Back in early October, no one expected the Denver Broncos to be the top seed in the AFC. The Broncos were scuffling at 2-2, and they were trailing the Philadelphia Eagles on the road back when the Eagles were the class of the NFC.
That was when quarterback Bo Nix found the magic touch, leading the first of several remarkable comebacks. The Broncos scored 18 points in the final quarter to beat Philadelphia, and some of the Broncos recognize that as the starting point for what was to home.
“Looking back,” tight end Evan Engram said in a piece written by Nick Kosmider of The Athletic, “that was the jump-start for us.”
Nix would go on to post four more fourth-quarter comebacks, and the Broncos need that kind of production tomorrow against the Buffalo Bills. According to Kosmider, Nix has produced an EPA (expected points added) per dropback of 0.25 when trailing, which ranked third in the NFL, according to TruMedia. His touchdown-to-interception ratio of 17-to-2 in these situations was also best in the league.
That doesn’t mean the Broncos want to get behind in a playoff game, but they could need that level of production from Nix. Playoff games are usually one-score affairs, especially in the later rounds, so this sort of scenario wouldn’t necessarily be catastrophic. The Broncos have seen what Nix can do before, though, so they won't necessarily panic if they do get down early.
“That’s Bo,” rookie wide receiver Pat Bryant said. “There’s no flinch.”
This would be a comeback scenario at the highest level, however, if it does actually occur. Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen isn’t exactly new to this sort of thing, and it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see the same kind of back-and-forth battle the Bills just fought against quarterback Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
According to Kosmider, Allen has won eight playoff games and has accounted for more touchdowns in the postseason (35) than any other quarterback in the league since 2020, except for Patrick Mahomes.
Allen put together a game-winning drive in the wild-card round against the Jaguars when he found receiver Brandin Cooks for a 37-yard gain through the air, and he went on to set up his own touchdown with a 10-yard sneak on fourth-and-1.
To put it in the words of Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, Allen is a quarterback who can “wreck your dreams.” Nix, meanwhile, has put together a dream season in Denver, so it will be intriguing to see if he’s up to the challenge of going toe-to-toe with Allen in this one.