On a frigid, blustery Sunday last January, one prevailing thought racked Sean Payton’s mind after the Bills ran over his Broncos in Orchard Park, New York. We have to figure out how to play this game at home. They did, in a 14-3 run to the AFC’s No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout th e playoffs. And they’ll now face that same foe this weekend that Payton wished Denver could’ve seen on their home turf. On Saturday, the Broncos will take on the Bills and star quarterback Josh Allen in the AFC divisional round, in a rematch of last season’s 31-7 wild-card loss. Buffalo clinched the matchup against the top-seeded Broncos by knocking off the No. 3-seeded Jacksonville Jaguars 27-24 on Sunday, behind another virtuoso performance from MVP quarterback Allen: 28-of-35 passing for 273 yards and three total touchdowns. The Broncos were set to take on the lowest-seeded AFC winner from this weekend’s wild-card matchups, and their matchup against Buffalo was sealed after the No. 7-seeded Los Angeles Chargers fell 16-3 to the Patriots on Sunday night. Buffalo is a tough matchup, an organization desperate for a Super Bowl appearance after six straight seasons of AFC playoff exits under head coach Sean McDermott. The Broncos hung tougher with the Bills than last season’s wild-card result showed, as Denver trailed 13-7 late in the third quarter before a fourth-down touchdown grab by Tyler Johnson was upheld and flipped the game on its head. A year later, Denver will now see Buffalo in the first playoff game the city’s hosted since January 2016, when the Broncos advanced to an eventual Super Bowl win by beating Tom Brady and the New England Patriots 20-18. Now, to reach those same heights they did a decade ago, Denver will have to solve another generational quarterback in Allen — who’s proved largely impossible to solve since ascending to an All-Pro in 2020. Allen made mincemeat of Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph’s unit in January of last year, going 20-of-26 for 272 yards and two touchdowns. Running back James Cook is a force, too, powering his way for 120 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries in that wild-card matchup. Denver brings in a more polished version of quarterback Bo Nix, though, who now has a playoff game and a sophomore season of late-game comebacks under his belt. The Broncos opened Sunday night as 1.5-point favorites over Buffalo. Payton and his staff can now start game-planning for a specific opponent, after Denver spent Friday and Saturday practices in general offense-on-defense work rather than try and prepare for four different potential playoff matchups. And Payton and Denver will have the benefit of rest against Buffalo, with the Bills flying to Denver on a short week for Saturday’s game. Materially, these Broncos and Bills teams aren’t worlds different from their 2024 selves, beyond a few key pieces. But Denver now has the full benefit of Empower Field, which has reached an energy this season not felt since the days of Peyton Manning. “Last year, it was our first taste of it going into the playoffs as a wild card team,” cornerback Pat Surtain said Friday. “But now we have home-field advantage, which is different.” 2026 NFL playoffs brackets, seeds, schedules, TV times, results and more The .Related Articles Jake Plummer loves this Broncos team, blasts fans for booing AFC’s top seed | Renck Broncos designate ILB Drew Sanders for return off injured reserve 4 Denver Broncos earn first-team Associated Press All-Pro, including trio in the trenches Ex-Broncos standouts Josey Jewell, Justin Simmons hope Denver can ‘make it all the way’ Grading The Week: Broncos, Sean Payton can afford to lose Davis Webb or Jim Leonhard. But not both. Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis. ...read more read less