The Denver Broncos beat the Buffalo Bills on Monday night. But, in equal amounts, the Buffalo Bills did their damnedest to lose to the Denver Broncos.
A game that served as another encouraging bounceback for Russell Wilson will be remembered more for Buffalo’s attempts to give it away than any of Denver’s heroic efforts. Josh Allen, perpetually a monument to the duality of man, displayed his penchant for big plays and sloppy risk assessment in a three turnover performance. An injury riddled defense stood up to allow just 4.2 yards per play but lost its sense of gravity at the worse possible moment.
As a result, the Bills came into Monday night as a 7.5-point favorite and exited the day with their third loss in four games. Buffalo now sits at 5-5 with the toughest part of its schedule yet to come. DraftKings places the team’s playoff odds at an underdog +200. How did this all come to be?
Well on Monday night, the collapse happened gradually, then all at once.
1
Fumble on your very first play from scrimmage
The Bills received the ball first. Nine seconds into the game, the Broncos had possession.
THAT’S HOW YOU START #MNF!
📺: ESPN
pic.twitter.com/4uA39XGEt7— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) November 14, 2023
James Cook’s fumble was backed by a three-and-out from the Buffalo defense, but that wasn’t enough to keep Denver off the board. Barely two minutes in, the Bills trailed 3-0.
2
Have your quarterback's prodigial arm strength bite him when a third-down laser becomes a tip-drill interception
This was the right read on third-and-four in Denver territory. It was a pinpoint throw that hit Gabe Davis in the hands. It also traveled, per my estimate, roughly 400 miles per hour.
Best in the league. 😤
📺: ESPN | @jsimms1119 pic.twitter.com/TUlvTU1RxE
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) November 14, 2023
That throw didn’t have to be a laser, but Allen is Allen and that’s what you get, particularly early in games. Davis should have caught it. Instead, he set it to Justin Simmons who settled under it and snuffed out a scoring drive to keep the score 3-0.
3
Squash any hope of a momentum-building two-minute drill with an awful read and subsequent interception
A Denver field goal extended its lead to 12-8 when the Bills got the ball back with 54 seconds to play and a timeout. That left a daunting task to drive for some badly needed points before halftime, but not an impossible one. Instead, Allen set the Broncos up for three more points by lobbing a deep out to a covered Deonte Harty.
Third takeaway of the night for this defense‼️
📺: ESPN pic.twitter.com/TQd0kCRLAs
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) November 14, 2023
4
Ignore your 240-pound, pile-driving quarterback and throw the ball on fourth-and-1.5
A yard-and-a-half isn’t quite surefire quarterback sneak territory, but it’s something that remains in the realm of possibility when your quarterback has a known reputation for both being massive and throwing his body at defenders like an excited camp attendee who doesn’t quite understand trust falls. But the Bills took away any threat of that — and the run in general — by lining up in shotgun on fourth down in what could have been a promising drive to open Buffalo’s second half.
The play still could have worked once Allen scrambled to escape pressure, but instead a pass to a wide open Khalil Shakir fell incomplete and a potential scoring drive turned into a four-and-out.
5
Crush your own second half momentum by ... just dropping a handoff
A 38-yard deep strike gave Allen and Davis each a bit of redemption following their first quarter interception. And then, well …
A fumbled exchange turns into the @Broncos fourth takeaway of the game
📺: #DENvsBUF on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/J3bHxYOoK2 pic.twitter.com/sWvOaGrD5e— NFL (@NFL) November 14, 2023
Yeah I dunno, man.
6
Run a cover-0 blitz on back-to-back plays during a two-minute drill so Russell Wilson can get used to it
On second-and-four, with 40 seconds left in a 22-21 game and the Broncos on the brink of field goal range, Bills’ head coach Sean McDermott burned the boats. He sent a cover-zero blitz that left no safety help deep in order to attack Russell Wilson. The plan worked; Wilson was sacked for a loss of six yards, Denver was pushed out of Wil Lutz’s kicking range and Sean Payton was forced to burn his final timeout.
So then, on third-and-10, the Bills did it again. And the Broncos offense, having seen it literally seconds before, knew what to do:
Flag on the Bills. Broncos in Buffalo territory pic.twitter.com/vpqqP7hBUL
— Oh no he didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) November 14, 2023
There’s no play more devastating in the NFL than the deep underthrow. First down, Denver at the Buffalo 17-yard line.
7
Be unable to count your own men on a scrambled game-winning field goal attempt
The Bills used their timeouts and the Broncos ran backward to place the ball at the 23 on fourth-and-16 with 24 seconds to play. This led to a fire drill run-on to get the special teams unit on the field, as Denver had no timeouts but was dead set on milking every last second from the clock.
The confusion led to mild panic, and while Lutz’s kick got off on time it sliced just wide of the right upright, securing a 22-21 Buffalo win at the end of regulation.
Except, oh no.
Yep, that’s too many men. The officials saw it as well, turning a 41-yard miss into a 36-yard field goal one snap later and a 24-22 Broncos win. And, there you have it; how to make Denver look good and your own team look woefully incompetent in just seven easy steps.
