Here's a quarter by quarter look at the Buffalo Bills' 48-19 victory over the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High on Saturday.
First quarter
Theme: Bills offensive machine hums.
Good scripting: The Bills marched 59 yards in 13 plays for a first-drive TD. It was the fourth time in the last six games the Bills have scored a TD on their opening drive. In one of the other two, they drove to the 49ers’ 1-yard line.
Old rookie: Denver's Taylor Russolino, 31, waited a long time for his first field goal try, which was way wide right from 51 yards. Russolino, subbing for Brandon McManus (on the Covid-19 list), left college in 2010 and bounced around minor leagues since, including the Chinese indoor league (with the Shanghai Skywalkers).
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The Buffalo Bills’ star receiver entered Saturday’s game against the Denver Broncos needing a single catch to set the franchise single-season record. Diggs got it on the very first offensive play.
New No. 1: Stefon Diggs’ catch on the Bills’ first play was his 101st. It broke the single-season catches record he held with Eric Moulds, who had 100 in 2000.
Six good years: Denver back Melvin Gordon became the ninth active NFL back with 7,000 scrimmage yards and the 12th active back with 5,000 rushing yards.
Fast starts: The Bills have outscored foes 87-43 in the first quarter. Denver is the fourth-lowest scoring team in the first quarter, with just 44 points.
Second quarter
Theme: A rare mistake by Andre Roberts.
Big muff: Roberts, the Bills’ veteran punt returner, muffed a punt return to give Denver the ball at the Buffalo 35. It led to a TD that pulled Denver within 14-7.
Man coverage killer: Josh Allen ran 24 yards up the middle of the field against man coverage for a touchdown. It was his longest run of the season.
Boomer: Corey Bojorquez took advantage of the thin mountain air to boom a 50-yard punt with a monstrous 5.5-second hang time to pin the Broncos deep in their own territory.
Bills fans finally can break out some AFC East champions gear after their team Saturday clinched the division title for the first time since 1995.
For naught: Josh Allen executed a pretty Statue of Liberty play, faking a pass to the right and handing off behind his back to Devin Singletary for a 5-yard TD run. It was wiped out by a holding penalty on Ike Boettger.
First catch: Jake Kumerow, the pride of Division III Wisconsin Whitewater, made his first Bills catch, a 22-yard TD to give the Bills a 21-7 lead.
Good scoring: The Bills have outscored foes 133-88 in the second quarter and 213-131 in the first half this year. The Bills are the ninth-best first-half scoring team.
Third quarter
Theme: Bills blow it open.
Defensive TD: For the second straight week, the Bills got a defensive touchdown, as Jerry Hughes scooped up a fumble by Drew Lock and returned it 21 yards for a touchdown. Tre’Davious White forced the fumble on a sack. It made the score 35-13.
Zebra report: The Bills got a fortunate spot at the Denver 1-yard line on a 7-yard pass to Gabriel Davis for a first down. But they might have gotten a bad spot on a third-and-4 pass to Stefon Diggs later in the quarter that was ruled a yard short. Then Zack Moss got the yard on fourth down, was ruled short, and the TV replays were deemed inconclusive.
Red zone: The Bills had three penalties in the red zone in the quarter and six penalties inside the Denver 30 for the first three quarters.
Moving up: Josh Allen ended the quarter with 3,917 passing yards, moving past Jim Kelly for second best single-season total in team history.
Third totals: The Bills now have been outscored only 94-78 in the third quarter. The Bills are 31-0 in the third the last two weeks, with a yardage edge of 314-40.
Fourth quarter
Theme: A blowout clinches the division.
Matchup watch: The Broncos were without five of their top seven cornerbacks, including their two starters. As expected, the Bills feasted. Stefon Diggs had 147 receiving yards, Cole Beasley 112.
Clock eating: For the second week in a row, the Bills ate up clock with the ground game. A 12-play, 86-yard drive to a field goal ate up 7:46.
Shut down: Denver’s two speed receivers were held to just one catch apiece. Jerry Jeudy and K.J. Hamler each had just one reception.
Series: The Bills lead the series 23-16-1. It was the third meeting in the last four years, and the Bills have won all three.
Through 14: The Bills moved to 11-3, their best record through 14 games since 1991, when they were 12-2.
Twenty: The Bills extended their team record by hitting 20 first downs for a 13th straight game.
Chasing Drew: With 359 passing yards, Josh Allen has 4,000 and needs 360 yards over the final two games to break Drew Bledsoe’s single-season passing record, set in 2002. Allen easily passed Tyrod Taylor’s career total (8,857) for sixth most passing yards in team history.
