Follow the duel between Bills de Buffalo and the Denver Broncos Saturday, from 4 p.m., on RDS and on RDS.ca.
After the Buffalo Bills ended the Broncos’ season with a 31-7 playoff victory last year, Sean Payton resolved to bring the playoffs back to Denver, 5,000 feet above sea level, in front of a raucous crowd capable of shaking the stadium.
“We talked about getting the best ranking and trying to get all the advantages. That’s what I felt during my first year in New Orleans in 2006, when we lost (in the National final) to Chicago: “How do we play this game at home?” “, recalled Payton, as his Saints managed to do it three years later, en route to their conquest of the Super Bowl.
Now leading the Broncos for a third season, Payton is trying to become the first head coach in history to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy with two different teams.
Well rested, the Broncos (14-3) gained home field advantage by finishing first in the American Association. They will host the injury-plagued Buffalo Bills (13-5), who last week won their first road playoff game since 1992.
This will be the first playoff game in Denver since January 24, 2016, when the Broncos defeated the New England Patriots in the 17th and final duel between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.
The Broncos have won 13 of their last 14 games in front of home fans and are 8-1 at home this season. Their only loss came at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars, the team eliminated by the Bills in the first round.
With quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson out, this could be the Bills’ Josh Allen’s best opportunity to finally win the Super Bowl. However, he is struggling with problems with his right foot, left knee and left hand. He was also evaluated for a concussion last weekend.
“I feel good,” Allen said. I feel good. I feel better than I have in recent weeks. »
The names of 14 Bills players were on the injured list this week, and Bills head coach Sean McDermott has already indicated that safety Jordan Poyer and cornerback Maxwell Hairston will not be in uniform. Receivers Gabe Davis and Tyrell Shavers were added to the group this week due to knee injuries.
Allen hasn’t missed a game due to injury since his freshman season in 2018.
“I don’t know (where that stamina comes from),” Allen said. Obviously, I come from the countryside, in the middle of nowhere. My biggest fear when I was little was missing matches. Even when I did something stupid, my parents threatened to make me miss a game, I told them: “Okay, I’ll calm down.” So, I love being on the field. »
Allen and James Cook, the season’s rushing leader, will face an improved defensive unit that looks nothing like the one they had 210 rushing yards against in last year’s playoffs.
The Broncos added safety Talanoa Hufanga and linebacker Dre Greenlaw through the free agent market. Both had a big say in the fact that the Broncos led the NFL in sacks in the pay zone.
“They’re built the right way,” McDermott said.
Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper and the Broncos had 68 sacks, a league high in 2025. The Broncos also ranked second against the ground game.
The Bills may therefore have to rely on their decimated group of receivers on Saturday.
“Obviously, it’s not an ideal situation,” Allen conceded. But I still have total confidence in this group. Those who will be on the ground will have to be up to the task. And we are confident that they will be. »
