Josh Allen, Bills begin Super Bowl quest against upstart Broncos

With Sean McDermott and Josh Allen in charge, the Buffalo Bills have churned out one great regular season after another. And year after year, the franchise's first Super Bowl title has eluded them.

Buffalo, the No. 2 seed in the AFC for the third year running, begins its latest playoff journey against the seventh-seeded Denver Broncos on Sunday afternoon in Orchard Park, N.Y.

The Broncos (10-7) made the postseason for the first time since Peyton Manning guided them to the Super Bowl 50 title. In the nine years since, the Bills (13-4) have become a playoff staple: They've qualified for the sixth year in a row, and they won their wild-card game each of the past four postseasons.

Of course, they've managed just one AFC Championship Game appearance in that stretch. McDermott said that adversity has become part of the Bills' identity.

"I would say yes and no," the coach said. "I would say yes because it is in our history, of not getting to accomplish our ultimate goal year to year. But at the end of the day, we've had a lot of success and it's a hard thing to win in this league. And you're looking at an AFC that is loaded with high-level teams, and it starts right from the start with Week 1 for us with a really good football team in the Denver Broncos."

Allen has thrown 13 touchdown passes in five appearances in the wild-card round (4-1 record). Only Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers have totaled more wild-card TDs in their careers.

One major difference this time around for Buffalo: The architect of the offense is Joe Brady. In his first full season as the coordinator following two years as quarterbacks coach, the Bills have the No. 2 scoring offense (30.9 points per game) and rank ninth in both passing and rushing yardage.

Asked Wednesday what Brady has done for the unit -- as franchises in need of a head coach snoop around -- Allen quipped, "Nothing. Teams should stay away from him."

The key battle will be whether Buffalo can play mistake-free football against Denver's disruptive defense.

The Bills gave up the fewest sacks (14) and fewest turnovers (eight) in the league. The Broncos racked up 63 sacks, nine more than any other team, and generated 25 takeaways.

Broncos coach Sean Payton explained the many benefits a sack-happy defense provides.

"It goes against trying to stay on schedule. It goes against getting to the third-down numbers that are manageable," said Payton, a Super Bowl champion with New Orleans 15 years ago. "And then, there's this emotional and psychological toll with a sack that you have to overcome."

Nik Bonitto had a breakout season, leading the defense with 13.5 sacks among his 16 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles. Jonathon Cooper added 10.5 sacks.

While the defense has been stellar, the Broncos also found their long-sought franchise quarterback in first-round draft pick Bo Nix. He finished the regular season with 3,775 passing yards, 29 passing touchdowns and four rushing scores.

Last week, Nix threw for 321 yards and four touchdowns in a 38-0 win over a resting Kansas City Chiefs team to clinch Denver's playoff bid.

"It means a lot. (The playoffs are) where I want to be," the 24-year-old rookie said. "This is the moments that matter, these are the moments that people remember you by. We just got to go out there and cut it loose and go out there and play."

These teams last met in November 2023, when the Broncos went to Buffalo and pulled out a 24-22 victory. Allen threw two picks and lost a fumble that day.

The injury reports are light for both teams. Broncos backup tackle Frank Crum (illness) didn't practice Wednesday and reserve cornerback Damarri Mathis (back) was limited. The Bills' only injury-related absence from Wednesday's walkthrough was defensive back/kick returner Brandon Codrington (hamstring).

--Field Level Media