Going into divisional weekend, there were seven games remaining this season. Now, we’re down to five.
On Saturday, the Bills and Broncos played an instant classic in Denver, with the home side winning 33–30 in overtime on Wil Lutz’s 23-yard field goal. Josh Allen committed four turnovers, including two interceptions, one of which proved the final play of his 2025 season. The Broncos now advance to the AFC championship game for the first time since 2015, when they went on to win Super Bowl 50.
However, they will be doing it without quarterback Bo Nix, who fractured a bone in his ankle in the final moments of overtime. With Nix sidelined for the rest of the season, Jarrett Stidham is in line to start.
“On the second-to-last play in overtime, Bo fractured a bone in his right ankle,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said after the game. “He’s scheduled to have surgery Tuesday of this week, which will put him out for the rest of the season. (Backup Jarrett) Stidham is ready to go.”
In the nightcap, Sam Darnold and the top-seeded Seahawks demolished the injury-ravaged 49ers, winning 41–6. Seattle rushed for 175 yards and Kenneth Walker III scored three times, while the defense limited Christian McCaffrey to 74 total yards. Seattle now awaits the winner of Rams-Bears on Sunday evening.
Speaking of Sunday, the Patriots will host the Texans, who scored more points on defense than they gave up a week ago. In the late game, the Rams will face the Bears in frigid Chicago with the final spot on championship weekend on the line.
But we start with the overtime thriller in Denver, led by the Broncos’ defense making the big plays in the big moments.
Good: Broncos’ defense thrives in massive moments
The Broncos struggled to stop the Bills all night. They didn’t force a punt. They allowed 449 yards on 5.8 yards per play. Josh Allen accounted for 349 yards while James Cook II ran wild with 117 yards on 24 carries.
And yet, Denver found a way to win primarily because its defense continually gave the offense advantageous positions. The Broncos forced five turnovers, all of which were massive.
The first came with Buffalo driving for a score already leading 7–3, when Cook fumbled deep in Denver territory. The next was a Josh Allen interception, which led to a field goal. Then, on the penultimate play of the first half, Allen fumbled on a reckless scramble, resulting in three more points for the Broncos.
The final takeaway was a brilliant interception in overtime by Ja’Quan McMillian, turning an easy Bills field goal attempt for the win into a possession for the Broncos. From there, Bo Nix drove Denver 75 yards in six plays for Lutz’s game-winner.
In a game when the Broncos’ defense was a sieve on so many plays, they made the biggest plays when it mattered most.
Bad: The feeling in Buffalo after another gut-punch postseason loss
Everyone in Buffalo has to be sick. If they aren’t, they don’t know the score of the game yet.
For the seventh consecutive year, the Bills made the playoffs. For the seventh consecutive year, they failed to reach the Super Bowl. This failure is especially galling as Buffalo’s bogeyman, Patrick Mahomes, didn’t make the playoffs. Instead of having to beat Mahomes and a team that knocked Buffalo out in four of the past five seasons, the Bills needed to beat Bo Nix and a slightly favored Broncos team to reach the conference title game. They failed to do it.
At some point, one wonders what Buffalo has to do. The Bills have been so close for so long with a generational talent at quarterback, and the results haven’t been there in January. The offseason brings a host of questions, including how general manager Brandon Beane can add some perimeter weapons and fix Buffalo’s 28th-ranked run defense.
But for now, the feeling in Buffalo is despair, which has become all too familiar with this version of the Bills come playoff time.
Ugly: Josh Allen needed to be much better for the Bills
Allen passed for 283 yards and three touchdowns, along with 66 rushing yards, but his miscues cost the Bills a chance to move on.
The reigning MVP had four turnovers, including one of the more confounding ones in recent memory when he fumbled at the end of the first half with no upside to note. In a game where Buffalo’s defense gave the Bills a chance to win, Allen and the offense made too many errors to get it done.
For Buffalo, things will only get more challenging. The Chiefs will likely bounce back. The same is true for the Ravens and their next coach. The Patriots look like they could be AFC East contenders for the foreseeable future under Mike Vrabel. Then there’s Buffalo’s roster, which is projected to be $11.6 million over the cap this winter, with the only likely, big-savings cut to be tight end Dawson Knox.
Next season, Allen will be 30. He’s entering the conversation for the greatest quarterback never to win the Super Bowl. At this point, he’s already toward the top of any list naming greats to never reach Super Sunday, alongside Lamar Jackson, Dan Fouts, Warren Moon and others.
It’s not a list Allen wants to be on. And if both he and the Bills are ever going to reach their ultimate goal, his mistakes have to be far more limited.
Good: Seattle looks like the NFL’s best team
The Seahawks have done nothing but prove themselves over the past month. In Week 16 against the Rams, in a game for the NFC West lead and the NFC’s top seed, Seattle overcame a 30–14, fourth-quarter deficit to win in overtime. Two weeks later, in another game with the NFC West and home-field advantage on the line, Seattle dominated the 49ers, 13–3.
On Saturday, the Seahawks made their loudest statement yet. Spending the morning concerned about whether quarterback Sam Darnold could play due to an injured oblique, Seattle pounded San Francisco in every way.
The Seahawks held the 49ers to 236 total yards, had a 1.5 yards per play advantage and did it all with Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Rashid Shaheed and Zach Charbonnet combining for 66 offensive yards.
Of course, Shaheed can’t be ignored for his impact on special teams. In the aforementioned game against the Rams, Shaheed sparked the comeback with a punt-return touchdown. In the divisional round, Shaheed ran 95 yards with the opening kickoff for a score.
If Seattle plays like this going forward, it’ll win its second Super Bowl.
Bad: The chances for any team trying to run on Seattle
If a team tries to beat the Seahawks by pounding the ball, best of luck to them.
Seattle led the league in the regular season, allowing only 3.7 yards per carry, and continued to dominate in the divisional round. San Francisco amassed six points while rushing for only 64 yards on 3.0 yards per carry by nonquarterbacks.
Through 18 games, no running back has rushed for more than 91 yards on the Seahawks, with Kyren Williams doing that in Week 11. Of course, Williams could be the familiar face Seattle sees next Sunday with a Super Bowl appearance on the line, against a Rams team that had a rushing success rate this season of more than 50%.
Regardless, nobody has done a better job of turning opponents into a one-dimensional attack. It’s been a winning strategy for coach Mike Macdonald and his defense.
Ugly: All the injuries that robbed the 49ers of a chance
Maybe the Seahawks would have rolled the 49ers no matter what. Maybe San Francisco was going to be a speed bump for a better team, even with a healthy roster. We’ll never know.
The Niners have spent the entire season as the walking wounded. They’ve been without Brandon Aiyuk all year, and both Nick Bosa and Fred Warner for most of the season. In the playoffs, they were also without George Kittle for the final six quarters after he tore his Achilles in the wild-card round. Additionally, Ricky Pearsall, Trent Williams, Brock Purdy and others missed ample time this season.
Of course, injuries and the test of depth is a part of NFL life. But for San Francisco to win 12 games and reach the final eight even with those challenges is something worth remembering. It’s also correct to marvel at the job done by Kyle Shanahan, who even with two Super Bowl appearances on his résumé could claim this season as his best work.
The Niners, like every team, have many questions facing them this offseason. But provided San Francisco retains its core, it should be back once again.
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
- Broncos’ Defense Gives Them a Chance Even Without Bo Nix
- Emotional Bills Players Defend Josh Allen After Heartbreaking Loss to Broncos
- Sean Payton Shares Inspiring Message He Gave Bo Nix After Devastating Injury
- Kenneth Walker III Joins Seahawks Legend With Historic Three-Touchdown Game
This article was originally published on www.si.com as 2025 NFL Divisional Round Good, Bad and Ugly: Broncos Survive, While Seahawks Roll.
