The Buffalo Bills find themselves in unfamiliar territory heading into Thanksgiving: comfortably in a playoff position with one of the best records the AFC.
The Bills improved to 8-3 for the first time since 1996, Jim Kelly’s final season with the team, with a workman-like 20-3 victory over the Denver Broncos. It took a while for the Bills’ offense to get going, but once they did they were able to pull away from a Denver team that never seriously threatened Buffalo in this game. The Bills racked up over 240 yards rushing and Josh Allen tossed a pair of touchdown passes, including a 34-yard rainbow to John Brown that should satisfy fans who have been calling for Allen to deliver on a deep ball.
Meanwhile, the Buffalo defense was dominant, holding Denver to just nine first downs and 134 total yards. Young Broncos’ signal caller Brandon Allen tallied just 82 passing yards on 25 attempts. The Bills also sacked him four times, and the yardage from those sacks brought Denver down to just 49 net passing yards for the day. The run defense also held Phillip Lindsay and company to just 85 yards on the ground.
There was little to criticize from a complete effort from this Bills’ team as they find themselves in strong position heading into the final stretch of the regular season. The schedule does get considerably tougher beginning on Thanksgiving Day Thursday in Dallas.
Here are four things we learned as the Bills won for the second week in a row to continue their playoff push: