The Buffalo Bills pulled out a great win on Sunday afternoon against the Jacksonville Jaguars, booking their ticket to Denver for their Divisional Round matchup. Josh Allen will look to eliminate the Broncos from the playoffs for the second consecutive year, this time as a high-upside wild card team trying to string together four straight playoff wins on the road. Their next test comes in the best home environment in the game.
The Bills were taken to the limit by a Jaguars team that seemingly had the game in hand before they shot themselves in the foot. The Jacksonville offense has been incredibly strong to close out the season, and seemed to be firing on all cylinders early on in Jacksonville. A key decision was made by their play callers, and it turned out to be arguably the worst decision they could have made.
It might have cost them their season, and the Broncos surely saw it happen in real time and took note of it. Jaguars rushers started the game with 99 yards on eight rushes, and then seemingly abandoned the run as a focal point of their offense. Once they were out of their rhythm on the ground, there was no turning back. It ended their season, and could do the same to the Broncos.
The Broncos need to make sure they don't abandon their running game against the Bills
The Buffalo Bills allowed the fifth-most rushing yards against in the NFL this season, and their defensive front was getting gashed early and often in Jacksonville. Even with the obvious successes, Liam Coen and his small-market team made the short-sighted decision to focus more on their passing attack, and it was effectively over from there. Over their final 15 rushes, most of which were out of an offensive rhythm, Buffalo ran for just 55 yards, an average of 3.6 yards per carry.
The Bills were given a chance to regain their footing up front, and they did not miss their chance. The Bills, a playoff-tested team, understood the chance they had in front of them and ran with it all the way to an impressive comeback victory over football's hottest team. If the Jaguars had kept to their strong running game against a poor Buffalo defense, the outcome of this game might have been very different.
The Jags' loss sends a strong message to the Broncos in preparation for this one: do not abandon RJ Harvey and the running game against the Bills. The Broncos have, if anything, stuck to their running attack too much in recent weeks, and it has almost cost them at times. If Sean Payton decides to abandon the rushing attack this week, it could lead to another quick exit for Denver.