Broncos @ Bills · Week 12

WEEK 12 · FINAL

THE READ

Bills beat Broncos, 28-24

Bills got it done 28-24 over Broncos. Bo Nix was steady for Broncos — 25/43, 270 yards, 2 TD — in a losing effort. Josh Allen threw for Bills — 21/32, 271 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. Make it 3 consecutive games past 250 for Bo Nix. Total yards: Bills 397, Broncos 338.

The Wire · league beat

THE WIDER PICTURE

Team	SRS	SOS	MARGIN	TO +/-
Broncos	-5.7	+3.0	-8.6	-11
Bills	+1.5	-2.1	+3.6	+11

SRS is how many points a side beats an average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20. SOS is how hard that schedule has been. Full table.

Bills — AFC #4 · division · 8-6 Playoff picture →

IN THE BOOTH

Jaylen Rivers The insider

Buffalo's passing game—Nix clearing 250 three straight and Waddle doing the same at 100—was too much for Denver's defense to match, and that's the difference in a 4-point game where the Bills stay division winners and the Broncos keep sinking.

Zoe Bell The contrarian · replying

Josh Allen threw one ball away and still nearly lost to a team that will pick 2nd overall—that's not a referendum on him, it's a referendum on what happens when your run game (126 yards) finally shows up and the other guy's doesn't (68).

They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers — none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that did not happen.

Bo Nix

Broncos

25/43, 270 yards, 2 TD

Josh Allen

Bills

21/32, 271 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT

James Cook III

Bills

15 carries, 102 yards, 2 TD

THE STORY SO FAR

🔥 Bo Nix has now cleared 250 passing yards in 3 straight games.

🔥 Jaylen Waddle has now cleared 100 receiving yards in 3 straight games.

⭐ James Cook III has not had a better afternoon this season.

📉 RJ Harvey is still searching for it: 45 rushing yards a game across his last three, against an average of 63.

WHAT DECIDED IT

Total yards Bills 397, Broncos 338 Bills

On the ground Bills 126, Broncos 68 Bills

Through the air Bills 271, Broncos 270 Bills

Giveaways Bills 1, Broncos 0 Broncos

THE ROOM Final. The recap is below.

📺 THE WEEK 12 SHOW this game is in the week's show ▶ Watch the show

THE MATCHUP SCOUT every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling

LEAGUE DATA counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it

Pass-heavy Pass 66% · Rush 34% · 26.0 scored, 34.6 allowed

8.0 yds/att 59.6% completions 4.2 yds/carry 346.1 yds/game 2.0 giveaways/game 5.4% sack rate last 5: 1-4

Primary weapon: Jaylen Waddle WR — 35% of the receiving yards · DEPENDENCY HIGH

SAPPHIRE METRICS QB efficiency 56 · Aggressive Balance 84 Ball security 44 Back usage 30% QB runs 2.1/game

Most exposed: ball security -- 2.0 giveaways a game

PERSONNEL off the roster — unit averages, best starters only

QB 89 WR 87 TE 78 RB 84 OL 87 DL 89 LB 81 DB 89

Best: Patrick Surtain II CB 99 Fastest: Jaylen Waddle WR 96 SPD 4 at star dev or better

YOUR NOTEBOOK what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic

HOW THEY PLAY the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season

Ant

Bills · his last 8 games

Runs it Runs the quarterback

Pass / run55% / 45% Points for / against20.1 — 20.9 Margin-0.8 Giveaways a game1.5 Sacks taken7.8% of dropbacks Lead backJames Cook III · 13.2/g Top targetDJ Moore · 26% QB carries5.1 a game

Lions 🦁

Broncos · his last 8 games

Throws it Gives it away One back One target

Pass / run65% / 35% Points for / against20.4 — 31.6 Margin-11.2 Giveaways a game2.0 Sacks taken5.7% of dropbacks Lead backRJ Harvey · 13.8/g Top targetJaylen Waddle · 39% QB carries1.9 a game

Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.

THE SERIES Lions 🦁 against Ant — the men, not the teams

Ant leads it 1-0. Ant won the last one.

1 meeting avg 24.0 — 28.0 biggest: 4 pts to Ant

S2 · week 12 Lions 🦁 24 — 28 Ant ANT

Only meetings Sapphire can attribute to both men are counted — a Madden export never says who owned a team last season, so the series starts where the record does.

MATCHUP ADVANTAGES unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push

Broncos receivers vs Bills secondary 87 v 88 EVEN

Bills receivers vs Broncos secondary 86 v 89 BRONCOS

Broncos line vs Bills front 87 v 86 EVEN

Bills line vs Broncos front 80 v 89 BRONCOS

Broncos backs vs Bills run defence 84 v 84 EVEN

Bills backs vs Broncos run defence 91 v 86 BILLS

Broncos passer vs Bills secondary 89 v 88 EVEN

Bills passer vs Broncos secondary 99 v 89 BILLS

TOP PERFORMERS

Josh Allen QB Bills 271 pass yds

Bo Nix QB Broncos 270 pass yds

DJ Moore WR Bills 108 rec yds

James Cook III HB Bills 102 rush yds

Jaylen Waddle WR Broncos 102 rec yds

Cooper Kupp WR Bills 92 rec yds

Courtland Sutton WR Broncos 57 rec yds

RJ Harvey HB Broncos 56 rush yds

Justin Joly TE Broncos 50 rec yds

Jahdae Barron CB Broncos 1 INTs

🎬 The Game Recap
this game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›

BOX SCORE

BRONCOS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Bo Nix QB	25/43	270	2	0	2	24	92.1

BILLS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Josh Allen QB	21/32	271	1	1	1	70	89.4

BRONCOS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG
RJ Harvey HB	15	56	3.7	1	1	13	19
Bo Nix QB	5	8	1.6	0	0	0	7
Adam Trautman TE	1	4	4	0	0	0	4
Jaylen Waddle WR	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Courtland Sutton WR	0	0	0	0	1	0	0

BILLS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG
James Cook III HB	15	102	6.8	2	4	55	28
Ray Davis HB	6	13	2.2	0	0	0	5
Josh Allen QB	8	11	1.4	1	0	0	6
DJ Moore WR	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Cooper Kupp WR	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
Khalil Shakir WR	0	0	0	0	1	0	0

BRONCOS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	DRP	LNG
Jaylen Waddle WR	6	102	17	1	15	0	24
Courtland Sutton WR	6	57	9.5	0	16	1	13
Justin Joly TE	5	50	10	0	21	0	13
Troy Franklin WR	3	32	10.7	0	8	0	19
Evan Engram TE	2	20	10	0	5	1	15
RJ Harvey HB	3	9	3	1	9	0	7

BILLS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	DRP	LNG
DJ Moore WR	4	108	27	1	68	0	70
Cooper Kupp WR	7	92	13.1	0	11	0	30
Khalil Shakir WR	5	38	7.6	0	10	0	13
Dalton Kincaid TE	4	25	6.2	0	9	1	9
James Cook III HB	1	8	8	0	4	0	8

BRONCOS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	INT	PD	CMP ALW
Red Murdock WILL	6	0.5	0	0	4
Jonathon Cooper LEDG	5	0	0	0	0
Alex Singleton MIKE	5	0	0	0	2
Ja'Quan McMillian CB	4	0.5	0	0	2
Patrick Surtain II CB	3	0	0	1	2
Miles Scott FS	3	0	0	0	2
Devin White WILL	3	0	0	0	2
Jahdae Barron CB	3	0	1	0	5
Nik Bonitto REDG	2	0	0	0	0
Talanoa Hufanga SS	2	0	0	0	1
Zach Allen DT	2	0	0	0	0
Tyler Onyedim DT	2	0	0	0	0
Christian Wilkins DT	2	0	0	0	0
Chris Cole WILL	1	0	0	0	0
Kris Abrams-Draine CB	1	0	0	0	1

BILLS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	PD	CMP ALW
Terrel Bernard MIKE	13	0	3	5
Marlon Humphrey CB	7	0	1	7
Davison Igbinosun CB	4	0	0	2
T.J. Parker REDG	3	0.5	0	1
Christian Benford CB	3	0	0	4
Anthony Smith DT	3	0.5	0	0
Chidobe Awuzie CB	2	0	0	1
Dorian Williams WILL	2	0	0	2
Cole Bishop FS	2	0.5	1	2
Ahmad Moten Sr DT	1	0	0	0
Sam Franklin Jr FS	1	0	0	0
Geno Stone FS	1	0	0	0
C.J. Gardner-Johnson SS	1	0	0	1
Ed Oliver DT	1	0.5	0	0

BRONCOS

PLAYER	FG	XP	LNG
Wil Lutz K	1/1	3/3	27

BILLS

nothing recorded

RECENT FORM

Broncos

L 27–30 vs Bears WK 11

L 27–30 vs Bengals WK 9

L 13–51 vs Raiders WK 8

Bills

W 42–19 vs Jets WK 11

L 17–31 vs Titans WK 10

L 13–24 vs Texans WK 9

TEAM STATS

Broncos		Bills
338	TOTAL YARDS	397
270	PASSING YARDS	271
68	RUSHING YARDS	126
2	SACKS ALLOWED	1
1	SACKS MADE	2
0	GIVEAWAYS	1
1	TAKEAWAYS	0

Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD

0 BRONCOS — 1 BILLS

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