After one of the most exhilarating victories in Broncos history, they got some very bad news. About an hour Saturday after Wil Lutz kicked a 24-yard field goal with 4:44 left in overtime to give the Broncos a 33-30 win over Buffalo in a divisional playoff game and a berth in the AFC Championship Game, head coach Sean Payton stepped to the podium for a second session with the media. He announced that quarterback Bo Nix suffered a broken right ankle and will have surgery on Tuesday, ending his season. “Not good news,’’ Payton said. “A handful of the team knows and there will be a lot of guys learning about it right now, which is tough. This was difficult.” Nix was hurt on a play that began with 6:04 left in overtime when he was tackled for a 2-yard loss on a run by Cole Bishop, leaving the ball at the Buffalo 38. There was then a pass-interference call, moving the ball to the 8. Nix then kneeled for a loss of three yards before Lutz kicked the winning field goal. The Broncos will play at home next Sunday in the AFC Championship Game against the winner of Sunday’s Houston at New England divisional playoff. Backup Jarrett Stidham will start for Nix and Sam Ehlinger will be the backup. “He’s such a strong, faith-based guy,’’ Payton said of when Nix received the medical diagnosis. “He was sitting in the hallway with his family, and I went over, and we’re all talking to him. He knows that God has a plan for him. … He’s a tough cookie. … This team all year has lost key players, and we’ll rise up for the next challenge and we’ll go from there.” During the regular season, the Broncos went 11-2 in one-score games and Nix had five fourth-quarter comebacks, second in the NFL. So it wasn’t a surprise that they won another wild, close game. “That’s for sure the craziest game that I’ve ever played in,’’ said wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr., who caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from Nix with 55 seconds left in regulation to put the Broncos up 30-27 and who was the target on the pass interference call late in regulation. “That’s one you’ll remember for a while. Broncos fans will remember exactly where they were when they were watching it.” Mims, like other players on the team, spoke to the media before the news of Nix was known. The locker room was joyful as the Broncos advanced to the AFC Championship Game for the first time since they won the Super Bowl in the 2015 season. Denver Broncos wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr. (19) carries the ball in for a touchdown in the 4th quarter against the Bills during the second round of the playoff game at Empower Field at Mile High on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Th e Gazette, Jerilee Bennett) “It’s kind of been like 10 years,’’ said Broncos defensive tackle Malcolm Roach. “We want to do something good for this city.” What the Broncos (15-3), the top seed in the AFC, did Saturday was force the No. 6 Bills (12-6) into five turnovers. They lost three fumbles and star quarterback Josh Allen threw two interceptions. There was no turnover bigger than the last one in the game. In overtime, with the score tied 30-30 with 7:55 left and the Bills facing third-and-11 at their 36, Allen threw a deep pass to Brandin Cooks. It looked as if Cooks had snagged the pass. But when he was hitting the ground, the ball was pulled away by Broncos cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian for a Broncos interception at their 20. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime play right there,’’ said safety P.J. Locke, who had the other interception of Allen. McMillian didn’t disagree. “If he would’ve caught that, that’s game,’’ McMillian said. “They would’ve kicked a field goal; they win the game. My motto is like in the biggest moments, I’m ready for it.” Denver Broncos cornerback Ja’quan McMillian (29) celebrates after getting an interception in overtime of a playoff game against the Bills at Empower Field at Mile High on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. The Broncos won the game 33-30 to advance to the AFC championship. (Th e Gazette, Jerilee Bennett) Bills coach Sean McDermott did not believe it should have been an interception and was upset the review on it was done so quickly. “It’s hard for me to understand why it was ruled the way it was ruled,’’ he said. Referee Carl Cheffers was asked by a pool reporter after the game about the play. “The receiver has to complete the process of a catch,’’ Cheffers said. “He was going to the ground as part of the process of the catch and he lost possession of the ball when he hit the ground. The defender gained possession of it at that point.” Allen, the 2024 NFL MVP, completed 25 of 39 passes for 323 yards with three touchdowns but also lost two fumbles in addition to the two interceptions. He was in tears after the game. “It’s extremely difficult,’’ said Allen, who was helped by James Cook rushing for 117 yards. “I feel like I let my teammates down.” Allen did lead the Bills back from a 23-10 deficit in the third quarter to a 27-23 lead late in the regulation. He threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Keon Coleman in the third quarter and a 14-yard touchdown to Dalton Kincaid with 13:24 left in the game to put Buffalo up 24-23. A Matt Prater 31-yard field goal with 4:11 left made it 27-23. But in the end, Nix outdueled Allen, completing 26 of 46 passes for 279 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. The strike to Mims was his final touchdown pass. “It was just perfect ball placement by Bo,’’ Mims said. Prater booted a 50-yard field goal to tie the score 30-30 with 5 seconds left in regulation. The Bills won the overtime toss and elected to kick off. The Broncos were unable to get a first down, but Jeremy Crawshaw unleashed a 55-yard punt that went out of bounds at the Bills 7-yard line. Two plays later, Payton believed the Broncos should have won on a safety. “The game would’ve ended with a safety when (defensive tackle) D.J. (Jones) just gets completely held (in the end zone),’’ Payton said in his initial talk to the media. In that first talk to the media, Payton spoke about being thrilled with the win. He said the Broncos “were ready” after they had lost 31-7 at Buffalo in a wild-card playoff game last season. “It was an incredible win for us,’’ said tackle Mike McGlinchey. “Everything we’ve ever worked for is right in front of us. … We’ve had a lot of practice at these heartbreakers (during the season) and thankfully we’ve been on the good side of it mostly.” Tight end Adam Trautman joked about his heart beating during the exhilarating finish. “I’m probably 190 beats per minute, which is actually, I probably should be in the hospital,’’ he said. “It’s been insane.” The wild game included Lil’Jordan Humphrey dropping a touchdown pass in the first quarter but coming back to catch a 29-yard touchdown with 22 seconds left in the first half to put the Broncos up 17-10. They then took a 20-10 lead after Allen lost a fumble and Lutz booted a 50-yard field goal on the final play of the first half. “It was a relief because I messed the first one up,’’ Humphrey said of his score. Speaking before the news about Nix surfaced, Humphrey lauded the play of the quarterback. Payton said his surgery will be performed Tuesday in Birmingham, Ala., by Dr. Norman E. Waldrop. “I would have tried to have kept it so I could talk to the team first, but the odds of something like this being kept quiet until Monday at 9 (a.m. during a team meeting) are impossible,’’ Payton said. “I felt like in essence, I’m talking to the team now. So look, they’ll be disappointed. There will be a lot of emotions, and then the refocus takes place. We celebrate the season for (Nix)… (Stidham will be) ready, and we’ll be ready for the next challenge.” ...read more read less