When Tom Brady left the AFC East, the entire division was suddenly up for the taking for the first time in about 20 years. The Buffalo Bills in particular have taken advantage of the opportunity and amid a challenging year for everyone, have clinched their first AFC East championship in 25 years by beating the Denver Broncos 48-19.
Despite going to Denver, the Bills were big favorites for the Saturday matchup. With the Broncos having a lot of injuries throughout the season and them just recently getting over a situation where every quarterback was held out for precautionary reasons, the 5-8 Broncos were no match for the 10-3 Bills who had already matched last season’s win total.
Bills getting on the board first 💪 @JoshAllenQB @dawson_knox @BuffaloBills
📺 #BUFvsDEN on @nflnetwork
(via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/36oI0IOOVE
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) December 19, 2020
Quarterback Josh Allen had a great game, as he was able to beat the Broncos defense by passing and running for a touchdown to go up 14-0. Allen’s second touchdown was a 24 yard scamper up the middle when he saw the open space in front of him. Allen would wind up with four total touchdowns (two passing and two rushing) and 359 passing yards, putting him past 4,000 on the season with two games left.
Josh Allen just zooming by everybody 🚨
📺 #BUFvsDEN on @NFLNetwork pic.twitter.com/wnwNPVOeUM
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) December 19, 2020
It wasn’t just Allen having a big game, the Bills defense especially stepped up and helped put the game out of reach in the third quarter. Up 28-13 at the time, Jerry Hughes picked up the loose ball and went 21 yards to put the Bills up by 22 and give some fantasy football owners who had the Bills defense a boost.
Jerry Hughes was evading EVERYONE on the TD return 😲 @Iam_jerryhughes @BuffaloBills
📺 #BUFvsDEN on @NFLNetwork pic.twitter.com/wmg7ttb93q
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) December 19, 2020
There wasn’t much you could say about the Broncos that they did well. Drew Lock was efficient and his pass catchers had their moments but completions didn’t really equal yards as Lock went 20/32 for 132 yards. Melvin Gordon, who had a touchdown in the second quarter, took advantage of garbage time to score a late TD.
The Bills are hitting on all cylinders at the perfect time. After back-to-back losses to division leaders Tennessee and Kansas City back in October the Bills bounced back and won seven of their last eight, including a 26-15 victory over the then 11-1 Steelers and possibly putting themselves in line for the second seed in the AFC.
The elephant in the room in Buffalo over the next few weeks will be whether or not the Bills can get a playoff win. The Bills are 0-5 since their last playoff win in 1995 and since then, the Bills have lost in historic fashion. Having said that, given Buffalo has won the division for the first time in 25 years, that might be a sign they can go far in the playoffs this year.
