ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 13: A fan holds up a sign prior to a game between the Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium on November 13, 2023 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images)Photo: Timothy T Ludwig / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images
The Broncos beat the Bills on Monday Night Football 24-22. Below is the recap and postgame interviews:
Bills won the toss and decided to take the football on offense.
Josh Allen and the Bills offense started their first drive of the night from their own 25 yard line after the kickoff went 7 yards deep in the end zone. On the first play of the game, Josh Allen found James Cook off the right side on a screen and Ja'Quan McMillian forced a fumble near the sideline, giving the Broncos the ball at the Bills 28 yard line. The Broncos ran it twice before a false start backed them up behind the chains so, after a draw to Perine, Denver settled for a 40-yard field goal and they took an early 3-0 lead.
On the next drive, Josh Allen almost threw an interception to Alex Singleton but there was a hold on Zach Allen that set the Bills up in a deep hole to begin their drive. As Josh Allen often does, he found a way out of it with a 17-yard completion to Gabe Davis on 3rd and 16 to move the chains. Latavius Murray had 2 really good runs that moved the ball quickly into Denver territory. On 3rd and 4 from the Broncos 28 yard line, Josh Allen gunned a pass over the middle that went off of Gabe Davis' hands and right into the hands of Justin Simmons!
The Broncos started their next offensive drive from their own 12 yard line after the turnover and quickly got a first down with a completion to Lil'Jordon Humphrey for 14 yards. Another nice completion to Javonte Williams on 3rd down helped extend the drive but, after another false start, the Broncos went backwards and unfortunately couldn't get the ball into Buffalo territory. After 7 plays and 30 yards, Riley Dixon punted the ball for a touchback. Bills offense back on the field with 4:24 remaining in the 1st quarter, trailing 3-0.
So, from their own 20 yard line, Josh Allen and the Bills offense was back out on the field after back to back turnovers on their first two drives. After a quick first down, the Bills offense only gained one additional yard following two incompletions and Buffalo was forced to punt the ball back to the Broncos offense, who would start their next drive from their own 21 yard line with 2:30 remaining in the 1st quarter.
The Broncos went right back to the run game with some tough runs from Javonte Williams to help get the offense near midfield. Russell Wilson did a great job scrambling on 3rd and 4 for 10 yards to keep the drive moving. Another procedure penalty, moved the Broncos behind the chains again and they couldn't overcome it. Riley Dixon, from the Bills 46 yard line booted it into the end zone and Buffalo started their next drive from their own 20 yard line with 12:47 remaining in the 2nd quarter.
The Bills offense quickly went 3 and out, only the tenth time all season they had a 3 and out on a drive, and punted the ball right back to Denver. Marvin Mims returned the ball 17 yards, setting the offense up with their best starting field position of the game, at their own 48 yard line.
The Broncos offense quickly moved into Bills territory after an unnecessary roughness penalty against Courtland Sutton when Dorian Williams hit him in the head on a slant pass. Jerry Jeudy caught an 11 yard pass to set the Broncos up in the Red Zone. On 4th and 2, the Broncos opted to go for it and Russell Wilson rolled out and found Courtland Sutton along the left sideline in the end zone for the first touchdown of the game. Wil Lutz missed the extra point but the Broncos extended their lead 9-0 with 7:17 remaining in the 2nd quarter.
Now in a 2 score deficit, the Bills offense took the field from their own 19 yard line. The Bills offense finally found some rhythm and Josh Allen executed a 3:41 drive that ended in a 22-yard Dalton Kincaid touchdown. After an offsides call on the extra point, the Bills opted to go for two and Allen converted a pass to Davis, pulling Buffalo within 1 point.
The Broncos offense took the ball with 3:36 remaining in the half, looking to tack on some points, and Russell quickly found Courtland Sutton on a deep crossing route for 32 yards. A holding call against Lloyd Cushenberry took away a great opportunity to see the Broncos offense get inside the Red Zone. Russell Wilson scrambled for 10 yards to at least give Wil Lutz a decent shot a 49 yard field goal and he converted, extending the Broncos lead 12-8.
With 45 seconds remaining in the half, Josh Allen and the Bills looked to cut into the Broncos lead but Josh Allen was late on his pass that was picked off by Fabian Moreau, setting the Denver offense up at the Bills 31 yard line. Russell Wilson helped the Broncos run the clock to where Wil Lutz converted a 40 yard Field Goal as time expired, extending the lead 15-8.
The Broncos offense started the 2nd half with the ball at their own 25 yard line. Once again, the Broncos put themselves behind the chains with a Javonte Williams hold and they couldn't overcome it. After only running 2:51 off the clock, Denver punted the ball to the Bills for their first opportunity of the 2nd half.
From their own 40 yard line, the Bills started their drive trailing the Broncos by 7 points. Josh Allen completed a pass to Dalton Kincaid for 9 yards and the Bills opted to go for it on 4th and 1 from their own 48 yard line but Allen threw an incomplete pass downfield to Shakir, giving Russell Wilson and the Broncos offense the ball back in Bills territory.
With excellent field position, the Broncos offense was looking to add to their lead but on 3rd down Courtland Sutton fumbled the ball while trying to fight for extra yards. Buffalo took over at their own 46 yard line with an opportunity to swing the momentum of the game. After a 10 yard run on 1st down, Josh Allen hit Khalil Shakir for a 21 yard gain and suddenly Buffalo was in the Red Zone. A few plays later, Latavius Murray punched in a 3 yard touchdown run to tie the game at 15 with 6:42 remaining in the 3rd quarter.
The Broncos offense got a great return from Marvin Mims on the next drive, setting the offense up at their own 40 yard line but the Broncos only managed to just get the ball into Buffalo territory and were forced to punt.
On the next Bills drive, Allen hit Davis for a 38 yard gain to put Buffalo in Denver territory but on the next play, Allen and Cook fumbled the handoff, allowing Alex Singleton to fall on it for the fourth turnover of the game.
The Broncos offense quickly went 3 and out and, once again, were punting the ball back to Buffalo.
Josh Allen, in a tie game, started his next drive at his own 11 yard line and were able to get a couple of first downs before a beautiful PBU by Fabian Moreau to force the Bills into a punting situation.
Marvin Mims, once again, helping the Broncos with field position by getting another big punt return and this time the Broncos offense put together one of their best drives of the night, converting 3 crucial 3rd downs and eventually Russell Wilson hit Javonte Williams in the flat for a 3 yard touchdown. The extra point was botched so the Broncos only had a 6 point lead with 5:06 remaining in the game.
The Bills run game got going with a 42 yard run by James Cook early in the drive where Justin Simmons knocked the ball out but it bounced right back into his arms. The Bills offense moved efficiently down the field with the run game and it was Josh Allen, from 6 yards out, who out ran the defense to the edge on the play fake and scored the go ahead touchdown. Bills get their first lead of the night 22-21.
With just under 2 minutes, the Broncos offense needed to find a way to get into field goal range and Russell Wilson executed a stellar drive to get the Broncos into Bills territory. The Broncos had a couple of moments where it seemed they wouldn't be able to put themselves in position including Wilson getting sacked out of FG range but a huge defensive pass interference call that Jerry Jeudy forced set the Broncos up at the Bills 15 yard line with a chance to kick a game winning field goal. Wil Lutz converted a 36 yard field goal at the buzzer and the Broncos beat the Bills 24-22!
The next broadcast will on Sunday, November 19th as the Broncos host the Vikings. Coverage starts at 9am as we walk you up to kickoff at 6:15pm MTN.
Below are the postgame interviews with Sean Payton, Russell Wilson, Courtland Sutton