DENVER — Ja’Quan McMillian intercepted Josh Allen’s deep throw in overtime, and Bo Nix led the Denver Broncos into position for Wil Lutz’s 23-yard field goal that sent them to the AFC championship game with a 33-30 win over the Buffalo Bills on Saturday.
McMillian’s pick was the Broncos’ fifth takeaway of the game — they went into the playoffs at minus-3 in turnover differential. McMillian wrested the ball away from Brandin Cooks at the Broncos 20-yard line when a field goal would have won the game for the Bills.
The Broncos (15-3) will face either the New England Patriots or Houston Texans for the AFC title Jan. 25 at Empower Field at Mile High, where top-seeded Denver has won 14 of its last 15 games.
But they’ll play without Nix, who suffered a broken right ankle on the Broncos’ second-to-last play in overtime. He’ll undergo surgery Tuesday and miss the remainder of the playoffs.
“We played a really good football team,” Nix said. “They played really well tonight. They gave us a great shot on a short week after a tough game last week, so hat’s off to them. We found a way to win again and our defense made stops and I’m just proud of our guys. I’m just proud of this organization. I’m proud of the way we compete, we fight.
“We’re just never out of it and I think that’s just the character piece. It wasn’t always pretty, we had a good lead and they came back and it wasn’t looking good, but the fourth quarter and overtime, we just found a way to win.”
Broncos coach Sean Payton lamented his sputtering offense and 1-for-4 performance in the red zone: “We weren’t good in the red zone. But we were good enough when it mattered.”
The Bills (13-6) were flagged for pass interference twice on the Broncos’ final drive.
Former Broncos kicker Matt Prater nailed a 50-yard field goal with 5 seconds left in regulation, knotting it at 30. That came after Nix’s 26-yard touchdown throw to Marvin Mims Jr. with 55 seconds left had given the Broncos a 30-27 lead.
Allen, who hadn’t turned the ball over in his previous six playoff appearances, threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles. P.J. Locke also picked off Allen.
“Extremely difficult,” a teary-eyed Allen said afterward. “I felt like I let my teammates down.”
The Bills failed once again to reach the Super Bowl with Allen under center even though Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson weren’t standing in his way this time as that trio of franchise quarterbacks all missed the postseason party.
Payton insisted the game should have ended earlier in overtime when a Broncos defender was held in the end zone before Allen escaped from the end zone on second-and-9 from his 8.
Coming off the first road playoff win of his career, Allen’s first three turnovers helped the Broncos build a 23-10 lead before he threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Keon Coleman and a 14-yarder to Dalton Kincaid to give the Bills a 24-23 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Allen also fumbled the ball at the Broncos 23 late in the fourth quarter, but right tackle Spencer Brown recovered the loose ball, setting up Prater’s 31-yarder for a 27-23 Bills lead.
Also in the second half, Allen threw an interception when P.J. Locke cut in front of wide receiver Curtis Samuel, who appeared to be wide open for what would have been a 43-yard touchdown.
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The Broncos scored 10 points in the final 22 seconds of the first half to take a 20-10 lead into the locker room, and they got their third takeaway just two plays into the second half on Bonitto’s strip-sack of Allen that was recovered by Malcolm Roach at the Bills 17, leading to Lutz’s short field goal to make it 23-10.
Nix’s 29-yard touchdown pass to Lil’Jordan Humphrey broke a 10-all tie, and then Bonitto stripped Allen of the ball after a long scramble up the middle. Devon Key recovered for the Broncos with 2 seconds left before halftime, and Lutz’s 50-yarder as the half expired made it 20-10.
The Broncos’ other touchdown in the first half came from an unlikely source. They went ahead 10-7 when Nix threw to tackle-eligible Frank Crum, a second-year pro from Wyoming, Allen’s alma mater. He caught the short pass and tumbled into the end zone for a 7-yard score.
James Cook ran for 117 yards on 24 carries but lost a fumble.
When the Broncos lost to the Bills 31-7 in Buffalo last playoffs, Payton said, “We have to figure out how to get these games at home.”
They did it by leading the league in sacks (68), tying a franchise record with 14 regular-season victories, winning 11 one-score games and having 11 comebacks.
“We weren’t ready last year,” Payton said. “But we were ready today.”