The Buffalo Bills and the Denver Broncos will meet in the Wild Card Round of the 2024 NFL Playoffs today, and for both teams, it’s the culmination of a year where they defied outside expectations. For the Broncos, multiple people doubted whether head coach Sean Payton and rookie quarterback Bo Nix could turn their first year together into a playoff berth so quickly, and yet the Broncos qualified for the postseason for the first time since the 2015 season.

For Buffalo, the Bills were able to silence doubters throughout the regular season, most of whom wrote the Bills off as the third-best team in the AFC East after multiple veterans departed this past offseason. All the Bills did was clinch their fifth consecutive divisional title and their seventh playoff appearance in head coach Sean McDermott’s eight seasons with the team, earning the conference’s No. 2 seed for the third time in that span.

Today marks quarterback Josh Allen’s eleventh playoff start. Today also marks quarterback Bo Nix’s first playoff start. Both players have excellent athleticism, operate efficiently and effectively within their offenses, and can make highlight-reel plays at any given time. While a lot will be made about the quarterbacks, it’s the running backs and the defenses that may ultimately decide this one, as Buffalo’s James Cook and the Bills’ offensive front will have to contend with a stellar Denver defensive line. The Broncos struggled to run the football effectively this season, but the Bills have been susceptible to the run at times. This matchup is certainly an interesting one, and mercifully, we’re minutes away from seeing the outcome rather than speculating about it.

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Go Bills!