broncos fan still but plays for the Bills. Miller has been on various Broncos podcasts during the buildup to the game and talked about his love for the Colorado franchise. Both teams are coming into the game healthy, with only one player each on the injury report.
Broncos QB Bo Nix is one of the favorites to win the rookie of the year award. The 24-year-old out of region has been a revelation for Denver this season. Nix has 29 touchdown passes this season, and he passed for 3,800 yards. Bo’s rushing game is not at the level of Josh Allen’s but is still decent and usable. The Broncos finished the season with a 10-7 record in the AFC West. Both the Chiefs and the Chargers were ahead of them in the standings.
The defense has been a solid cornerstone for the Broncos this season. Pat Surtain and Nick Bonito are in line for some individual awards. The defensive coordinator, Vance Joseph, deserves a lot of credit. Courtland Sutton is their primary wide receiver but has no experience in the playoffs. The Broncos have a weakness in their rushing game.
