Game analysis and result of Broncos shocking win over Bills on last-second field goal (2024)

By Nick Kosmider, Tim Graham and Joe Buscaglia

Wil Lutz hit a game-winning 36-yard field goal as time expired to give the Denver Broncos a 24-22 win over the Buffalo Bills on the road Monday night. Here’s what you need to know:

• Lutz initially missed a 41-yard attempt in the final seconds but the Bills had 12 men on the field.
• Trailing 22-21 with 1:55 remaining, Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson led a 10-play, 57-yard drive that culminated in the go-ahead kick. He finished 24-of-29 passing for 193 yards and two touchdowns. Buffalo QB Josh Allen was 15-of-26 passing for 177 yards and two touchdowns (one rushing, one throwing) but also had two interceptions and a lost fumble.
• Safety Damar Hamlin, who recovered from a cardiac arrest suffered during a game last season, made his second appearance of the season for Buffalo.
• This is Denver’s first three-game winning streak since 2021. The Broncos improved to 4-5 while the Bills dropped to 5-5.

Read more here.

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Josh Allen, having committed at least one turnover in his sixth-straight game, was asked Monday night if he was enduring the most difficult stretch of his NFL career.

He sat there, a lump. We’ve seen this forlorn and helpless version of him a few times this season. Long gone is that smirking gunslinger, whose sass used to make teammates whoop and fans swoon. There’s no sparkle in his eye, not like we saw last year when a columnist told him the Buffalo Bills didn’t look like a Super Bowl offense, and Allen fired back a defiant “OK.”

Allen is a husk of that alpha rogue now. At his news conference, raw from a degrading, 24-22 home loss to the Denver Broncos, he resembled a dispirited, embarrassed kid in the principal’s office.

Allen was short on answers, and his answers were short.

How do fumbled handoffs happen? His answer lasted five seconds. How confident is he Buffalo’s offense can recover? Six seconds. Why is he confident? Two seconds. The interception before halftime? Two seconds. His longest answer was 18 seconds.

Bills center Mitch Morse walked into the room, sat next to Allen and served as the accountable captain, providing deeper sentiments the franchise quarterback was either unable or unwilling to share.

Then came the previously mentioned question about Allen’s recent string of turbulent performances.

For nine seconds, Allen didn’t say a word. Then he offered only three of them.

“I don’t know,” he blurted.

Allen threw two interceptions Monday night, one of them his fault, the other spinning through receiver Gabriel Davis’ hands. Allen also flubbed a handoff that Denver recovered at the end of the third quarter.

Allen is broken. Maybe over the remaining seven games he can rekindle the magic made converting third-and-longs feel inevitable. Just give him one more possession — hell, one more play — and chalk up another Bills celebration.

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The Buffalo Bills hit a new low on Monday night. In a game nearing must-win territory, a shocking 24-22 home loss to the previously 3-5 Denver Broncos has left the Bills organization and fan base in utter disbelief.

Once again, a backbreaking loss brings more questions about a team whose playoff chances are as bleak as they’ve been since 2018.

It begins with what is quickly becoming the glaring characteristic of the 2023 season — the overall failures of the offense and growing discontent for what was once the very reason the Bills became a potential Super Bowl contender in previous years.

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“Don’t party without me!”

Justin Simmons could hear the bass thumping as soon as he reached the concourse following his on-field postgame interview late Monday night. The Denver Broncos had just followed their pre-bye upset of the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs with a 24-22 stunner over the Buffalo Bills in front of a nationally televised audience. The walls were already rattling as Simmons came around the corner. The star safety ducked under a doorway, disappeared into the artificial fog of the visiting locker room, and let the good times roll.

“I’m just proud of these guys, man,” Simmons said. “I’m proud of the way we fight and the way we compete. We’ve just got to keep this thing rolling.”

As Monday night turned into Tuesday morning and the Broncos celebrated their third straight victory, the juxtaposition of vibes was impossible to ignore.

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• Dalton Kincaid's 16.1 PPR points tonight mark his fourth-straight game with 15.5 or more, making him a bona fide top-five fantasy tight end.
• Latavius Murray should get waiver priority this week since he got more carries than usual after James Cook was benched in the first half, although Cook made big plays in the second.
• This was Josh Allen's seventh game this season with a rushing touchdown, but he had three turnovers for the fourth time in his career, resulting in 14.38 points.
• One has to wonder if Stefon Diggs’ back injury slowed him, because although he wasn’t listed on the injury report, he tallied a season-low 6.4 PPR points.
• Javonte Williams is the Broncos' bell cow, rushing 21 times with four receptions for 21 PPR points.
• Russell Wilson finished with 18.72 points, marking his fifth game of the season with 17-plus points, keeping him at a low-end QB1/high-end QB2 scoring pace.

Much was made on the broadcast of how tough 5-5 Buffalo's remaining schedule is and it wasn't an overstatement.

- vs. a Jets team they've already lost to

- at the NFC's No. 1 seed Eagles

- at the AFC's No. 1 seed Chiefs

- vs. Cowboys

- at Chargers

- vs. a Patriots team they've already lost to

- at AFC East leader Dolphins

NFL playoff standings

Russell Wilson went vintage on Denver's final two drives of the game, improvising, evading the rush and flipping the ball ahead for big gains.

The Broncos have won three straight and are now 4-5.

In his first defensive snap of the season, Bills safety Damar Hamlin makes a tackle. He was active tonight for just the second time this year after suffering from cardiac arrest during a “Monday Night Football” game against the Bengals last January.

Damar Hamlin is about to enter the game on defense for the injured Cam Lewis.

This will be his first defensive snap all season for the Bills.

It all began with a 27-yard Mims punt return.

Then, Russell Wilson and the Broncos converted three straight third downs.

Ended with Wilson's 3-yard touchdown pass to Javonte Williams. PAT is no good. It's 21-15 Denver with 5:06 to go.

Whether that fumble was Josh Allen's fault or James Cook's, it not a good look for the Bills.

That is their fourth turnover of the night.

It was another touchdown drive for the Bills that began with a big run.

The Bills are up to 108 yards rushing on 17 carries (6.4 yards per rush). Game is tied at 15 with 6:42 left in the third quarter.

Bills cornerback Taron Johnson comes up with a huge hit to force the fumble, which gives them a chance in on otherwise ugly night.

Can Buffalo's offense do something with the takeaway? That's been the issue against the Broncos.

Broncos hold on fourth down and will begin their next drive in plus territory.

Huge stop.