By CHUCK POLLOCK, Wellsville Sun Senior Sports Columnist
To be sure, the final score was deceptive.
After all, the Bills’ 31-7 wild-card playoff victory over Denver, Sunday afternoon at Orchard Park’s Highmark’s Stadium before 70,332 observers on a decent day weather-wise was about what would be expected in a game Buffalo was favored by 8 1/2 points.
But alas, there was more to it.
The Broncos (10-8) scored on their very first possession as rookie quarterback Bo Nix heaved a 43-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Troy Franklin with the game less than 2 1/2 minutes old and Buffalo didn’t take the lead for good until two minutes had elapsed in the second quarter.
Indeed, it took a Will Lutz 50-yard field goal attempt doinking off the left upright that prevented a 10-10 tie at halftime.
In fact, with three minutes to play, Buffalo was up only 13-7.
That’s when Denver’s upset bid collapsed and Buffalo (14-4) went on an 18-0 run that turned a tense game into a rout.
The win set up a divisional playoff matchup between the Bills and Ravens (13-5) next Sunday afternoon at 6:30. Baltimore beat Buffalo 35-10 back in early October at M&T Stadium.
After beating the Broncos, relieved Bills coach Sean Mcdermott noted, “It’s a great win, especially in the playoffs … at home. It was a great environment, (we) appreciate the fans, they’re incredible every week, every time we play here.
“We knew it was going to be a battle and it was … (they’re) a well-coached team, a lot of talent and I thought our players played extremely well, especially in the third and fourth quarter. They played good complementary football … we took care of the ball, the line of scrimmage was the way it needed to be for us to win (Buffalo dominated) and that’s an important facet for us. It starts up front at the line of scrimmage.”
He concluded, “It was a team win, all three (phases, offense, defense and special teams) had their moments and played at a really high level when they needed to. This is the (game) everybody’s been waiting for … it’ll be a nice week and we’ll be looking forward to it. They’re a good football team and they handled us pretty good the first go-around. They’re certainly playing well and are well-coached … John (Harbaugh, Ravens coach) has won a Super Bowl and has a great pedigree so it will be a great challenge for us and we’ve got to play our best football.”
MEANWHILE, after a slow start, Buffalo QB Josh Allen showed why he’s no worse than the No. 2 candidate for NFL MVP.
He finished 20-of-26 passing for 272 yards with a 24-yard touchdown pass to running basck Ty Johnson and a 55-yarder to wideout Curtis Samuel.
Allen also rushed for 46 yards on eight carries, almost all of them converting third downs.
“We knocked those guys off the ball today,” Allen said, “Jimbo (James Cook) ran hard (120 yards on 23 carries, 5-yard touchdown) … all of our backs run the ball hard and you incorporate some of the quarterback runs and that really messes with the defense,” Allen said.
“We’re not trying to do anything drastically different, we’re just trying to go out there and play our best football … we had a really good week or practice, a great week of game-planning and the staff put in some great plays as you saw today. But ultimately, it’s not the X’s and O’s, it’s the Jimmys and Joes … guys were ready to go and we got our rest.”
He pointed out, “We’ve got a really good Baltimore Ravens team coming in here … they put a thumping on us early in the year and we know that. It’s the most important game of the year because it’s the next one.”
Notes from the Bills’ 31-7 wild-card playoff victory over the Broncos, Sunday afternoon at Highmark Stadium:
— Buffalo is now 9-0 at home this season and, under coach Sean McDermott they’re 6-6 in the playoffs including 5-1 in wild-card games.
— The telecast was the 500th NFL game broadcast by CBS play-by-play man Jim Nantz.
— Buffalo’s first touchdown was a 5-yard rush by running back James Cook, his 17th TD on the ground in as many games.
— The Bills second touchdown, a 24-yard pass from Josh Allen to running back Ty Johnson, who managed to keep his feet up as he slid out of bounds, gave the seventh-year QB his 22nd playoff TD toss, breaking the franchise tie with Hall of Fame QB, Jim Kelly. He got his 23rd on the first play of the fourth quarter on a 55-yard TD connection with wide receiver Curtis Samuel. In the playoffs, Allen has 23 touchdowns with four interceptions, the greatest TD/pick ratio in NFL history
— Second-year tight end Dalton Kincaid was credited with his longest reception of the season, a 35-yarder. Replay showed he probably didn’t catch the ball, but Allen got the snap off before Denver could challenge, so it counted.
— The Broncos’ first sack of Josh Allen was recorded by edge rusher Zach Allen, giving him 9 1/2 on the season. The second was logged by tackle D.J. Jones, his second of the campaign.
— Buffalo’s lone sack of Denver quarterback Bo Nix went to edge rusher Greg Rousseau who logged his ninth of the season.
— This coming week, Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady has four head coaching interviews: the Jets, Bears, Jacksonville and New Orleans.
— Besides home-and-home games with AFC East foes New England, Miami and the Jets, the rest of Buffalo’s 2025 schedule is home versus Baltimore, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Kansas City and Philadelphia and on the road at Atlanta, Carolina, Cleveland, Houston and Pittsburgh.
–Inactive for the Bills were kick returner/wide receiver Brandon Codrington (hamstring), cornerbacks Kaiir Elam and Kareem Jackson (elevated from practice squad), offensive tackle Ryan Van Demark, defensive tackle DeWayne Carter, wide receiver Jalen Virgil (elevated from practice squad) and No. 3 quarterback Mike White.
(Chuck Pollock, an Olean Star and Wellsville Sun senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)
