Broncos unable to overcome mistakes, poor defense in Wild Card loss to Bills

The Denver Broncos season wraps up with a tough 31-7 road loss in the Wild Card Round against the Buffalo Bills.

The Denver Broncos were playing with house money after making the playoffs when no one outside of Denver thought that was remotely possible four months ago. The Buffalo Bills are one of the favorites to win it all, so it was always going to be an impossible task.

That said, the Broncos had opportunities and they squandered them with mistakes and missed chances. Even then, I can’t be upset with the outcome of the season. It’s disappointing, yes, but I’m more hopeful today about the future of this franchise than I have been at any point in the post-Peyton Manning era.

Now let’s see this franchise keep building for more!

First Quarter

Things started out exactly as Sean Payton would have drawn it up with Bo Nix and the Broncos offense converting a big third down before finding Troy Franklin deep for a 43-yard touchdown pass.

Buffalo’s defense settled in from there, but Josh Allen and the Bills offense was running roughshod over the Broncos defense for 79 yards rushing in the first quarter. Denver’s defense held in the red zone on the first drive, but were again looking to hold in the red zone on the Bills second drive that would ultimately end in a five-yard touchdown run by James Cook early in the second quarter.

Broncos 7, Bills 3. Read full first quarter recap.

Second Quarter

The story of the 2024 Broncos has often been a lack of complementary football. Time and again we have seen big plays on special teams or turnovers on defense go uncapitalized by the offense. This trend continued in the second quarter after the Broncos’ special teams unit stole a possession on a fake punt.

The Broncos offense followed that up with an immediate three and out and punt. Not ideal on the road against a superior foe. However, the Broncos defense did hold for the rest of the quarter after giving up a touchdown early and gave Nix and the offense a shot with just under two minutes to go in the half.

That drive would be a successful one and get Wil Lutz setup for a 50-yard field goal attempt to end the half. Unfortunately, the kid would doink off the upright to keep the score a three point game.

Bills 10, Broncos 7. Read full second quarter recap.

Third Quarter

With time of possession approaching a 3-to-1 advantage for Buffalo, Sean Payton came out of halftime talking about the need to fix that. Unfortunately that led to back-to-back three-and-outs for the Broncos with the predictable run, run, incompletion, punt offense us Broncos fans know all too well from the last eight yards.

Meanwhile, P.J. Locke gave up on a fourth down play that resulted in a hero touchdown ball from Josh Allen to put the Bills out in front comfortably and permanently.

All of the Broncos weaknesses this season began to be amplified in this game. The lack of playmakers, run game, and issues with safety and inside linebacker play all got exposed.

Bills 21, Broncos 7. Read full third quarter recap.

Fourth Quarter

The Bills opened up with a deep shot that turned into a missed tackle fest rumble for a 55-yard touchdown to open up the blowout in Buffalo.

Overall, I can’t be too upset about this outcome. The Broncos are a young team on the rise and as I said previously they were playing with house money. Bank this experience and keep building this roster to greatness. I have a feeling the Broncos are only going to get better from here.

Bills 31, Broncos 7.