Going into NFL Wild Card Weekend, a few select teams had some added motivation behind their performances. The Buffalo Bills were just one of a few in this category.
The first game of the weekend saw the Houston Texans take some added bulletin board material thanks to former NFL coach Rex Ryan, who called the Texans a “bye week” for the Los Angeles Chargers. Houston would go on to handle the Chargers.
Buffalo entered their home Wild Card tilt against the Denver Broncos a week after these very same Broncos had obliterated the Kansas City Chiefs to lock themselves into a postseason berth. The kicker was, though, that the Broncos had done this against the Chiefs’ backups.
Still, Broncos fans were feeling high and mighty for some reason. Because they had dominated Kansas City in what ended up being more of an exhibition matchup for the Chiefs, Broncos fans got a bit too big for their britches.
They didn’t care, though. Broncos fans were caught on video chanting, “We want Buffalo.”
As it turns out, Bills players took notice of the antics.
Buffalo, of course, dismantled the Broncos on Sunday afternoon by a score of 31-7. It started out with a bang for Denver, with Bo Nix connecting on a long touchdown to put the Broncos up 7-0 early. However, the Bills put the clamps on from there and stood firm while pouring it on.
Dion Dawkins says Broncos fans gave the Bills extra motivation to run it down Denver’s throat
After the game, offensive tackle Dion Dawkins caught up with reporters in the locker room and he was sure to bring up that video of Broncos fans and their chants. He told NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe that those chants did, indeed, give the Bills “extra motivation” going into this game.
Buffalo accumulated nearly 500 yards of offense against the Broncos defense, including a whopping 210 on the ground. Quarterback Josh Allen wound up with over 300 total yards, including 46 with his legs.
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The Bills passed the ball 26 times versus toting it 44 times on the ground. Clearly, there was a plan to establish themselves as the more physical team.
Buffalo did just that, dominating the Broncos on the ground, as Denver posted just 79 rushing yards on the afternoon.
Now, the Bills will take on Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry in the Divisional Round, in a game that will feature quite the rushing attack upgrade over Denver. Not only that, but the Ravens sported the NFL’s top rushing defense during the regular season, giving up only 80.1 yards per game.
The one thing Buffalo will have largely in their favor? Baltimore had the second-worst pass defense in the league during the regular season. So, Josh Allen might just have one of those eye-poppping games — and he very well could need that type of game in order to pull off a win and advance to the AFC Championship.
