The good and bad from Bills Wild Card victory over Broncos

The Buffalo Bills took down the Denver Broncos in the Wild Card round matchup, 31-7, and have advanced to the Divisional round of the playoffs.

The Bills started off slow, allowing the Broncos to score on their first drive with ease. Buffalo, however, bounced back by scoring 31 unanswered points and not allowing Denver to move the ball downfield.

The Bills came into the game with a chip on their shoulder and performed at a high level on both sides of the ball. The Bills will now look to take on the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, January 19, at 6:30 PM, ET in Buffalo at Highmark Stadium.

Before we move on, here’s the good and bad from the Wild Card win:

The Good  

Josh Allen  

Josh Allen and the Bills offense got rolling after the defense allowed Denver to score early and did not take their foot off the gas for the rest of the game. Josh Allen had the Bills offense locked in, in the second half and they did not look back. Allen finished with 272 passing yards. He was 20 for 26 through the air with two passing touchdowns. Allen also had eight carries for 46 rushing yards.  

Allen had himself a good game and kept the offense in rhythm to defeat Denver. He will be challenged big time next week though as he and Buffalo’s offense will be facing off against a tough Baltimore defense.  

James Cook  

James Cook continues to be a force in the Buffalo Bills run game. Cook finished the game with 23 carries for 120 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown to tack on top. Cook has been a freight train behind one of the best Bills offensive lines we have seen in recent years. Cook and the Bills offense will hope to continue to see immense production next week against Baltimore and hopefully deeper into the Bills playoff run.  

Curtis Samuel  

Bills wide receiver Curtis Samuel has finally given Bills fans a reason to shout his name. Samuel had a big play for the Bills offense early in the fourth quarter that put the game out of reach for Denver. Samuel made a grab downfield and turned on the burners after the catch to score a 55-yard receiving touchdown.

Ty Johnson  

Bills running back Ty Johnson plays an immense role in the Bills passing game on offense. Johnson has continued to have success catching out of the backfield for Buffalo and did so in their victory over Denver. Johnson finished the game with nine carries for 44 yards, two receptions for 26 yards, and a miraculous receiving touchdown that changed the game for Buffalo.  

Matt Milano  

Bills linebacker Matt Milano finally looked like his old self again, finishing the game with the second most tackles and earning himself a sack on Broncos quarterback Bo Nix in the process. Milano needs to continue this production into next week’s Divisional round matchup against one of the best offenses in the league.  

The Bad  

Fake Punt Allowed  

The Bills special teams allowed Broncos head coach Sean Payton to get tricky with his play calling on fourth down. He decided to call a fake punt, which was converted. Buffalo was not ready for this whatsoever and it resulted in the Bills allowing a first down after stopping Denver previously.  

Pass Rush  

The Bills pass rush was able to force Nix outside of the pocket, yet they could not get him on the ground nearly as much as they should have. The Bills must clean this problem up, as they face one of the quickest quarterbacks in all of football on Sunday in Lamar Jackson and Buffalo will be hoping to get a few sacks on him and put the Ravens offense back.