Josh Allen was intercepted in overtime before Wil Lutz kicked a 24-yard-field goal as the Denver Broncos beat the Buffalo Bills 33-30 to reach the AFC Championship Game on Saturday.Â
Denver celebrations were dealt a crushing blow later in the evening when head coach Sean Payton announced starting quarterback Bo Nix will miss the remainder of the postseason after suffering a broken ankle that requires surgery.
Jarrett Stidham is instead primed to start when the Broncos, who had arrived off a bye week as the AFC's No 1 seed, host either the New England Patriots or the Houston Texans for a place at Super Bowl LX in next Sunday's AFC title showdown.
Nix finished the game 26 of 46 for 279 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, suffering the injury on the penultimate play of overtime, according to Payton.
Allen's latest instalment of playoff agony meanwhile saw him go 25 of 39 for 283 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions as his Bills were beaten in the Divisional Round for the fourth time in the last five years.
Ja'Quan McMillian snatched the ball from Brandin Cooks to pick off Allen's deep shot at Denver's own 20-yard line in overtime, paving the way for Nix to put his team in game-winning field goal range.
Taron Johnson surrendered a 17-yard pass interference penalty against Courtland Sutton to put Denver on Buffalo's 36, before Marvin Mims Jr drew a 30-yard pass interference call against Tre'Davious White to set up Lutz's decisive chip shot.
Stats leaders:
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Nix thought he may have won it with 55 seconds left in regulation when he delivered a perfect throw to connect with Marvin Mims Jr for a 26-yard touchdown to earn Denver a 30-27 lead.
Matt Prater then sent the game to overtime when he kicked a 50-yard field goal with five seconds left in the fourth quarter to make it 30-30.
The Bills turned the ball over five times in the game, with Nik Bonitto responsible for two forced fumbles and a sack.
The first saw Alex Singleton's hit dislodge the ball from the hands of James Cook before Denver converted his fumble into a seven-yard trick-play touchdown pass to offensive lineman Frank Crum for a 10-7 lead in the second quarter.
A frantic sequence at the end of the first half saw Nix connect with Lil'Jordan Humphrey for a 29-yard touchdown to complete a two-minute drill, before Devon Key pounced on an Allen fumble with two seconds left to tee up Lutz's 50-yard field goal for a 20-10 lead at the break.
Allen fumbled again out the blocks at the start of the third quarter after a blindside strip-sack from Bonitto, the Bills defense, though, holding the Broncos to a 33-yard Lutz kick.
The first of 17 unanswered points for the Bills arrived when Keon Coleman dove for the goalline to seal a 10-yard touchdown, before Nix and Allen exchanged interceptions in the space of three plays on back-to-back possessions.
Buffalo led 24-23 early in the fourth quarter when Allen produced a perfectly-placed 14-yard touchdown strike to Dalton Kincaid on third-and-eight at the end of a nine-play 85-yard drive. The Bills then pushed their advantage to 27-23 through Prater's 31-yard field goal.
"He is just so calm and composed," Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II told Your Site NFL of quarterback Nix. "He's so confident in himself, so confident in his team, when we were down he was rallying guys saying we've got this, that's the utmost respect to him. He's got that clutch factor."
Saturday marked the first time the Broncos have hosted a playoff game at Mile High since on their way to victory at Super Bowl 50 a decade ago. It had been at Levi's Stadium where they defeated the Carolina Panthers, and it will be Levi's Stadium where they hope to compete for another ring on February 8.
"It feels good," Surtain continued. "I'm forever grateful for this team and organisation. We've been through a lot of stuff, to get to this point, it's destined for us.
"We've still got work to do. I'm proud of this whole defense, we stepped up when needed to and that's what we do.
"It's going to take a tremendous amount of effort. We know we've got to correct some stuff, it wasn't perfect. We're still so dangerous, we still have room to grow and opportunity to get better."
Watch every minute of the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium live on Your Site NFL.
