With successful regular season in the books, the Denver Broncos enjoyed some much-needed time off with their first-round bye. It was well-deserved since winning fourteen games and achieving their first AFC West title in decade. Now, the rubber finally meets the road.<\/p>\n
After an eventful and action-packed Wild Card Weekend, we now know who they will face off against next weekend. It\u2019s d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu for Denver\u2014who will face off against the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs for the second straight season. It\u2019s a serendipitous shot at revenge; one season removed from the Bills knocking out the Broncos in last year\u2019s Wild Card Round.<\/p>\n
But this time, things will be different. Buffalo won\u2019t have the advantage of a cold weather game in front of their fans. Instead, that luxury belongs to the Broncos, who will have the fortune of playing in front of a roaring hometown crowd. It\u2019ll be loud and ferocious at Empower Field at Mile High, with Broncos Country cheering on their beloved orange and blue in their biggest game since Super Bowl 50.<\/p>\n
Prior to yesterday\u2019s come from behind victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars, quarterback Josh Allen was 0-5 on the road in the playoffs. He got himself out of that slump, but you can bet your bottom dollar Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph and his defense will be ready to limit Allen, James Cook, and the rest of the Bills\u2019 high-powered offense that was fourth in points scored during the regular season.<\/p>\n
Denver\u2019s defense was at the top or near the top in the league in most every major category. Red zone defense, third down defense, and sacks. When you accomplish that, it\u2019s no surprise how successful the Broncos were in 2025. Even so, now more than ever, they will need to excel in all those aspects to have a shot at getting to the AFC Championship game. And of course, notching some turnovers like they did in their final game of the regular season.<\/p>\n
For those worried about a repeat of last year\u2019s playoffs\u2014don\u2019t raise the white flag just yet\u2014and don\u2019t hit the panic button. This year\u2019s Broncos aren\u2019t your average group of gridiron brawlers. They are battle-tested, gritty, and have the mental toughness to go head-to-head against Buffalo. They also sport six All-Pro selections, the second-most in franchise history, who are more experienced and confident entering this coming weekend\u2019s gridiron affair.<\/p>\n
There is no doubt this is the biggest week of preparation for the Broncos in nearly a decade. While all of us certainly enjoyed their tremendous regular season, there is still more left to accomplish. It\u2019s time for Denver to take care of some unfinished business. It won\u2019t be easy, but I\u2019m confident this year\u2019s team has learned from the past.<\/p>\n
There are three big keys to the game for me: The Broncos keeping their mistakes (drops and penalties) to a minimum, executing in the red zone on offense, and limiting Allen and the Bills\u2019 big play ability. By accomplishing that, the Broncos will have a good shot at advancing as opposed to being one-and-done in the post season.<\/p>\n
Here is hoping they can rise to the occasion, meet the moment, and do what it takes to make it to the AFC Championship game. If not? It\u2019s back to the drawing board to figure out what they can do to prove themselves next season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With successful regular season in the books, the Denver Broncos enjoyed some much-needed time off with their first-round…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":671147,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[1151,7],"class_list":{"0":"post-672866","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-denver-broncos-news","9":"tag-football"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115885320798602374","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}