ORCHARD PARK – Perhaps ever since the Buffalo Bills got blown out by the Baltimore Ravens way back in Week 4, they have longed for a rematch, one that would pit their MVP candidate quarterback, Josh Allen, against the other primary MVP candidate, Lamar Jackson.
Well, the Bills will get that opportunity next week, provided they don’t stub their toe as the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoff bracket against frisky No. 7 seed Denver Sunday afternoon at Highmark Stadium.
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Saturday night, the Ravens advanced to the divisional round by defeating AFC North rival Pittsburgh 28-14 behind a dominant performance from Derrick Henry, so the ball is in Buffalo’s court now and it must earn that second chance against Baltimore as a clear-cut favorite against a Broncos’ team making its first postseason appearance since winning Super Bowl 50 following the 2015 season.
Von Miller, an all-time Broncos great and a future Pro Football Hall of Famer, was named Super Bowl MVP when Denver beat the Carolina Panthers whose defensive coordinator was current Bills head coach Sean McDermott.
Miller later won Super Bowl 56 following the 2021 season after Denver traded him at the deadline to the Rams and he helped Los Angeles defeat the Bengals. Now, he has a chance for a third ring with the Bills and while he wasn’t comparing the Broncos or Rams to these Bills, he did say that he’s every bit as confident that this team can go the distance.
“This is a totally different team with totally different players,” he said. “It’s not a cookie cutter where this is how we did it in 2015, this is how we did it in 2021. I can’t have that approach, it’s a different team with different vibes, and different players.
“I’m just so optimistic with the guys that I’m with and the game that I play. But reality is, we have we have a pretty good team. And I don’t have to use my optimistic brain to force that. We have a really good team. We have a really good coaching staff, we’ve got a really good quarterback. We play really good defense.”
We will be providing live updates all day right here so stay tuned.
No surprises on the Bills inactive list
The Bills are remarkably healthy for the wild-card game and the only player out due to injury is punt returner Brandon Codrington. Everyone else is a healthy scratch.
The inactives are both of the practice squad elevations, Jalen Virgil and Kareem Jackson, plus cornerback Kaiir Elam, offensive tackle Ryan Van Demark, defensive tackle DeWayne Carter, and third QB Mike White.
Jalen Virgil, Kareem Jackson elevated
The Bills made two practice squad callups Saturday afternoon, wide receiver Jalen Virgil and safety Kareem Jackson, though it seems unlikely that either player will be active for the game.
The Bills have their full compliment of wide receivers and safeties healthy for the game, and the only reason for their elevation might be that they’ll get to receive an active game day check in a game against the Broncos, who they both once played for.
There may have been some speculation that Virgil was up in order to return punts because there’s a chance regular punt returner Brandon Codrington will miss the game with a hamstring injury, but Virgil had just one kickoff return during his nine-game stint with Denver in 2022.
It feels like Khalil Shakir will be the punt returner if Codrington can’t play, while running backs Ty Johnson and Ray Davis will get the call on kickoffs.
Bills vs Broncos preview stories
Sal’s prediction: Bills 24, Broncos 20
This is not going to be a walk-over for the Bills. Although their offense became the first in NFL history to score at least 30 touchdowns both passing and rushing, finishing 62 and 525 points, both team records, the Broncos figure to give Allen and company a big-time test.
They finished third in points allowed (18.3), second in yards allowed per play (4.9), No. 1 in most sacks (63), third in successful QB pressure rate (37.4%), and third in red zone TD percentage (46.9%).
The Bills had a league-low eight turnovers and given the fact that it will be tough to move the ball and score, at least at the rate they’ve grown accustomed to this year, they’ll need another clean game because a mistake or two might be all Denver needs.
What time is the Buffalo Bills vs Denver Broncos game?
- Date: Sunday, Jan. 12
- Time: 1 p.m.
- Place: Highmark Stadium
Who is favored to win Bills vs. Broncos game
- Betting line: Bills -9
- Over-under: 48
- Money line: Bills minus-450 (bet $550 to win $100) and Broncos plus-400 (bet $100 to win $400).
Who is announcing the Bills vs. Broncos game
- Play-by-play: Jim Nantz
- Analyst: Tony Romo
- Sideline reporter: Tracy Wolfson, Jay Feely
How to watch Bills vs Broncos game on TV, streaming
∎ Cable/Network TV: CBS. The game will be available locally via the following stations: WROC channel 8 (Rochester area), WIVB channel 4 (Buffalo area), WTVH channel 5 (Syracuse area), WKTV channel 2 (Utica area), WENY channel 2 (Elmira area), WRGB channel 10 (Albany area), and WBNG channel 12 (Binghamton area).
∎ Online streaming services: You can watch games on NFL.com and the NFL mobile app, and you can subscribe to NFL+, the league’s own streaming service, though you can’t cast the games to your TV – you must watch on your phone or tablet.
∎ TV streaming: You can also stream games if you have subscriptions to Spectrum, DirecTV, fuboTV, Sling, Vidgo, Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, and Paramount+.
On the radio: How to listen to the Bills vs Broncos game
You can listen on SiriusXM satellite radio on channel 225 (Bills feed) and channel 226 (Broncos feed), and on traditional radio, the Bills Radio Network has stations all across the state. Chris Brown has the play-by-play, Eric Wood is the analyst, and Sal Capaccio is the sideline reporter. The network includes:
- Rochester (WCMF 96.5 and WROC 950 AM)
- Buffalo (WGR550, 550 AM)
- Syracuse (WTKW 99.5/WTKV 105.5)
- Binghamton (WDRE 100.5FM)
- Ithaca (WIII 99.9/100.3 FM)
- Bath (WVIN 98.3 FM)
- Newark (WACK 1420 AM)
- Dansville (WDNY 93.9 FM)
- Elmira (WNGZ 1490 AM)
- Auburn (WAUB 98.1 FM/1590 AM)
- Geneva (WGVA 95.9 FM, 1240 AM)
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades including 35 years as the full-time beat writer for the D&C, and he has written numerous books about the history of the team. He can be reached at [email protected], and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social. Sign up for his Bills Blast newsletter here: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast
