The Broncos beat the Bills in overtime, and the Seahawks defeated the 49ers to advance to the conference championship
The Denver Broncos are headed to the AFC Championship Game for the first time since winning their last Super Bowl 10 years ago, but they won’t have Bo Nicks under center after their second-year quarterback. He broke his right ankle.
Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks will go to the NFC title game next He dominated the injury-riddled San Francisco 49ers.
Josh Allen And the Buffalo Bills failed again, with a questionable managerial role.
Wil Lutz kicked a 23-yard field goal in overtime to lift the Broncos to Win 33-30 On Saturday, it sent Denver to the conference title game for the 12th time in franchise history. The Broncos are 8-3 in those games.
The No. 1 seed Broncos (15-3) will host the winning Texas Patriots on January 25 at 3 p.m. EST. Seattle (15-3) will host the winner of the Rams-Bears in Sunday’s championship doubleheader.
The Broncos won’t have Knicks, who was injured in Denver’s recent series. Coach Sean Payton said the Knicks will undergo surgery on Tuesday. Jarrett Stidham, who has gone 1-3 in seven seasons, will start the AFC title game.
“I feel like I have a No. 2 (center) who can start for a few teams,” Payton said. “I know he feels the same way. So pay attention. Just watch.”
No. 2 seed New England (15-3) hosts No. 5 seed Houston (13-5) on Sunday, with the winner likely to be favored on the road against the Broncos. In the NFC, No. 2 seed Chicago (12-6) is the underdog at home against No. 5 seed Los Angeles (13-5) in Game 2 on Sunday.
The Seahawks got a 95-yard touchdown return from Rashid Shahid to open the game and never trailed in a 41-6 (13-6) rout of San Francisco. Seattle’s stingy defense held Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey and the Niners to 236 yards and forced three turnovers.
“They’re unbelievable,” Darnold said of the defense. “They’ve stepped up every game for us. I can’t say enough great things about this defense. It’s been tough in training camp and in OTAs against them. But I’m glad they’re on our side.”
It’s Seattle’s fifth trip to the conference title game and first in 11 years. The Seahawks won 3-1, losing their first appearance back in the AFC.
Denver’s last AFC Championship win came in Peyton Manning’s final season. The Broncos defeated Tom Brady and the New England Patriots 20-18 on January 25, 2016. The stifling defense shut down Cam Newton and led Denver to a 24-10 Super Bowl victory.
Allen and the Bills (13-6) were once again denied the chance to win the franchise’s first Lombardi Trophy. Buffalo has been eliminated from the divisional or tournament rounds in six straight seasons under Allen and coach Sean McDermott.
Allen and Nix exchanged go-ahead passes in the fourth quarter and Buffalo’s Matt Prater kicked a 50-yard touchdown to send it into overtime.
After the Broncos punted on the opening drive, Allen threw a deep pass to Brandin Cooks that would have put the Bills in field goal range, but JaQuan McMillian snatched it away for an interception as both players fell to the ground.
Officials quickly reviewed the play and upheld the call, a decision that McDermott criticized after the game. The Broncos took over at 20 years old.
“It was a fairly quick revelation of the review, if there was one, so I asked for an extension to try to slow it down,” McDermott said. “It would make a lot of sense to me and it would make a lot of sense for the head official to come in and want to go and take a look at it. … That’s a pretty big play, in my estimation, bigger than the play that decided the game, and maybe even, not to slow it down. … I stand up for us. What happened, that’s not how it should go in my estimation. These guys spend three hours out there playing football, doing the best they can.” So we don’t say, “Hey, let’s slow this down.” That’s why I’m upset.”
Two pass interference penalties on Buffalo gave the Broncos 47 yards and set up Lutz’s winning kick. Tre’davious White, who was called for the second that moved the ball to the Buffalo 8, threw his helmet to the ground in disgust during the argument and received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
Since the NFL expanded the playoff field to 14 teams in 2020, only one team in each conference gets a bye. Those No. 1 seeds are now 9-3 in the divisional round. The 2022 Chiefs are the only No. 1 seed to win a Super Bowl in that span.
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