Broncos vs. Bills takeaways: What Josh Allen must do to succeed in next rounds

The Buffalo Bills didn’t fall victim to a trap game. It would’ve been tempting for the Bills to look ahead to the Baltimore Ravens, who walloped Buffalo during the regular season. It would’ve been tempting, perhaps, to think about the NFL’s royalty: the Kansas City Chiefs.

But the Bills were fully focused on the Denver Broncos for all 60 minutes in a 31-7 rout on Sunday. 

You get the sense this Bills team is different. Josh Allen is different. (Fewer turnovers.) The coaching staff has matured, with Sean McDermott running the defense and Joe Brady running the offense.

Is it Buffalo’s year? Might it finally be Allen’s year to take down Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes?

This win should only build the Bills’ confidence.

Where do the Bills go from here? 

This game merely confirmed what we already knew about this Bills team. They run the ball extremely well. Even when they struggle on the ground, they’re committed to the run with James Cook — but not exclusively. They also like Ty Johnson and Ray-Ray Davis — and Allen, of course. Around that central identity, Allen makes huge plays while taking care of the football. That has been his biggest point of progress as a playmaker this year: eliminating turnovers. The Bills stuck to that winning formula against the Broncos.

But Buffalo now enters the truly uncertain portion of the playoffs.

First: the Ravens.

And, if the Bills win that game: the Chiefs.

Buffalo lost to the Ravens 35-10 in the regular season. And Allen is 0-3 against Mahomes and the Chiefs in the playoffs.

I picked the Bills to win the Super Bowl before the season started. If they stick to the recipe they have fine-tuned, I don’t see why they can’t do it. I think this is the year they break the pattern.
And that’s because I think Allen will remain selfless.

Next week against the Ravens, it might be tempting for Allen to go ballistic and air out the ball, to turn the game into a QB shootout, an MVP contest. But I’m not sure if that would be in Buffalo’s best interest. The Bills will want to control the football. They’ll need to defend Derrick Henry. 

And if the Bills win, it’ll be likely that Allen has a worse stat line than Jackson. But that won’t mean Allen didn’t take control of the game. The best game manager will win.

Where do the Broncos go from here? 

Denver should have tested the Bills. The Broncos were a formidable team going into the playoffs — much more so than their performance on Sunday portrayed. There was a lot to like about the way Bo Nix finished his rookie season, and the counting stats show just how impressive he was: 3,775 passing yards, 29 passing touchdowns and 12 interceptions with 430 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns.

But he wasn’t ready for this game. He wasn’t ready for the playoff atmosphere, and he couldn’t even come close to competing against a superstar like Allen.

That’s who Nix should watch closely. Allen is one of one, so anyone who compares Nix to the Bills QB is stretching reality. But Nix can learn something from a truly transcendent talent like Allen. And the lesson is simple: You have a long way to go, young buck.

Denver has needs at offensive tackle and on the defensive line that it can address this offseason. But many of the pieces are already in place. The Broncos just need their rookie QB to keep ascending. Take a look at the Patriots and Mac Jones — when the Bills bounced Jones and Bill Belichick out of the playoffs in blowout fashion four years ago, that was the beginning of the end for Jones and Belichick, even if it seemed like the Patriots were a team on the rise.

Not every team can build from a loss like this. The Broncos must.

Prior to joining FOX Sports as an NFL reporter and columnist, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.

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