ESPN Delivers Exciting Revelation to Broncos Ahead of Bills Wildcard Game

The Denver Broncos loved hearing this.

Nov 10, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) talks with head coach Sean Payton against the Kansas City Chiefs prior to a game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

The Denver Broncos enter the Wildcard Round of the playoffs as heavy underdogs to the Buffalo Bills. As the No. 7 seed in the AFC, the Broncos are 8.5-point dogs to the No. 2-seeded Bills.

While that might seem discouraging, the underdog has traditionally fared quite well in the Wildcard Round of the NFL playoffs. ESPN's Adam Schefter illustrated just how well on Thursday, citing Paul Hembekides.

"Per @PaulHembo: Underdogs are 69-105 all-time on Wild Card weekend, an average of 1.5 upsets per season. At least one underdog has won a game in the Wild Card round in 40 of the 46 seasons dating to 1978," Schefter posted on X.

Per @PaulHembo: Underdogs are 69-105 all-time on Wild Card weekend, an average of 1.5 upsets per season.

At least one underdog has won a game in the Wild Card round in 40 of the 46 seasons dating to 1978.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 9, 2025

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The Broncos embody the spirit of the underdog, and it could serve them well on the road in Upstate New York. The Bills have to manage the weight and expectations of being highly seeded in the playoffs once again and hosting a team in the playoffs. That sometimes results in a team playing too tight and pressing against a looser, more carefree opponent with less to lose.

Meanwhile, the Broncos are playing with house money. Led by a rookie quarterback and bogged down by $92 million in dead money on the salary cap, nobody expected Denver to be in the tournament, so if channeled correctly by head coach Sean Payton and the team's locker room leaders, that upstart vibe could serve them well.

In the playoffs, anything can happen, which is why NFL teams coveted one of the 14 spots. After four Super Bowl losses, the 1997 Broncos entered the playoffs as a Wildcard team, though, not always an underdog.

That team would run the gamut, vanquishing all AFC playoff opponents to qualify for Super Bowl XXXII vs. the defending World Champion Green Bay Packers. Mr. MVP, Brett Favre, was heavily favored to defeat John Elway's can't-get-over-the-hump Broncos. But Denver shocked the world, tasting the Lombardi Trophy for the first time ever.

Tim Tebow's 2011 Broncos backed into the playoffs on a three-game losing streak. That bought them the opportunity to host the defending AFC Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, who were set up as eight-point road favorites. The Broncos sent the Steelers home empty-handed.

The Broncos were also 5.5-point underdogs in Super Bowl 50 vs. the Carolina Panthers. We all know how that panned out.

By the time the 2015 Broncos made it to the Super Bowl, they'd defeated two very good AFC teams and were battle-tested, despite being underdogs. The 2024 Broncos are completely untested relative to the postseason, with the exception of Payton, who won a Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints in 2009.

Payton has plenty of experience coaching in the playoffs. If the 2024 Broncos are going to become the 70th team in NFL history to upset an opponent in the Wildcard Round, Payton's playoff experience will have to come to bear.

Bo Nix is a rookie, and the Broncos, as a team, are quite young. Will that youthful exuberance and hubris serve them well? Or is it a kind of competitive ignorance about to become educated by the reality check of playoff intensity?

Time will tell. But remember, those playoff upsets happen at least once per year, on average. Why not the Broncos?

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