Broncos 7 vs 31 Bills, Allen leads Bills to playoff victory, summary: score, stats, highlights | NFL Wild Card

Broncos @ Bills LIVE
Bills dominate Broncos in Wild Card victory
The Denver Broncos got off to a hot start in their Wild Card game against the Buffalo Bills when rookie quarterback Bo Nix threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Troy Franklin on their opening drive.
Unfortunately, that's where their luck ended as the Broncos would not score for the rest of the game while Buffalo would go on to put up 31 unanswered points on them, scoring on six of their first seven possessions. Broncos kicker Will Lutz missed a 50-yard field goal attempt as it doinked on the left goal post.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen finished the game with 20 of 26 completions for 272 and two touchdown passes - a 24-yard pass to Ty Johnson and a 55-yard pass to Curtis Samuel. He also threw a 2-point conversion pass to Keon Coleman. Running back James Cook had 23 carries for 120 rushing yards and added a 5-yard rushing touchdown to the score.
What's next?
Nix ends his rookie season having taken the Broncos to the playoffs for the first time since 2015. He finished the game with 13 of 22 completions for 144 yards, a touchdown, and no interceptions.
The Bills will advance to the Divisional Round for the fifth straight year. They'll host the No. 3 Baltimore Ravens, who just beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday.
Bills' turn to get away with it
Kincaid's 35-yard catch may not have actually been a catch, but the refs didn't call it and the Bills moved fast.
Samuel TD
The Bills kept the domination going in the 4th quarter, starting with this 55-yard catch and run to the end zone by Curtis Samuel
Johnson TD on 4th down
The Bills went for it on 4th and 1 here, and Allen scrambled away from pressure to make this 24-yard TD pass to Ty Johnson!
Broncos get away with it
Broncos get away with a Holding call the refs somehow missed here in the 3rd quarter
Second-half highlights
Comin' up
BILLS WIN!
The Bills defeat the Broncos 31-7 to move on to the Divisional Round!
Trubisky takes a knee once more to make it official
Trubisky kneels again - 3rd and goal as the time keeps moving
Trubisky takes a knee - 2nd and goal as the clock ticks
TWO-MINUTE WARNING
That'll bring us to the 2-minute warning. The Bills are just a few minutes away from officially moving on to the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
Johnson pushes through for 5 yards to the Broncos 10 - 1st and goal
Trubisky has come in for Allen at QB
He hands it off to Johnson, who takes it up 8 yards - 2nd and 2
Upon further review, the officials saw that the ball actually hit the ground before Hamlin had possession - the call was REVERSED - incomplete pass, Bills take over at the Broncos 23
With nothing to lose at this point, the Broncos went for it on 4th and 17 and Nix's pass was INTERCEPTED by Damar Hamlin
Nix SACKED by Rousseau for a loss of 14 yards - 4th and 17
Nix pass to Vele is dropped - 3rd and 3
Nix pass to Williams complete for 7 yards - 2nd and 3
Bass kicks to end zone - touchback to Broncos 30
The Bills got into Broncos territory and within 2 yards of a touchdown, but a Taunting penalty on Hollins and a few other penalties pushed them out of range. Instead, Bass made a 34-yard field goal. Bills are 4 minutes, 37 seconds away from beating the Broncos and heading to the Divisional Round.
BILLS FIELD GOAL!
Bills take final timeout
Johnson picks up 2 more yards - 4th and 8
Broncos take final timeout
Johnson gains 5 yards - 3rd and 10
Allen passes deep towards the end zone but it's incomplete - 2nd and 15
Cook picks up 2 yards, but Bills are called on IllegalShift to put them back another 5 yards - 1st and 15 at the Broncos 23
Broncos take second timeout
Allen's pass is CAUGHT by Hollins for 20yards at the Broncos 2, but he's called for Taunting - 15 yards - 1st and 10 at the 18
Bills take second timeout
Allen tosses the ball up in the air and it's incomplete with Moss on Coleman - 2nd and 10 at the Broncos 22
Cook pushes up 4 yards for the 1st down
Johnson pushes up for 8 yards - 2nd and 2
Allen passes deep to Kincaid and it is CAUGHT for a gain of 35yards - 1st down at the Broncos 34
Allen passes short to Shakir and he twirls up to avoid a tackle and gains 7 yards - 3rd and 4
Johnson loses a yard, tackled by Allen - 2nd and 11
Allen's pass caught by Johnson for 2 yards - 1st down
Johnson pushes through for 5 yards - 3rd and 1
Allen scrambles up 4 yards - 2nd and 6
The Bills will take over at their own 13
Bills' Lewis was injured on the play
The Broncos go for it on 4th and 2 and Nix makes the pass to McLaughlin but he's forced out of bounds after just a yard
Nix escapes pressure, makes the pass to Sutton for 11yards and it's short - 4th and 2
Broncos take first timeout
Nix escapes a sack from Von Miller, gets the ball away but it's incomplete to Vele - 3rd and 13
Nix tosses it to Mims and he's taken back 3 yards by Benford - 2nd and 13
Bills take first timeout
Nix scrambles again for yet another 1st down on an 11-yard run to the Bills 22
Nix pass to Franklin is caught for 11yards and another 1st down
Nix pass to Sutton for 13yards - 1st down
Nix escapes pressure and scrambles for 18yards to the Broncos 43 - 1st down
Bass kicks to the Broncos 9 and Smith returns it 16 yards to the 25
At 3rd down and 6, Allen made a deep pass to Samuel and he ran it 55 yards to the end zone for the touchdown. Bass' PAT was good and the Bills extend the lead even further to start the final quarter.
BILLS TOUCHDOWN!
END THIRD QUARTER
That takes us to the end of the 3rd quarter. After a TD and 2-point conversion, the Bills have a 21-7 lead over the Broncos, who haven't scored since their opening drive.
The Bills have the ball at 3rd and 6 on their own 45-yard line.
It's Jones again, this time taking down Cooper after 3 yards - 3rd and 6
Cook tackled by Jones after a yard - 2nd and 9
Dixon punts to the Bills 18 and Shakir return it 24 yards to the 42
Nix pass to Mims incomplete, 4th and 11
False Start on Broncos' Franklin, 5 yards - 3rd and 11
Badie gains a yard, tackled bu Johnson and Milano - 3rd and 6
Williams takes it up 3 yards - 2nd and 7
Bass kicks to the end zone - touchback to the Broncos 30
After Allen made the 24-yard touchdown pass to Johnson, the Bills went for two. Allen's pass to Coleman in the end zone was caught and the Bills get the 2-point conversion to make it a two-score game with 3:06 to play in the 3rd quarter.
The Blls 2-point conversion attempt SUCCEEDS!
After review, the officials ruled that Johnson was in bounds and made the 24-yard touchdown catch from Allen.
The Bills were at 4th and 1 and went for it rather than settled for a field goal. Allen was under tons of pressure and made a deep pass to Johnson in the end zone. He made the catch for 24 yards, but the officials are reviewing whether or not he had both feet in and complete control for the touchdown.
BILLS TOUCHDOWN!
Bills go for it on 4th and 1....
Allen pass to Shakir is caught for 7 yards, but it's short of the down - 4th and 1
Cook gains 2 yards - 3rd and 8 at the Broncos 31
Allen pass incomplete to Coleman - 2nd and 10
Allen pass complete to Knox for 13 yards - 1st down
Allen hands it off to Cook and he gets just a yard - 2nd and 9
Davis was led to the locker room
Bills' Davis is still down on the field after the hit
Allen's pass was incomplete to Davis as he was hit directly on his helmet by Jones, who was called for UnnecessaryRoughness - 15 yards
Allen scrambles up for 7 yards, tackled by Bonnitto - 2nd and 13
Davis takes it up 7 yards but Bills' Kincaid is called for Holding - 10 yards, 1st and 20
Allen pass to Shakir complete for 13yards - 1st down
Cook stopped by McMillian after a yard - 2nd and 9
Dixon punts to the Bills 27 and Shakir makes the fair catch
Nix's pass to Franklin goes right through his hands - 4th and 5
Williams picks up 4 yards - 3rd and 5
McLaughlin gains just a yard, taken down by Milano and Hamlin - 2nd and 9
Bass kicks to the landing zone to the end zone - touchback to Broncos 20
The Bills stalled in the red zone a second time as a Holding penalty went uncalled on 3rd and goal. Tyler Bass made the 27-yard field goal to extend Buffalo's lead with just over 10 minutes to play in the 3rd quarter.
BILLS FIELD GOAL!
Allen SACKED by Z. Allen and Jones for a loss of 3 yards - 4th and goal at the 9
Cook gets stopped by Tillman and McMillian for no gain - 3rd and goal at the 6
Cook picks up 2 yards - 2nd and goal at the 6
Cook pushes through for another huge gain of 19yards this time - 1st and goal at the Broncos 8
Allen passes deep to Knox for a big gain of 25yards - 1st down to the Broncos 27
Cook bursts through AGAIN for another 6 yards - 1st down
Cook bursts through for 7 yards - 2nd and 3
We're back!
And we're back to start the second half. Buffalo receives to start the half.
Lutz kicked to the Bills 3 and Johnson returned it 33 yards to the 36.
Lutz's 50-yard doink
The Broncos ended the half with a 50-yard field goal attempt by kicker Will Lutz, whose attempt bounced off the goal post and was no good. The Bills kept the 10-7 lead to end the first half.
Broncos pull off impressive fake punt
On a 4th and 8 play, the Broncos faked the punt - punter Riley Dixon made a 15-yard pass to WR Marvin Mims Jr. to get the 1st down. Unfortunately, they were later held to 4th down again on that drive and ended up punting it back anyway, but this was an impressive special teams play by the Broncos.
Cook TD
The Bills pumped up their run game on this drive that ended with a 5-yard touchdown drive by RB James Cook to put the Bills in the lead in the second half.
Bills held to FG
The Bills weren't able to convert in the red zone and instead came away with a field goal - a 26-yarder by Tyler Bass - to make it a 7-3 game in the first quarter.
Nix-Franklin TD
The Broncos scored on their opening drive after Nix made a 43-yard touchdown pass to WR Troy Franklin
First half ends with a DOINK!
The Broncos go for the field goal and Lutz's 50-yard attempt missed it by inches, hitting the left post as the first half comes to an end.
Broncos take final timeout
Nix pass to Sutton complete for 21yards - 1st down at the Bills 32
Bills take final timeout
Nix pass incomplete to Vele, but Bills' Benford is called for Holding - 5 yards, automatic 1st down for Broncos
Nix pass incomplete to Mims - 2nd and 10 at the Broncos 42
Nix pass to Sutton is caught for 11 yards and he's in bounds - 1st down
Nix scrambles up for 12 yards and another 1st down
Broncos take second timeout
Nix sneaks through for 2 yards - 1st down
Nix pass complete to Krull and he's tackled by Johnson after just 2 yards - 3rd and 1
Nix pass to Williams is caught but he falls for 7 yards - 2nd and 3
Martin punted to the 15 and it was caught by Mims but Hollins took him down hard right away. A feud between the players broke out on the field and Broncos' Mims was called for a Personal Foul (Unnecessary Roughness) - 7 yards
TWO-MINUTE WARNING
That'll take us to the 2-minute warning in the first half. The Bills are up by 3 after James Cook scored a TD to start the 2nd quarter. They have the ball on 4th and 8 at their own 40 and will punt back to Denver after the break.
Allen pass to Shakir for 13yards - 4th and 8
Broncos take first timeout
Allen SACKED by Zach Allen for a loss of 8 yards - 3rd and 21
False Start on Bills' Dawkins - 5 yards, 2nd and 13
Cook gets 2 - 2nd and 8
Cook bursts through for 7 yards - 1st down at the Bills 38
Allen pass complete to Cooper for 5 yards - 2nd and 5
Allen keeps the ball and runs it up 4 yards to get the 1st down
Davis picks up 3 yards, short of the down - 3rd and 1
Allen pass to Samuel for 6 yards - 2nd and 4
Allen gets 3 yards on the tush push - 1st down
Cook gets it again but he's tackled short of the down by Moss and Bonitto - 3rd and 1
Cook pushes through for 9 yards to get out of the end zone - 2nd and 1 at the Bills 10
False Start on Bills' Brown - still 1st and 10 with Bills in the end zone
Dixon puns to the Bills 1, downed by M|ims
Nix overthrows the ball under pressure from Von Miller - 4th and 7
Williams runs it up 6 yards - 2nd and 4
Mims lost 3 yards on the next play, tackled by Bernard - 3rd and 7
The Broncos FAKE the punt and DIXON made the pass to MIMS for 15 YARDS - 1st down Broncos!
Nix pass incomplete to Sutton - 4th down and 8
Williams picks up 2 yards - 3rd and 8
Nix's pass to Sutton is tipped and incomplete - 2nd and 10
Mims picks up 4 - 1st down
Badie takes it up the middle 7 yards - 2nd and 3
Bass kicks to the end zone - touchback to the Bills 30
Allen used his legs a lot on this drive to get the Bills some yardage, plus a good run by Cook to get them into Broncos territory. It was Cook who took the ball up 5 yards for the touchdown and Bass' PAT was good to put the Bills in the lead with just under 13 minutes to play in the first half.
BILLS TOUCHDOWN!
Allen scrambles up for 9 yards - 1st and goal at the 5-yard line
Bills take first timeout
Cook pushes through for 2 yards - 3rd and 3
Cook picks up 5 yards - 2nd and 5
END FIRST QUARTER
That takes us to the end of the 1st quarter. The Broncos are in the lead 7-3. Bills have the ball at 1st and 10 at the Broncos 21.
Allen pass to Samuel complete for 7 yards - 1st down to the Broncos 21
Allen pass complete to Coleman for 5 yards - 3rd and 5
Allen under pressure, throws it away - 2nd and 10
Allen fakes the handoff and runs it up the middle for 7yards - 1st down
Allen scrambles away for 9 yards - 3rd and 3
False Start on Bill' Cook - 5 yards, 2nd and 12
Cook pushes through for 3 yards - 2nd and 7
Cook shoves his way all the way through for 16yards at the Broncos 47
Johnson bursts through for 11yards and the 1st down
Allen pass complete to Kincaid for 7 yards - 2nd and 3
Dixon punts to the Bills 12 and Shakir returns it 7 yards to the 19 before stepping out of bounds
Nix SACKED by Milano, who chased him out of bounds for no gain - 4th and 6
Bills' Johnson is on the ground after hitting his helmet directly against a Bronco
Williams picks up another 2 - 3rd and 6
Nix gets the ball away under pressure to Trautman for 2 yards - 2nd and 8
Bass kicks to the end zone - touchback to the Broncos 30
The Bills made it into the red zone but not into the end zone. Held to two fourth downs, they were eventually forced to try a field goal. Bass made the 26-yard attempt and the Bills cut the lead to 4 points with 7:07 still to go in the first quarter.
BILLS FIELD GOAL!
Allen's pass goes over the head of Amari Cooper - 4th and 7
Allen makes a pass to Knox in the end zone, but it's deflected and incomplete - 3rd and 7
Cook picks up another 3 yards - 2nd and 7 at the 8
Allen gets the 1st down with 3 yards to the 11
Allen hands it off to Johnson but he's just short of the down - Bills will try the tush push on 4th and 1...
Cook picks up 3 yards, tackled by Moss and McMillian - 3rd and 2
Allen pass to Kincaid is caught for 5 yards - 2nd and 5 at the Broncos 18
Allen connects with Shakir and he runs it up 6 yards for the 1st down
Cook up the middle for another 7 yards - 2nd and 3
Cook races down the sideline for another huge gain for Buffalo of 16yards - 1st down at the Broncos 36
Allen passes deep to Shakir for 15 yards - 1st down
Lutz kicks to the Bills 7 and Johnson returns it 26 yards to the 33
Well, that was FAST! On the Broncos' first drive of the game, QB Bo Nix launched a 19-yard pass to Courtland Sutton to make it onto Buffalo's side of the field and followed it up shortly after with a 43-yard bullet pass into the end zone to WR Troy Franklin for a touchdown. Lutz's PAT was good and Denver takes an early lead with 12:36 still to go in the first quarter.
BRONCOS TOUCHDOWN!
Williams picks up 6 yards - 2nd and 4
Nix makes a deep pass to Sutton for 19 yards and the 1st down
McLaughlin is taken down by Rousseau for a loss of 3 yards - 3rd and 8
Williams takes the ball up 5 yards to start off - 2nd and 5
GAME TIME!
The Bills have won the toss here at Highmark Stadium and elected to defer. The Broncos will start us off on offense. Let's go!
Bass kicks to the end zone - touchback to the Broncos 30
Bills and Broncos honor victims of LA wildfires
A moment of silence is had ahead of the game to honor the victims of the wildfires in Los Angeles.
Coming up in just a moment, Bella Denapoli will sing the National Anthem at the Bills' Highmark Stadium!
Bo Nix's incredible rookie season
Rookie quarterback Bo Nix has had a great first season with the Broncos, but he faces a tough test against Josh Allen's Bills today. The odds are against him as well, as only three rookie QBs have ever won their first road playoff game - Joe Flacco (2008), Mark Sanchez (2009), and Russell Wilson (2012).
Nix is the first rookie QB to start in Week 1 of his first season since John Elway in 1983 and has led the Broncos to 10 wins this season. He got off to a slow start, but after Week 5, he made significant improvements, throwing for 3,115 yards and 28 touchdowns.
Last week, Nix was crowned the AFC Offensive Player of the Week as he served the defending Super Bowl champs Chiefs just their second loss of the season. In the 38-0 victory, Nix threw for 321 yards and four touchdowns and led the team in rushing with 47 yards. He ended the season with 3,775 passing yards and 29 touchdowns.
“He’s played in a lot of big games,’’ said Broncos head coach Sean Payton. “Honestly, last week for him, for many guys, was like a playoff game. He’s seasoned, and he’s been in big moments, and you know what? He’s going to play in bigger games.”
Broncos vs Bills INACTIVES
Denver Broncos Injury Report
The Broncos activated running back Tyler Badie from injured reserve ahead of the game today. Badie has been out since injuring his back in Week 4 of the regular season.
Broncos Inactives
QB Zach Wilson
RB Audric Estime
RB Blake Watson
LB Levelle Bailey
G Nick Gargiulo
DL Eyioma Uwazurike
Buffalo Bills Injury Report
Like the Broncos, the Bills have a healthy team heading into the Wild Card game with the only issue being the absence of their punt returner Brandon Codrington.
Bills inactives
CB Kaiir Elam
QB Mike White
OL Ryan Van Demark
KR/PR Brandon Codrington
DT DeWayne Carter
S Kareem Jackson
WR Jalen Virgil
Here's the play-callers and shot-callers for today's AFC Wild Card matchup between the Bills and Broncos.
It's going to be a chilly day at Highmark Stadium, but that's to be expected. The Broncos can consider themselves lucky that they'll be playing in that environment without it being covered in snow.
The Bills' home domination
The Bills have a pretty big edge considering they are the hosts in this Wild Card matchup against the Broncos.
This season, the Bills won all eight of their home games at Highmark Stadium, the first time the franchise has done so since 1990, with a franchise record 535 points scored at their home stadium in Orchard Park.
Broncos and Bills - How they got here
Broncos
With Russell Wilson out of the picture, the Denver Broncos selected quarterback Bo Nix in the first round of the NFL Draft last year. The rookie led the team to a 10-7 regular-season finish to make their first playoff run since 2015, when they won the Super Bowl.
Bills
The Bills had an even better season this year than last year, finishing with a 13-4 record to clinch their sixth consecutive winning season, their fifth consecutive AFC East title, and No. 2 in the AFC behind the Kansas City Chiefs. Speaking of the Chiefs, the Bills were the only team to defeat them this season until the last regular game of the year, when the Broncos beat them with the Chiefs' backups in the lineup.
Good afternoon and welcome to our LIVE text coverage of the Denver Broncos @ Buffalo Bills WILD CARD playoff game!
It's Jen here, bringing you all the latest updates, scores, stats, highlights, and commentary starting from an hour before kickoff. The No. 2 Bills are the hosts to the No. 7 Chargers and kickoff will be at 1 p.m. ET from Highmark Stadium in Buffalo.