The Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills figure to be in a back-and-forth showdown against the Buffalo Bills, a team that beat the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Wild Card Round. It seems like the game is truly a tossup, as both Buffalo and Denver have obvious, clear reasons to victory.
But most of the national media chatter has honestly been favorable to Buffalo. The 'this is Josh Allen's year' talk has been at an all-time high, especially since the Bills won't have to go through the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs. The Josh Allen-led Bills have actually never won a road game in the Divisional Round, so hopefully that remains the case when Saturday rolls around.
Of all the people to come out and defend the Denver Broncos, none other than Stephen A. Smith really went to bat for Denver ahead of this massive game.
Stephen A. Smith defends the Denver Broncos ahead of the Divisional Round
Of all people, Stephen A. Smith ran to the defense of the Denver Broncos ahead of the Divisional Round:
"I completely disagree," "Y'all lost your damn minds. That's disrespectful! That's so disrespectful! Who's the No. 1 seed? The Denver Broncos. 68 sacks on the season, 11 more than any other team in the National Football League... I understand the greatness of Josh Allen... but here's the point I'm making to you. Not only are the Buffalo Bills not that formidable offensively in terms of the players around Josh Allen, you're going to Denver, you're going to the Mile High City. You're going to play in that altitude. Wait a minute, I got to take all that into consideration."
Here is the entire segment:
There are a ton of factors that go against Josh Allen and the Bills in this one - the hostile environment, lack of wide receivers, and poor run defense could really help Denver win this weekend. Many have said that Allen can simply turn into Superman and take the game over, but it obviously takes more than one person to win a game.
Sure, Allen can make some insane throws when needed, but he simply might not have the personnel available to complete those throws. Furthermore, if Denver is able to contain running back James Cook, there really isn't much of a path for the Bills to win this one. Honestly, Buffalo has a smaller margin for error and an uphill battle in this contest.