Stick here for live updates and analysis as Denver takes on the Bills at Empower Field at Mile High.

Live updates
Pre-game updates

Broncos inactives (1:03 p.m.):

QB Sam Ehlinger (emergency third)
TE Caleb Lohner (PS)
WR Elijah Moore (PS)
ILB Karene Reid
CB Reese Taylor
OLB Que Robinson
DL Sai’Vion Jones

— Gabriel

Who’s in? (12:55 p.m.): Couple of gameday roster updates: Appears based on early warmups that both TE Caleb Lohner and WR Elijah Moore — Denver’s Friday practice squad elevations — will be inactive. Nice little bonus to get the game-day check for the Divisional round, though.

Also appears DL Jordan Jackson is active. He’s taped up and going through early warmups. Heavy trenches day. — Gabriel

History (12:41 p.m.): The Broncos have quite the history as the AFC’s top seed entering the playoffs. Denver’s conference-best ninth No. 1 seed is its first since the 2015 season, when Peyton Manning became the first QB in NFL history to clinch a Super Bowl title with two different franchises. The Broncos were also the top seed following a 14-2 regular season in 1998, which crescendoed with the franchise’s second Super Bowl trophy in John Elway’s final game. The Broncos have advanced to the Super Bowl in six of the eight previous seasons after earning the top seed. — Peterson

Coaching watch (12:28 p.m.): One of the funny things that happens when a team plays well into the postseason: Much of the NFL calendar keeps chugging on. It’s not quite college football Wild West, but a couple of worthwhile notes about Denver’s coaching staff:

Arizona’s going to be interesting to watch with DC Vance Joseph. The familiarity is there and other dominoes have (sort of, kind of) started to fall. John Harbaugh is headed to the New York Giants. NFL Network reported Saturday that Packers DC Jeff Hafley is a strong candidate in Miami.

Meanwhile on Friday, the Jets publicized their eight DC interviews, which included Broncos secondary coach Jim Leonhard. He’s also interviewed in Dallas and has history with Harbaugh, which could lead to an interview there when they’re allowed for Denver assistants again. Also, if Hafley gets a head coaching job, it’ll be worth remembering that Leonhard turned Packers coach Matt LaFleur down the Green Bay DC job in 2021 because he thought he was going to be the Wisconsin head coach.

Lots of machinations to come on that front for Denver’s coaching staff. If they lose today, it kicks back into gear basically tomorrow. If they win, then it’s all on hold until after the AFC title game. — Gabriel

Good afternoon from Empower Field (12:21 p.m.): There’s not a cloud in the sky, though this will be the coldest day of the season at Empower Field. Temperature is currently in the upper 20s and we may not hit 40 over the course of the afternoon. All the same, a beautiful day for the biggest game in a decade in this stadium. Some players are out for very early warmups at the moment, including Denver QB Bo Nix and his top receiver, Courtland Sutton. — Gabriel

Scouting report (12:06 p.m.): Check out how the Broncos match up with the Bills in Luca Evans’ scouting report.

Game predictions

Parker Gabriel, Broncos reporter: Broncos 23, Bills 22

More often than not this fall, the Broncos have found a way. That’s a good trait to have entering the postseason, where everybody is good and nothing is easy. So many arrows point in Denver’s direction — rest, overall health, roster depth, homefield advantage, so on and so forth. Really one arrow points in Buffalo’s: Josh Allen. He is the great equalizer. If on Saturday he is merely the great near-equalizer, the Broncos will play for a trip to the Super Bowl.

Luca Evans, Broncos reporter: Broncos 23, Bills 20

Theoretically, Buffalo should win. The city of Denver won’t like that this game’s line is so narrow, considering the Broncos are well-rested and earned the AFC’s No. 1 seed for a reason. The Broncos just aren’t poised on paper to take advantage of Buffalo’s weakness to the run game. That being said, Denver’s defense will give Bo Nix and Sean Payton a chance to close this game in the fourth quarter, where they’ve rarely faltered in 2025.

Troy Renck, columnist: Broncos 22, Bills 21

This is not a great matchup for the Broncos. Josh Allen is the hardest quarterback to defend. He has posted six straight playoff games without a turnover. He loves to throw to tight ends, which the Broncos have issues trying to defend. And don’t get me started with Bo Nix’s struggles against zone defense. But the Broncos will stay tethered, and win with a late field goal as they have done inexplicably all season.

Sean Keeler, columnist:  Broncos 25, Bills 23

Josh Allen feels inevitable. He’s also 1-2 lifetime in the postseason when sacked three or more times. Those tush-pushes can’t beat you if The Winter Soldier’s facing third-and-forevers. In a perfect world, the Broncos keep Allen off the field and keep James Cook contained. Sean Payton’s never lost a playoff game when his team’s had a week of rest first (4-0). The Allen Legacy Tour has been a heck of a ride. But It’s about to blow a tire in Broncos Country.

Nate Peterson, sports editor: Broncos 23, Bills 21

Sorry, Bills Mafia, but the Broncos are going to the mattresses on Saturday. Facing a defense that was tops in the league during the regular season for sacks (68) and red-zone defense, Josh Allen is in for a long afternoon. Last year’s wild-card loss in Buffalo was much closer through nearly three quarters than the 31-7 final score indicated, and with another year under Sean Payton and Vance Joseph, Denver has closed the gap, is rested and healthy, and will deliver the Mile High City to its first AFC title game in a decade.

Broncos-Bills AFC Divisional Round: Must-reads
Renck: Broncos’ Sean Payton is built for games like this. It’s on him to deliver vs. Bills.

This one’s on Sean.

Hired in 2023, Sean Payton has been intentional on how he built his roster, created his program. He did not leave New Orleans. He brought New Orleans with him, his staff full of former Saints assistants.

The results in Denver have been pupil-dilating: a 14-3 record, the first AFC West crown in a decade, the conference’s No. 1 seed and a locker room players have called the closest they have ever experienced. Read Troy Renck’s column.

How the Broncos terrorized opposing QBs to rack up a franchise-best 68 sacks this season

Opposing quarterbacks rarely leave games against the Broncos with clean jerseys.

If Denver is going to beat Buffalo on Saturday at Empower Field at Mile High and make a run toward the Super Bowl in the coming weeks, Vance Joseph’s defense is going to have to do a lot right.

The Broncos will have to continue to be excellent on third down and in the red zone. They’ll need to avoid the field-flipping pass-interference penalties that have cropped up from time to time. They could stand to take the ball away more frequently. Read Parker Gabriel’s story.

Broncos WR Pat Bryant has moved on quickly from scary Week 16 hit

Three weeks after that hit that sent a crowd of 75,261 at Empower Field into a pallid silence, Bryant is ever the same. It was a football play, he shrugged. There is no animosity toward the Jaguars’ Montaric Brown, who delivered a blow on a hospital-ball crossing route strong enough to send Bryant to the hospital for precautionary measures. As medical staff strapped Bryant to a gurney to immobilize him and carted the rookie off, late in that 34-20 loss to Jacksonville, he had one prevailing thought.

“I was just really hoping, somehow,” Bryant said, “we won the mother(expletive) game.”

After a one-week absence due to a concussion, the receiver returned in Week 18 and led all Broncos receivers with four catches against Los Angeles. Bryant’s favorite route is the 10-yard dig. He hunts over the middle and doesn’t care if he gets hunted right back. That hasn’t changed. It won’t change. Read Luca Evans’ story.

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