NFL Divisional Round Takeawys.

A Thrilling Divisional Round Weekend of Games Packed with Heavy Turnovers: 20 Turnovers in Total for Six of the Eight Teams, with only the Rams and Seahawks escaping unscathed and. The Rams Afced The Turnover Forcing Juaggernaut Bears Josh Allen and Caleb Williams faced tough breaks as their late-game heroics fell short. Both the Broncos and Rams avoided overtime upsets to advance to the championship round, but the Broncos suffered a significant loss in the process.

Rams Vs Bears

As The Second Highest Rated Team Left In The Playoffs Behind The Seahawks, the Rams

had All The Pressure Of Their Division Round Matchup With The Bears Fall On Their Lap. No One Outside Of The Bears’ organization expected Chicago to make the divisional round, but the Rams have had their sights on returning to the Super Bowl Since Three Seasons Ago. Stafford Will Most Likely Win The MVP This Season, and He’s Looked Better Than Nas ' version of Stafford I’ve ever witnessed, but windows to win a championship and Maximize Young Cheap Talent Close Quickly in the NFL, as Stafford’s former team, the Lions, Have Learned. The Panthers found Success Moving The Ball Against The rams Defense in the Wildcard Round, And So Did The Bears Throughout The Division Round. Chicago’s First Drive Got Down To The Rams 21 Yard line, five plays, 42 Yards Of Offense Before Caleb Williams threw a pick to Rams cornerback Cobie Durant on the first drive of the game. Durant Would Walk Away With Two Williams Passes. Williams Entered The Divisional Round With A 1.4% INT rate, and Only Threw Seven All Season But He Paced The League In Off Target Throws and Threw Two Pick against the Packers.

Williams Would Throw To Picks Against The Rams, But He’d Connect On The Biggest Throw Of The Game, Of The Weekend Maybe Of The Season.

The Rams Would Drive and Score A Touchdown On Subsequent Drive, 14 plays for 85 Yards Of Offense Finished Off By A Four Yard Kyren Williams Run. The failed drive gave the Bears, Caleb Williams, and Ben Johnson the confidence to attack the Rams' defense, even after Caleb Threw His Second Interception Of The Game In The Second Half. Williams Could Regain composure and Continue Attacking The Rams' defense. The Bears' defense stepped up in a major way. The team was ranked 21st heading into the playoffs, and unfortunately, their defense has struggled, ranking poorly in EPA per play. The Bears had one of the largest differentials between offense and defense in the playoffs, with a +12. However, Chicago's defense managed to hold the Rams, who had the top offense in football, to just 10 points. The Rams' offense finally broke the stalemate that lasted from the second quarter into the fourth with a 14-play, 91-yard drive. This drive was capped off by a short touchdown run from Kyren Williams in the red zone. Matthew Stafford had one of the worst performances we’ve seen, reminiscent of his first game against the Seahawks. The Season Ending Regulation 17/36(47.3%) 215 Passing Yards, 66.3 Passer Rating. Stafford and The

rams Had One Big Play In His Holster, a 32 Yard Catch And Run To Tight End Colby Parkinson, which helped the Rams Flip Field Position And Lead To The Kyren Williams five-yard touchdown. The Bears' Offense's First Attempt To Author a Response Ended On Downs at The Rams Two Yard Line when The Bears Fail To Convert A Short Red Zone Opportunity. Chicago Would Get Another Shot At A game Tying Touchdown. Caleb Williams Proved Once Again He’s The Most Dynamic Passer In The Fourth Quarter. The Bears' Offense Drives Down Into The Rams' Red Zone, and On Fourth and Four With The Game on The Line, Williams Scrambles Backward And Attempts A Throw Towards The End Zone, and Tight End Cole Kmet Converts The Catch For A 14 Yard Touchdown. According to Next Gen Stats, The Ball Traveled 51.2 Yards In The Air after Williams Ran Over 26 Yards away From The Line Of Scrimmage With Pressure Barreling Down On Him To Help The Bears Force Overtime. In overtime, tied 17-17, the Rams Get The Fire Possession But Cant Score Or Keep The Drive Alive. The Bears' Offense Starts To Drive, crossing midfield into Rams Territory. Caleb Williams And His Receiver, DJ Moore, suffered a miscommunication, and Williams Threw His Third Pick Of The Game, This One To Rams Corner Kam Curl. The Rams Drive Down Field, Matthew Stafford, with a Fee Big Throw Lift In His Holster, 13 Yards To Colby Parkinson, A Massive 12 Yard Throw To Davante Adams, and Another 16 yards Reception to Puka Nacua To Set The Rams Up In Field Goal Position. Three Rams Would Try To Score A Touchdown Off The pass, risking a turnover, but the Rams took the field goal on 4th and seven, winning 20–17. Stafford finished 20/42 for 258 passing Yards, no touchdowns, No Interceptions. Maybe Not The Game Stafford expected, but he delivered when the Rams' offense needed him the most late in the game, and the quarterback proved the difference. Caleb Williams Wrapped Up The Game 23/42 for 257 passing Yards, Two Touchdowns, three picks, and a 59.3 Passer Rating. Not All Of Williams ' turnovers led to Rams points, and Not All Fall On Him But They All Took The Bears Out Of Promising Scoring Position as All But One Took Place In Rams Territory. Despite His Heroics and His Flare For The Spectacular, Williams ' inefficiency still drags the Bears' offense down, and the Bears' receivers have to run way too many routes downfield to accommodate the production lost by Williams’s Inability To Connect On simpler Plays Or His Taking away from rushing opportunities with near-fifty drop-back but close To 50% Completion Rate.

The Bears' rushing attack averaged 4.1 yards per Carry, 160 Rushing Yards, on 39 five-scrambles for 40 Yards For Caleb. Despite Strides In His Development, Caleb, I’m Far From Convinced Of Williams, Who Reminds Me A lot Of Past Bear Quarterback Like Justin Fields and Jay Cutler, where the flashes look unbelievable, but the end result always returns A Performance Lacking Actual Results Bonafide Results.

The Rams Advance To Face The Seahawks in round three of their divisional rivalry. The Score and advances to the Super Bowl.

Texans vs. Patriots

The Texans' Offense Already Had Issues Entering The Playoffs: 24th In EPA Per Play, Tied With The Panthers For The Worst Offense In The Playoffs. The pass protection issue has existed for so long. As A Writer Who Should Detail and Tailor His or Work For The Mind Of A Suspected Audience New To The Subject Mentioning The Texans' bad offensive line feels so mundane that even new Audiences Don’t Need To Learn About The Sack Problem and Pressure Problems Of Houston. The Texans' run game, Bad, and CJ Stroud, was inconsistent, and The Situation in Houston’s Offense Got Worse As The Team Rule Number One Receiver Nico Collins for the team's divisional matchup with the Patriots. Collins Missed A

Game in Week Eight Due to Concussion Symptoms, but still finished 9th in Receiving Yards, 9th in Catch Rate, and generated a 106 Passer Rating. His Absence Will Be Felt Mightily. Stroud Targets His First Read, Usually Nico, 65.7% Of The Time According To Player Profiler. The Patriots' defense struggled to contain number one receivers, 31st in DVOA against Wide Receiver Ones, But That Option For Houston Becomes Someone A lot Less Talented, A lot Less Accomplished For New England To Tangle With On The Outside.

The Defenses And The Weather Set The Tone Early In This Matchup. The Texans' defense forced an early three-and-out from Drake Maye and the Patriots on the first drive of the game, but CJ Stroud and the Texans' offense had two passes slip free from both his hands as A Passer and Out Of Receiver Christian Kirk’s Hands. Josh MCdaniels The Patriots Offensive Coordinator Has Faced The Best Defenses In Football Over The Pass Two Decades And He Only Needed Two Drives To Figure Out How To Exploit The Texans Defense, The Patriots Put The First Touchdown On The Board 6 Plays 66 Yards Drake Maye To Demario Douglas For 28 Yard Touchdown reception. The Patriots Convert A 4th and One For A Touchdown. The Texans' offense is under a microscope without their top target, Nico Collins. How Would The Pass Game Generate Offense? The Texans' second drive of the game gets them into the Patriots’ Red Zone, A 42 Yard Pass Play From stroud To Tight End Dalton Shultz, Who Picks up 37 yards after the catch, setting the Texans Up In Scoring Range. The Texans Would Later Loose shcultz To A Calf Injury. Injuries And Injurious Play Haunted The Texans in this game. The Game Without Starter Trent Brown, Lost Guard Tytus Howard, who started at tackle. He experienced a series of injuries.

Despite New England’s Soft Red Zone Defense, Giving 95% Red Zone Scores, the Patriots hold the Texans to A Field Goal After Houston Got Down Inside the Five At The One But An Illegal Shift Take A Touchdown Off The Board, and the Texans settled for three points. Both Offenses and Both Quarterbacks Would Turn The Ball In The First Quarter On Back-To-Back Drives. CJ Stroud Has A Deep Attempt Pass Picked Off, and On The Next Drive, Drake Maye Fumbles after the Texans Defender Knocks The Ball Free On His Scramble Attempt, and the Texans get The Ball Back In The Red zone. This time, the Texans Punch In The Red Zone Shot, Stroud to Christian Kirk for 10 Yards as the Texans take A 10-7 Lead In The Second Quarter. For a good while, the Texans' defense created much of the momentum, forcing three punts and One Turnover From The Patriots ' first five drives, but C.J. Stroud gives and Takes Away. The Patriots Get Pressure On Stroud, Who Throws Up A Wobbler That Gets Picked Off and Returned For A Touchdown By Marcus Jones for 26 yards, and Postseason Mishandling Of The Ball By Stroud continues To Haunt Him. For Much of the game, the Patriots' offense wanted to target Kamari Lassister, One Of The More Vulnerable Houston corners, and Maye Finally Got Going Against Lassister. After three straight drives of futility, the Patriots' passing game started to click. Wide Receiver Kayshon Boutte picked up a 25 Yard Pass And Run, and an 18 Yard Catch and Run That Set Up A Seven Yard Touchdown Catch From Stefon Diggs On An Absolute Rope From Drake Maye. The Touchdown Put The Patriots ahead 21-10 after a long scoring and a first-down drought in the second quarter. Maybe the MVP Struggled With His case Of Turnovers, Suffering Three Fumbles, and One Late Interception on A Hail Mary. The Texans' defense played a crucial role in keeping the team competitive, successfully preventing New England from building on their offensive momentum and taking advantage of turnovers from the Houston offense. After the halftime break, the Texans' offense put together a strong drive, covering 58 yards in 11 plays.Stroud Connected On Multiple Big Pass Plays, including a 23 Yard Connection with Xavier Hutchinson, Before The Drive Stalled In The Drive. The Drive Proved One Of The Most Efficient For Either Offense Into The Second Half. Both Offenses Would Suffer Back-to-Back Fumbles. Drake Maye Suffered A sack Fumble On Deep Drop Back, and the Texans Get A Drive Going Before Running back Woody Marks fumbles in The Red Zone. The Texans' offense still looked better than the Patriots ' offense.

Drake Maye And The Patriots' passing attack came into the fourth quarter big play hunting, Given Time To The Quarter. Texans Pass Coverage Can Get Hit Deep, and Maye Timely Exploited The Texans' Top Corner Derek Stingley. An All-Pro This Season, Stingley picked a 17-yard penalty that set New England Up In Houston Territory. Facing Third and Four and Some Fumble Troubke Drake Maye Soars A Ball In The End zone and Receiver Kayshon Boutte Come Down With a Miraculous One Handed catch over Derek Stingley For Some LSU On LSU Violence and The Patriots, Despite Glaring Ineffectiveness Take A 28-16 Lead With A Little Over 12 Minutes Left In The Fourth Quarter. Neither Offense Scored Again, And The Patriots Gut Out an Ugly But In Some Ways Promising Win 28-16. The Texans' 10 Game Win Streaks Off The Turnovers Of The Offense. The Loss Doesn't Fall On Stroud Alone, Defenders tipped Some Of His Passes, and HePlayed Without His Top Two Receiving Threats, Without Much Of A Run Game All Season. Stroud had a Couple Of Good Stretches In This Game, and he certainly stands as a better option than anyone the Texans Could Roll Out.

Stroud finished 20/47 for 212 Passing Yards, one Touchdown, four picks, again not all His Fault, and a 28.0 Passer Rating, 27 Pressures Faced. The Texans' pass rush sacked Drake Maye five times, three for Will Anderson, Two For Danielle Hunter, Three Turnovers Forced, and 3/14 Allowed On Third Down, a Tremendous Effort, Borderline Otherworldly. The Defense Also Contained Drake Maye, Who Fumble Twice On Sack Fumbles and Only Completed Three Passes At Ten Or More Air Yards But Two were touchdowns.

The Patriots League Worse Red Zone Offense Stepped Up, just 1/4 for Houston Allowed In Red Zone On Touchdown Attempts, and that proved the difference, along With The Pick Six By Cornerback Marcus Jones. The Pass Coverage Made Life Difficult For Stroud, Generating A 29.8% tight Window Throw Rate, and the Texans' roster has a lot of taller, physically imposing receivers who provide a Wider Catch radius But Don’t Create Separation Consistently. Rookie Jayden Higgins led the Texans In Receiving With 6 Catches For 59, just 1.79 Yards Of Separation, and tight end Dalton Schultz, who left the game in the first quarter, finished second with two catches for 47 Yards as No One Stepped In His Absence. Xavier Hutchinson Caught 4/13 Targets For 44 Yards, 2.23 Yards Of Separation Generated Well Below The League Average Of 2.99 yards Of Separation, which was well below the league average of 2.99 yards of separation. The Game Ended For the Texans when one of their drops ended the game.

The Patriots' offense struggled to run the ball earlier in the game, but Cole Out The Texan Burning Clock On The Ground Rhamondre Stevenson had 16 Carries For 70 Yards On The Ground. Drake Maye 16/27 for 179 Passing Yards, Three Touchdowns, One Pick On A Hail Mary, Somehow An 100.7 Passer Rating. The Patriots Have Played Two Top Ten Defense So Far This Season, and While The Offensive Numbers Reflect the Ferocity Of The Defenses They’ve faced, New England Has Manage To Pull Out A Few Very impressive wins on the field. Kayshon Boutte, who Finished Sixth In The NFL In Yards Per Reception, led New England with three Catches For 75 And One Of The Greatest Touchdown Catches in playoff History. The Patriots will move forward with their First AFC Championship Game since 2019, Far Ahead Of Schedule. Even if Bo Nix had not suffered a season-ending injury, I Would Have Favored The Patriot, But After New England already faced two of the two toughest defensive acts in sports, I’m Confident New England Has The Edge.

Seahawks Vs 49ers

Even Before The Injury Report From ESPN Surfaced About Sam Darnold’s Oblique Injury Came To Light On Friday, Concerns About Darnold’s Level Of Play Already Persisted. His Numbers And Effectiveness As A Passer Fell Off From Week 14-18, +0.049 EPA Per Play, 19th Amongst Between Week 14-18. Darnold Didn’t End The Season with Bad Numbers, Completing Nearly 70% Of His Passes But Darnold Hasn’t Generated More Then 200 Yards In Three Weeks, 234 Passing Per Game In The Month Of and He Sort Of Outplayed His $100 Million Price Tag Even With A Drop In Production From Last Year But 25 touchdowns and 14 Interception Doesn’t Fit The Bill Especially Consider How Hot Darnold Started The Year. Darnold registered seven games with an Adjusted Yards Per Attempt of 10 or More yards. Seven Of His First 11 games, but he only Registered One Game Over 8 adjusted yards Per Attempt Once Down The Stretch. A lot Of Contenders Build Their Championship Roster Through The Quarterback, and when the media breaks down a Super Bowl-winning roster, they mention those three facets of football mentioned above without fail. Many Contenders Like The Rams This Season Neglect special Teams Like The RamS Ranked 27th In special Teams according To ESPN Efficiency Metrics. The Seahawks Rank Number One, and the Seahawks achieved just that by jumping on the Niners On The First play Of The Game, Rashid Shaheed with a 95 Yard Touchdown On A Kick Off Return, 7-0 Early For Seattle. The Seahawks ' defense forced two changes of possession early In The First quarter. The 49ers appeared to initially convert a fourth-and-one on their first drive, but the Seahawks received a late timeout call that erased a short pass connection from Purdy to Jauan Jennings. Instead, the Niners Run The Play Again, This Time They Can’t convert, and The Seahawks Take The Short Field to Add Three Points To Their Lead. On the Niners' next drive, the offense gets an 11 Yard Completion To Tight End Jake Tonges, Stepping In For George Kittle, who Fumbles and gives Seattle Another Possession. Over Their First Two Drives, The Niners Managed 9 Plays For 31 Yards Of Offense, One Turnover On Downs, And One Fumble. The Seahawks Five Plays Later get A Touchdown From Sam Darnold To Wide Receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba set Up By A 23 Yard Pass Interference Penalty Force By Rashid Shaheed and The Seahawks Took - 17-0 Lead Over The Niners. The Niners Best Drive Of The First A 10 Play Drive That Started Inside Their Own Ten Yard Line Generated Just 43 Yards And netted A 56 Yard Field Goal After Niners Wide Receiver Ricky Pearsall Failed To Come down With What Looked Like A First Down Conversion in The Second Quarters. The Seahawks Proved Themselves The Better Team In This One. Seattle didn’t Suffer Any self Inflicted Wounds, A Limited Sam Darnold Might Prove The Best Sam Darnold For This Team The Rest Of The way. The Run Game Has Stepped Up In A Major Way In Recent weeks. The Seahawks rushed The Ball At One Of The Highest Rate To Start The Season With Bottom Tier Success. In Recent Weeks, Seattle’s Rushing Efficiency Has Caught Up To The Rate At Which Seattle Runs The Ball. The Seahawks Thoroughly Dominate The Niners 41-6 as Seattle Moves On To The NFC Championship On The Back Of An All-Around Team Performance. The Seahawks game plan limited Darnold’s Exposure by Holding Him To just 17 Attempts, 19 dropbacks for 124 yards passing, one touchdown, and a 110.9 Passer Rating. RunningBack Kenneth Walker Carried The Offense with 19 Carries For 119 Yards, Three Touchdowns, four Explosive Runs, 63.% Success Rate and Just One Negative Run All Game, 6.1 Yards Per Carry. The Seahawks defense forced three turnovers, Two From Brock Purdy, a sack fumble, and A pick, Both In The Second Half. Outside Of Two Field Goals In The Second Quarter The Niners Suffered A Turnover Or Went Over On Down For All But One Possession When They Punted In The Fourth Quarter With The Game In Hand. A healthy 49ers squad would have given the Seahawks a greater challenge, but I don’t think the 49ers would have won based on how well this Seattle team played.Brock Purdy 15/27 for 140 Passing Yards, 54.6 Passer Rating, as his Tough Stretch of Game Against Seattle continues. The Niners ' passing attack generated a -0.73 EPA Per Pass Play Saturday night, one of the worst figures of any passing attack all season. The Seahawks generated 26 pressures and didn’t surrender a single trip to the red zone to the Niners all game. The Seahawks Had The Perfect Game Considering The Injury To Darnold, And They Advance To The NFC championship. The Niners Offseason Will Start with The Team Possibly Moving To Another Training Facility Thank To The New Power Grid Causes Injuries Theory Floating Around On Social Media.

Bills Vs. Broncos

The Bills Survived The Inevitable A Bo Nix Fourth Game Winning Drive, But Buffalo Couldn’t Survive Their Own Self-Inflicted Wounds As Josh Allen’s Overtime Interception One Of Five Bills Turnovers And Bo Nix Takes Advantage Of The Bills Secondary in Man Coverage and Deliver The Game Winning Drive and the Broncos Move On Crushing Josh Allen In The divisional Round 33-30. The Bills' offense and Josh Allen Outplayed The Broncos In Terms Of Efficiency, +0.061 EPA Per Play To +0.009 for Denver. When Buffalo conquered the Denver defense in the five red zones, it ultimately fell short on one final drive. The Controversial Overtime Interception By Broncos Cornerback Jaleel McLaughlin, Which Ultimately Set Up The Game-clinching Drive For The Broncos, Became The Talking Point For The Media, The players and Coaches Of The Bills—the Broncos Had Bo Nix’s Broken Ankle To Discuss. Bills Coach Sean McDermott vented his frustration, but had the 50/50 play landed in his favor, he’d probably have judged the call on the field, and Error For The refs, Probably Not. If Brandin Cooks had hit the ground in sole or joint/simultaneous possession of the ball, the referees would have ruled it a catch in favor of Buffalo. However, both players had the right to play the ball, and McLaughlin prevailed by stripping the ball away before it could hit the ground. The NFL rulebook does not address plays like the one most witnesses observed, but since the ball never touched the ground, the player who maintained possession was awarded the catch.

The In-Climate Weather Changes Surrounding The Wide Receiver Market, With How Money and Notoriety The Position Demands Many Of The League’s Top Quarterbacks Have Dealt With Upheaval At The Pass Catching Position. NFL MVP Josh Allen Has Felt The Scorn Of The Shifts at Wide Receiver More This Season Any Other Quarterback. A few years ago, the Bills Acquired Multiple Wide Receivers in Pro Bowler Stefon Diggs, Whom Many Publication Credited With Elevating Allen’s Play To An MVP Level. Allen's Numbers Increased Dramatically Across The Board, Touchdown Percentage(4.3% in 2019 to 6.5% in 2020), Completion Percentage(58.8% in 2019 to 69.2%in 2020), success Rate (41.7%in 2019 to 56.5% in 2020) Passer Rating( 85.3 in 2019 to 107.2 in 2020) and Red Zone Efficiency, According To ESPN Allen Ranked 2nd in The QBR & Pass TD since 2020 Acquisition Of Diggs. The Bills Traded in 2024 and Allen Faced The Toughest Challenge Of His Career Winning With The Guy Who He Said To Him The Quarterback and In Some Effects The Winner That Allen Evolved Into Over A Four-Season Span. Allen Responded By Winning An MVP with mostly replacement-level receivers, posting a career-best 7.96 adjusted Net Yards per Attempt, and A 74.8 QBr. In the 2025 season, the Bills Expected Second Year Wide Receiver and second-round pick Keon Coleman To Emerge From A Mass Of Raw Tools Into A Compliment, and That Hasn’t happened. Coleman has found himself hit with multiple healthy scratches this season; however, he hauled in a 36 Yard Reception against the Jags. The loss in Jacksonville hit the Bills hard, as Buffalo lost two contributors: wide receiver Gabe Davis and Tyrell Shavers, who both suffered ACL tears. The Shavers Lost Could Hurt The Bills more Than Any Other Because He Provided A Big Body Down Field and In The Red Zone(2.1 EPA (Expected Points Added) per reception in the red zone) and 1.8 Yards Per Route Run Versus Man Coverage(second best Amongst Receivers On The Bills’s Roster) as The Bills Prepare To Face The Broncos Secondary That Plays Heavy Dosages Of Man Coverage.

The Bills Also Dealt With Injuries To Off-Season Additions Wide Receivers Curtis Samuel and Joshua Palmer.

Even with injuries, the Broncos Entered The Division Round As The More Concerning Offense. How would Denver Generate Points, with talented run blocking but less-than-talented runners? Bo Nix got involved In The Run Game Early, Generating Multiple Rushing First Down On The Broncos' first drive. The Broncos Drive Into Buffalo’s Red Zone, Runningback Jaleel McLaughlin fumbles, and Buffalo recovers, but the Bills' defensive line jumps offside and negates the turnover.

However, the Broncos settled for a field Goal After 14 Plays, 64 Yards Of Offense. The Lack Of Game Winning Talent On The Broncos Reared Its Head in The Condense Field And Less Room To Work With inside The 20 Yard Line. The Bills and Josh Allen responded with a quick red zone Drive Of Their Own, James Cook got off to a hot start with 34 Yards On His First Two Runs, Including An Explosive 24 Yard Run, and the Bills Notched Three Straight First Downs and Buffalo Cashes In A Four Yard Touchdown From Allen to Mecole Hardman. Denver went three-and-out on Their Next drive as Broncos wideout Cortland Sutton couldn’t Haul In A 19 yard Third Down Conversion. The Bills' offensive momentum hit a roadblock when the offense and James Cook's fumbles were recovered by the Broncos. The Bills' offense gained 31 yards on the ground, including a 26 Yard Scramble Run By Quarterback Josh Allen, but The Fumble Gave The Ball Back To Denver.

The Broncos ' third drive, Nix Gets His Big Completion, a 27 Yard reception to Marvin Mims. That sets up a seven-yard touchdown from Nix To His Extra Offensive Lineman, Frank Crum. Nix Suffered Accuracy Issues For Much of The Game But He Hit His Big Offensive Lineman Right In The Hands. The Game Started To Move In The Way Of A Bo Nix Game, A Close Battle where The Broncos Could Make Enough plays By Slowly Wearing Down The Bills Secondary Despite an Inability By The Offense To Orchestrate Consistent Blows. The Broncos' final drive of the first half proved indicative of that phenomenon, as the drive Of The First Half Proved Indicative Of That Phenomena. As The Drive Started At 2:13 on the clock before the half, the Broncos exhausted 11 Plays For 70 yards, all But Six Yards Off The Arm Of Bo Nix, who scrambled once. Nix Connected With receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey for a 29 Yard Reception Touchdown. Nix couldn’t String Together Consistent Completions But He Waited Like Hitter Fouling Off Pitches Until He Got Something He Like from the Bills' coverage and attacked.

The Bills Moved The Ball Successful against the Broncos ' defense early on, 6.1 Yards Per Play, 98 Rushing Yards, but only managed ten Points By The Half. Josh Allen Suffers Back-To-Back Fumbles One Before The Half That Gifted The Broncos another Three Points Before The Half, Creating A 20-10 Deficit and Another sack Fumble On The First Drop Back Of The Third Quarter. I Like The Aggressiveness By Buffalo Not Going Into The Half With The Momentum Of The Broncos Pressed Against Them, but The Consequences Of The Fumble and The Field Goal set the Broncos up with an 80% Win Probability at halftime. The Bills' offense rebounds, Allen leads another goal-line drive, a big 25-yard reception by tight end Dalton Kincaid, Got The Bills Drive Going, and Allen Cashes In A Ten-Yard Touchdown Wide Receiver Keon Coleman To Cut The Lead To 23-17. The Next drive, Nix and Allen deliver back-to-back drives with interceptions. Nix Has A Short Pass Logged Into The Hands Of A Bills Defensive Lineman, Deone Walker, and his direct throwing motion leads to multiple tipped passes at the line of scrimmage. Two Plays Later, Allen Attempting A Deep Pass Gets Pick Off down Field By Broncos Defensive Back PJ Locke, and the Tension Allen Exuded Became Palpable. Allen Wanted A Momentum swing play, but instead, He Came Up With negative Plays Each Opportunity. Once Allen settled down in the fourth quarter and the Bills Got Back To milking out drives Into The Broncos ' red zone, starting with a 9 Play 85-yard drive, the Bills scored the first points of the fourth quarter as Allen hooked up with tight end Dalton Kincaid For A 14 Yard Touchdown and A 24-23 Bills Lead. Bills Wide Receiver Kahlil Shakir Generated A 45 Yard Catch and Run That Set The Bills Up inside The Broncos Red Zone. Allen Struggled Passing Deep, But The Bills Generated Multiple Explosive Plays After The Catch. Bo Nix and the Broncos Paced The League With Seven Game Winning Drives This Season, and The Opportunity To Deliver One More Fell Into his lap, and Nix delivered. Nix And The Offense Played The Bills patiently, Draining The Clock, Collecting Conversions Until The Bills' defense gave the Broncos a man-to-man look, and Nix Connected With Wide Receiver Marvin Mims for a 26-yard pass to match the 29 Yarder He Threw Earlier In The Game All Versus Some Version of Cover One Coverage.

With Less Than A Minute On the Clock and All Three Timeouts, Josh Allen directs his offense down the field, Into Field Goal Position Just Missing Tight End Dawson Knox for a potential game-winner, but the Broncos Force Over Time With a game-tying field goal, snatching the potential game-winning drive from Nix and the Broncos. In Over Time Both Teams Posses The Ball, The Broncos Run For Plays But Suffered a Three and Out after One Conversion And Multiple Drops From Cortland Sutton. Josh Allen’s Deep Ball Betrays Him Once More In This Game As Wide Receiver Brandin Cooks Couldn’t Maintain Control Of A Deep Ball and A Broncos Defender Rips The Ball Out Of His Hands. Bo Nix and the Broncos Passing Attack Generate Two Favorable Pass Interference Calls, for 47 yards total, and for all The Criticism about His Passing Prowess, Bo Nix delivers, and the Broncos win 33-30.

The Bills Head Into The Offseason Bewailing Another Crushing Overtime Loss but Turnover and Late Penalties Cannibalized An Otherwise Dominant Performance. The Bills Won Time Of Possession, Rushed For 183 Yards, and Generated 449 Yards Of Offense, 10/15 On Third Down. The Broncos' highly touted defense gave Up Multiple Long Drives To The Bills' offense, as Josh Allen racked up 349 Total Yards Of Offense with several Careless plays That Really Swung The Game In Denver’s Favor. The Broncos Sacked Allen Three Times, but the Bills Quarterback Looked Mostly Unshaken Facing the Broncos' Pressure Throughout the game, Three Touchdowns, but Four Turnovers.Bo Nix played inconsistently, and his receiver depth dwindled throughout the game. However, I thought Sean Payton called a masterful game, as Nix finished with 26 completions on 46 attempts, 279 passing yards, a +0.13 EPA per pass play, three touchdowns, and one interception. Nix also led the Broncos in rushing yards with 29, helping deliver their first playoff win and their first AFC Championship appearance. Unfortunately, Nix, who suffered a broken ankle on the penultimate play of the game, will miss the rest of the playoffs. However, his success on deep passes proved to be the difference between him and Josh Allen, as the Bills' passing attack finished 0 for 9 on serious passing attempts.