Josh Allen threw two touchdowns as the Buffalo Bills trounced the Denver Broncos 31-7 to cruise into the next round of the NFL playoffs on Sunday.
The second-seeded Bills underscored their status as the biggest threat to Kansas City’s hopes of reaching a fifth Super Bowl in six seasons by producing a dominant performance at Highmark Stadium in upstate New York.
Buffalo’s wild card game victory sets up a blockbuster AFC divisional round clash next weekend against third seeded Baltimore, pitting Allen against the Ravens’ reigning NFL Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson.
“He’s a great quarterback obviously with what he’s able to do,” Bills quarterback Allen said of his looming duel with Jackson. “He’s one of the most dynamic if not the most dynamic quarterback in the league. He’s fun to watch.
“But I’ll be watching their defence this week.”
Allen finished with 272 passing yards from 20-of-26 attempts, with two touchdowns and no interceptions, along with 46 rushing yards.
Seventh seeds Denver rocked Buffalo with a touchdown on the first drive of the game, quarterback Bo Nix finding receiver Troy Franklin with a deep pass for a 43-yard touchdown to mute the home crowd.
The Bills responded to that early setback with 10 unanswered points, Tyler Bass slotting a 26-yard field goal and James Cook skipping into the end zone for a five-yard touchdown.
Denver had a chance to tie the game on the stroke of halftime but Wil Lutz’s 50-yard field goal attempt bounced back off the posts to leave Buffalo 10-7 ahead at half-time.
The Bills then took a stranglehold on the game in the third quarter.
Bass slotted a 27-yard field goal to make it 13-7, and after the Bills defense forced another Denver punt, Ty Johnson snagged a superb catch inches off the ground at the back of the end zone from Allen’s pass to make it 19-7. A successful two-point conversion put the Bills 21-7 up.
Allen grabbed his second touchdown pass at the start of the fourth quarter, picking out Curtis Samuel for a 55-yard touchdown that took the score to 28-7.
Denver’s offense continued to be stymied by Buffalo’s defense, their impotence summed up by a failure to convert a 4th&2 situation on their next possession.
Allen and the Bills took that opportunity to extend the lead to 31-7 with Bass’s third field goal of the game.
The result also means that the defending Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, will host the Houston Texans in the divisional round.
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