Denver, Colorado (WGR550) - The Buffalo Bills travel to Denver to face the Broncos in an AFC Divisional Playoff contest on Saturday. The winner will earn a berth in the AFC Championship Game.
In order for that to be the Bills, here are my three keys to the game, plus notes and stats:
KEYS
Contain Bo Nix in the pocket
Broncos quarterback Bo Nix is very good when using his legs and making plays out of the pocket. Nix ran for 356 yards in the regular season, but he has a terrific ability to make throws on the run when things break down. He's only been sacked 21 times this season for a league-low 3.47% of dropbacks, the lowest number in the NFL among all qualifying QBs. The Bills will have a tough time getting to him, but what they can do is keep him contained and not allow him to make plays outside the pocket.
Stick with the run
The Bills just faced the No. 1 run defense in the NFL in the Jacksonville Jaguars last week. They now get the No. 2 run defense in the Broncos. The Jags did a nice job slowing down the Buffalo running attack, but since the game was always close, the Bills never had to abandon it and could still use it to keep Jacksonville off-balance. If they have to start throwing the ball a bunch, it will play right into the Broncos hands. Denver has the highest sacks per pass attempt rate in the NFL at 11.47%. Buffalo has to stay two-dimensional in this one, able to run and throw the ball.
Watch out for Sean Payton trickery!
Broncos head coach Sean Payton is known for being very creative in big games. He opened the second half of Super Bowl XLIV with a surprise on-side kick. He faked a punt against the Bills in last year's AFC Wild Card game. Both were successful. The Bills have to be very aware, at all times, for something they haven't seen all season.
