The Denver Broncos are coming off one of the best advantages in the NFL - extended rest thanks to the bye week. Every team gets a bye week, and now, two teams in the NFL get two of them per year. There are also the informal 'mini-bye' after a team plays on Thursday, but having two weeks off between games is something that most teams surely look forward to.
The NFL is the most physical professional league in the world, and these players probably feel like they've been hit by a truck after just one game. Not only is the bye a chance to reset a bit physically, but the mental toll has to be large as well.
Fortunately, the Denver Broncos earned the first-round bye in the playoffs this year, which obviously meant they advance straight into the Divisional Round and can play both potential playoff games at home before the Super Bowl.
Sean Payton has never lost after a first-round postseason bye, and he's 12-6 in the regular season after the bye
Sean Payton has made the most of the bye week in the NFL. He's actually not lost a game after the bye in the regular season since 2015, and in the three years the New Orleans Saints had a bye in the playoffs, Payton's teams won all of those games.
One huge challenge with the bye week is keeping things contained and not losing what was built before the bye. It might be easy to get into more of a relaxation mode with a week off, but that hasn't been the with Sean Payton's teams. I did some digging, and Payton actually lost his first three games after the bye in 2006, 2007, and 2008 with the New Orleans Saints. Since then, he's been 12-3.
But his teams having not lost after the postseason bye is also ideal. That isn't going to guarantee the Denver Broncos beating the Buffalo Bills, but big picture here is a warning - the Broncos have been stellar after the bye, and Sean Payton-coached teams as a whole are stellar off the bye.
The Broncos are much healthier than the Bills right now and get this game at home. Those two advantages, coupled with Sean Payton being so good after the bye should give the team a slight advantage in this one.
At the end of the day, anything can happen, but the Broncos and Payton surely like their chances.