The Buffalo Bills are moving onto the divisional round after a wild card beatdown of the Denver Broncos. After Bo Nix connected with Troy Franklin on a 43-yard touchdown to give Denver an early 7-0 lead, Buffalo scored 31 unanswered points and it helped Buffalo advance in the playoffs.
Buffalo got off to a bit of a slow start, only being up 10-7 going into halftime despite being the clear dominant team. Then the second half arrived and it was all Buffalo from there on out. Denver never stood a chance and they will head back to Colorado to start preparation for next season.
As the Bills now look forward to a divisional round matchup against the Baltimore Ravens, it’s important to note which players shined that can continue their momentum, as well as see who needs to improve for next week.
4 winners and 2 losers in Bills' dominant wild card round win
Winners:
QB Josh Allen
Let’s just get it out of the way. Very rarely is Josh Allen not a winner after a Bills win. He now owns the record for the most playoff passing touchdowns and he threw for 272 yards and ran for 46 yards. He played turnover-free football and made a Broncos’ top-tier defense look absolutely foolish. His MVP performance for this game should put the NFL on notice going into next week’s game against the Baltimore Ravens.
RB James Cook
Before Allen had his shining moment in the second half, it was the James Cook show. Overall, Cook finished with 120 yards on the ground and his touchdown in the firs quarter helped jumpstart the Bills’ 31 unanswered-point run. He averaged over five yards per carry and helped the Bills reach 210 total rushing yards against Denver.
After being snubbed from the Pro Bowl, Cook is out to prove that he is indeed one of the best backs in football.
WR Curtis Samuel
It finally happened…Curtis Samuel became a playmaker for the Bills. After only finishing the regular season with 253 yards and one touchdown, Samuel’s breakout moment came in the 4th quarter when he connected with Josh Allen for a 55-yard touchdown pass to put the game away.
Samuel finished the game as Buffalo’s leading receivier with 68 yards off of three catches. It was a great sign seeing Samuel produce and hopefully he can continue to be apart of this offensive game plan against Baltimore.
K Tyler Bass
The last time that Tyler Bass was in the playoffs, a lot of fans were calling for competition for him because he was missing easy kicks. This game against Denver was a great confidence boost for him. He went 3/3 in field goal attempts and converted two PAT attempts.
Not every game is going to be a blowout so it’s reassuring that kicking doesn’t look like it will be a problem moving forward. However, anything can happen…
Losers:
CB Christian Benford
It is very shocking to have to put Christian Benford on this list, but he struggled today in man-to-man coverage, especially against Courtland Sutton. Even though Sutton didn’t get into the endzone, Benford was struggling to contain him and he was even called for a holding penalty against Sutton.
Again, there isn’t a ton to be worried about with Benford, but this was definitely not his game.
DE Von Miller
Even though Von Miller managed to provide some pressure, he was not the x-factor that fans were hoping for. You would think that facing his old team in a go big or go home game would help him produce. Instead, he only recorded one QB hit. No tackles and no sacks.