The Bills and Broncos will battle for a place in the AFC divisional round and to be successful, they should rely on some key players on both sides of the ball.
The Buffalo Bills are healthy and seem to be ready to start a playoff run. To do so, they’ll need to defend their dirt against the dangerous Denver Broncos. Here are the X-Factors for both teams in what should be an exciting game in Orchard Park.
Buffalo Bills’ Super Wild Card defensive X-Factor
The Bills will need a great game from their defensive line, in a way they can control the Broncos’ physical running game and make them uni-dimensional. However, the defensive X-Factor for this game should be able to impact not just the defensive line, but also the entire defense as a unit.
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Linebacker Terrel Bernard may be the most crucial player in the Bills defense this game, not just because of the plays he can make against the run or the pass, but because of his leadership role in the middle of the unit. With Denver trying to establish the run game but also taking advantage of aggressive calls and punishing them with a well designed screen game, knowing what is coming before the ball is snapped will be key for Buffalo’s D.
Enter Bernard, a film junkie who exceeds at recognizing offensive calls and making quick adjustments on his defense to put his teammates in better position to make plays. With a rookie quarterback in Bo Nix making his first postseason start in Buffalo this Sunday in, being a step ahead every snap can cause tremendous discomfort to the Broncos’ signal caller, and set the tone for a successful day for the Bills defense.
Buffalo Bills’ Super Wild Card offensive X-Factor
The Denver Broncos boast one of the best defenses in the NFL and they exceed at what has been widely recognized as the best way to slow down the Bills’ juggernaut offense — getting pressure with four and playing straight man to man against a wide-receiver group with questionable separation skills.
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Well, this plan worked well until the Bills made a trade for Amari Cooper. Since that move, teams tried to use this strategy just to see Josh Allen no hesitating a single bit to go to his new outside receiver in those situations, and it has paid out.
The Chiefs tried this strategy and saw Coop burn them for two big plays that changed their approach. Same with the Jets recently. The Broncos have Patrick Surtain II and feel confident about letting him on an island on his side of the field against the opponent’s WR1. Josh Allen and the Bills are a different animal, though.
Allen has shown he isn’t scared of trying those top cornerbacks in the league, as he’s done several times against Jalen Ramsey. Cooper offers him a reliable target who’s savvy enough to have his wins against a top CB like Surtain. If they can make the Broncos less confident about that matchup, it can completely change the way they’ll approach this game from the defensive standpoint, and they might not have answer for everything else the Bills offense can throw at them.
Denver Broncos’ Super Wild Card defensive X-Factor
The Broncos have one player on the defensive side of the ball that can impact this game in several different ways and he should be the one that they need shinning on Sunday the most, this guy is Nik Bonitto.
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The edge rusher has the explosiveness to test Bills tackles Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown, and is also athletic enough to be used as a spy o Josh Allen when the opportunity arises.
The Bills haven’t allowed pass rushers to shut down their offense recently, but if Denver can slow down Buffalo’s run game and play with a lead, Bonitto should be put in position to exceed and wreck some havoc on the Bills’ backfield. To be able to shock the world, the Broncos will need a big game by their up and coming star.
Denver Broncos’ Super Wild Card offensive X-Factor
If the Broncos can establish a consistent run game to take away the pressure of Bo Nix, it’s half of the battle for them to be competitive on Sunday. For that reason, I thought about having Javonte Williams here as their X-Factor for this game.
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However, it’s really hard to not have the rookie quarterback here. The fact is, Denver needs Nix to be able to have answers from what Sean McDermott and Bobby Babich will throw at him.
I expect Buffalo to shut down the Broncos run game and force the rookie to beat them. If the Bills can put the rookie on 3rd and long situations consistently, expect McDermott to throw those disguised coverages at the rookie, trying to fool him onto making mistakes and throwing picks.
Nix has had an impressive season, and has a very experienced offensive mind helping him out in Sean Peyton. Also, Davis Webb knows very well how the Bills try to bait opposing QBs into mistakes. Nix having a great game, being able to move the chains and avoiding turnovers, is the key for the Broncos to try to upset Buffalo.
Catch up with all this and more during my latest edition of Leading the Charge!