Denver one win from Super Bowl after surviving Buffalo in overtime thriller | NFL

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 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Saturday.

McMillian’s pick was Denver’s fifth takeaway — the Broncos entered the playoffs with a minus-3 turnover differential. McMillian snatched the ball 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 last 15 games.

“We played against a very good football team,” Nix said. “They played really well tonight. They gave us a great shot shortly after a tough game last week, so hats 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 never came out of it and I think it’s just a matter of character. It wasn’t always pretty, we had a good lead and they came back and it wasn’t looking good, but in the fourth quarter and overtime we just found a way to win.”

Broncos coach Sean Payton lamented Denver’s sputtering offense and 1-of-4 performance in the red zone: “We weren’t good in the red zone. But we were pretty good when it counted.”

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

Former Broncos kicker Matt Prater kicked a 50-yard field goal with five seconds left in regulation, tying the score at 30. That came after Nix’s 26-yard touchdown to Marvin Mims Jr with 55 seconds left gave Denver a 30-27 lead.

Allen, who had not turned the ball over in his previous six playoff appearances, threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles. PJ Locke also took out Allen.

“Extremely difficult,” Allen said afterward, with tears in his eyes. “I felt like I let my teammates down.”

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

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

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

Allen also fumbled the ball at the Denver 23 late in the fourth quarter, but right tackle Spencer Brown recovered the loose ball, setting up Prater’s 31-yard run for a 27-23 Buffalo lead.

Also in the second half, Allen threw an interception when Locke cut in front of wide receiver Curtis Samuel, who appeared 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 point 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, then Bonitto stripped Allen of the ball after a long run up the middle. Devon Key recovered for Denver with two seconds left before halftime and Lutz’s 50-yard run late in the half made it 20-10.

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

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

When the Broncos lost to the Bills 31-7 last playoff series in Buffalo, Payton said, “We’ve got to find a way to get these home games.” »

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

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