Denver Broncos 7-31 Buffalo Bills: Josh Allen leads Bills against Broncos and sets up Lamar Jackson-Baltimore Ravens showdown | NFL news
Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills kept their Super Bowl dream alive when they beat the Denver Broncos 31-7 to set up a big divisional round matchup against Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens.
It’s being hyped as a matchup of the NFL’s two leading rushers, 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 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday. night.
Allen was similarly dominant Sunday when he completed 20 of 26 for 272 yards and two scores to Ty Johnson and Curtis Samuel. James Cook, meanwhile, played on the ground as he accounted for 120 of Buffalo’s 200 total rushing yards as the Bills topped Sean Payton’s Broncos ahead of schedule with 31 unanswered points after surrendering a touchdown on the opening drive of the game.
For Bo Nix, it marked the end of an otherwise sparkling campaign for the rookie first-round pick, who led the Broncos to a 10-7 finish 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.
Statistics leaders
Denver Broncos
- Passage: Bo Nix, 13/22, 144 yards, 1 TD
- hurry: Javonte Williams, 7 carries, 29 yards
- Receiving: Courtland Sutton, 5 catches, 75 yards
Buffalo Bills
- Passage: Josh Allen, 20/26, 272 yards, 2 TDs
- hurry: James Cook, 23 carries, 120 yards, 1 TD
- Receiving: Curtis Samuel, 3 catches, 68 yards, 1 TD
Nix, the first rookie running back to start a playoff game in Broncos history, made an emphatic statement on the opening drive when he broke free on a dime to connect with Troy Franklin on a post route for a 43-yard touchdown 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 three-and-out followed before Cook rushed five yards for the go-ahead touchdown to cap a 13-play, 81-yard drive that spanned seven and a half minutes, eight plays to put Buffalo up 100. rushing yards two minutes into the second quarter.
Payton rolled the dice moments later as he dialed a fake punt to convert on a fourth-and-8 from the Broncos 43, Riley Dixon faked a punt and ended up hitting Marvin Mims Jr. instead. from 15 yards. They picked against followed suit four plays later, though, seeing Dixon and Mims connect impressively again for a one-yard touchdown on the Bills line.
The Broncos could have gone into halftime but were denied when Wil Lutz’s 50-yard field goal hit the post as time expired.
Bass extended Buffalo’s lead early in the third quarter with a 27-yard field goal, but Allen was confused after the officials missed what appeared to be a clear pass interference penalty against Patrick Surtain II in the back of the end zone in the previous period. -and-goal opportunity.
It wouldn’t matter for long, the Bills defense forced another three-and-out to pave the way for Johnson’s 24-yard touchdown 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 while convulsing his body and managing to keep his feet in bounds on a slide. The Bills then led by 14 points at 21-7, and 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 touchdown catch-and-run early in the fourth quarter, Buffalo’s speedy receiver making a deep catch before running back inside and rushing to houses.
Bass iced the game with a 34-yard field goal to end a seven-minute, 14-play clock-chewing with five minutes to play, allowing the Bills to release Allen in place of Mitchell Trubisky in light of next weekend’s showdown with the Ravens.
