DENVER — On a rare Saturday game, the Buffalo Bills are on the verge on clinching the AFC East division for the first time since 1995.
That title that was earned by the New England Patriots for the past decade, but the Bills (10-3) will own it if they pull off a win over the Broncos (5-8) in Denver.
The Bills 24-year-old quarterback Josh Allen was still months from being alive the last time Buffalo won the division.
"This division has been dominated by a team in Foxboro for a long time," Allen said of the Patriots.
"They've had a lot of a sustained success and that's kind of the mold. That's what people want to be. How they do it and how they've done it is what people want to do," added Allen.
The game will go on as scheduled after the Broncos closed their headquarters and canceled their day-before-game walkthrough practice Friday after learning strength and conditioning Loren Landow had tested positive for COVID-19.
Landow, more than any other Broncos coach, works closely with each player on a daily basis as he trains the team pre-and post-practice. In this case, “closely” means at a social distance, as his contact tracing came up clean – no high-risk, close contacts were determined.
The Bills defense will go up against a young quarterback in Drew Lock, who is trying to lead his struggling Broncos to their sixth win of the season.
Lock is coming off his best game this season, against the Carolina Panthers, where he was 21-of-27 passing for 280 yards and four touchdowns.
Lock throws the ball downfield more than any quarterback in the league, and for this Bills secondary, this is a game where they hope they can capitalize on takeaways.
"They have to live on explosive plays, so he is going to try and push the ball down the field," Bills safety Jordan Poyer said.
"Our mindset when that happens, we will have opportunities in the air for us. We have to be on our P's and Q's on the back end communication-wise, understanding where guys are, and who his targets are," added Poyer.
"Then when they do take those shots, we have to be in position to makes plays on them. Its going to be a test for us," said Poyer.
The Broncos' win last weekend marked Lock’s first game without an interception since September 20.
The teams will see how the young quarterback can stand against this Bills secondary who contains an all-pro corner in Tre'Davious White, who Lock is very familiar with. The two played against each other in college when White was at LSU and Lock at Missouri.
The Broncos will play the Buffalo Bills on Saturday as scheduled at Empower Field at Mile High with kickoff at 4:30 p.m EST.
One player you won't see on the field Saturday is John Brown. Bills wide receiver Brown has also been ruled out for Saturday's game, said Bills coach Sean McDermott to WGR 550 on Thursday.
Brown has been cleared to practice after missing three games with an ankle injury. He is expected to return from injured reserve before the New England Patriots game on December 28.
