Broncos advance to AFC title game, beating Bills 33-30 after McMillian’s INT in overtime

DENVER — Ja’Quan McMillian intercepted Josh Allen’s deep throw in overtime, and Bo Nix led the Broncos into position for Wil Lutz’s 23-yard field goal that sent Denver to the AFC championship game with a 33-30 win over the Buffalo Bills on Saturday.

McMillian’s pick was Denver’s fifth takeaway of the game — the Broncos went into the playoffs at minus-3 in turnover differential. McMillian wrested the ball away from Brandin Cooks at the Broncos 20-yard line when a field goal would have won the game for Buffalo.

The Broncos (15-3) will face either New England or Houston for the AFC title next Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High, where top-seeded Denver has won 14 of its past 15 games.

‘’We played a really good football team,’’ Nix said. “They played really well tonight. They gave us a great shot on a short week after a tough game last week, so hat’s off to them. We found a way to win again and our defense made stops and I’m just proud of our guys. I’m just proud of this organization. I’m proud of the way we compete, we fight.

‘’We’re just never out of it and I think that’s just the character piece. It wasn’t always pretty, we had a good lead and they came back and it wasn’t looking good, but the fourth quarter and overtime, we just found a way to win.’’

Broncos coach Sean Payton lamented Denver’s sputtering offense and 1-for-4 performance in the red zone: ‘’We weren’t good in the red zone. But we were good enough when it mattered.’’

The Bills (13-6) were flagged for pass interference twice on Denver’s final drive.

Allen, who hadn’t turned the ball over in his previous six playoff appearances, threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles. P.J. Locke also picked off Allen.

‘’Extremely difficult,’’ a teary-eyed Allen said afterward. ‘’I felt like I let my teammates down.’’

The Bills failed once again to reach the Super Bowl with Allen under center even though Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson weren’t standing in his way this time as that trio of franchise quarterbacks all missed the postseason party.

Payton insisted the game should have ended earlier in overtime when a Denver defender was held in the end zone before Allen escaped from the end zone on second-and-9 from his 8.

Coming off the first road playoff win of his career, Allen’s first three turnovers helped Denver built a 23-10 lead before he threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Keon Coleman and a 14-yarder to Dalton Kincaid to give Buffalo a 24-23 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Also in the second half, Allen threw an interception when P.J. Locke cut in front of wide receiver Curtis Samuel, who appeared to be wide open for what would have been a 43-yard touchdown.

The Broncos scored 10 points in the final 22 seconds of the first half to take a 20-10 lead into the locker room, and they got their third takeaway just two plays into the second half on Bonitto’s strip-sack of Allen that was recovered by Malcolm Roach at the Bills 17, leading to Lutz’s short field goal to make it 23-10.

Nix’s 29-yard TD pass to Lil’Jordan Humphrey broke a 10-all tie and then Bonitto stripped Allen of the ball after a long scramble up the middle. Devon Key recovered for Denver with 2 seconds left before halftime and Lutz’s 50-yarder as the half expired made it 20-10.

The Broncos’ other touchdown in the first half came from an unlikely source. They went ahead 10-7 when Nix threw to tackle-eligible Frank Crum, a second-year pro from Wyoming, Allen’s alma mater. He caught the short pass and tumbled into the end zone for a 7-yard score.

James Cook ran for 117 yards on 24 carries but lost a fumble.

They did it by leading the league in sacks (68), tying a franchise record with 14 regular-season victories, winning 11 one-score games and having 11 comebacks.

‘’We weren’t ready last year,’’ Payton said. ‘’But we were ready today.’’

Injuri

es

Bills: Inactive for the game were two defensive starters: S Jordan Poyer (hamstring) and LB Terrel Bernard (calf). ... LB Dorian Williams (neck) got hurt covering the opening kickoff and was taken via ambulance to a hospital. ... C Connor McGovern was cleared to return just before halftime after being evaluated for a concussion. ... DT Ed Oliver, who just returned to the active roster, went out late in the third quarter with a knee injury. The seven-year veteran was placed on injured reserve on Oct. 28 with a left biceps tear that required surgery. He suffered meniscus damage while rehabbing and had another procedure on Dec. 29.

Up next

The Bills head into another offseason wondering what it’ll take to get to the Super Bowl.

The Broncos host their first AFC championship game in a decade, since the ‘’No Fly Zone’’ defense that helped them win Super Bowl 50.

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