The bettors believe in the Bills.
With the Patriots beating the Chargers on Sunday night, the Bills will travel to Denver on Saturday to face the Broncos. And the Bills have opened as 1.5-point favorites over the Broncos at DraftKings.
The Broncos are the No. 1 seed. The Bills will have six days to fly home, rest up, prepare, and travel to Colorado. Josh Allen, who got banged up against the Jaguars, will have less time to recover.
Regardless, he’s Josh Allen. He seems to understand the magnitude of the moment, in his first playoff run without Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and/or Lamar Jackson as potential impediments. And he was the NFL’s MVP in 2024 for a reason.
A win over the Broncos on Saturday would put Allen and the Bills one step away from the franchise’s first Super Bowl since 1993.
The games have been set. The dates have been picked.
And that’s all we know, for now, about the divisional round of the playoffs.
The NFL has announced that Bills at Broncos and 49ers at Seahawks will be played on Saturday, January 17. On Sunday, January 18, the Bears will host the Rams and the winner of Monday night’s Texans-Steelers game will travel to New England for a game against the Patriots.
However, the league has not assigned a time to any of the games, or a network.
Between NBC, Fox, CBS, and ESPN, each will have one of the games. The Saturday contests will kick off at 4:30 p.m. ET and 8:00 p.m. ET. On Sunday, the games will start at 3:00 p.m. ET and 6:30 p.m. ET.
The Bills and 49ers will play on six days’ rest, against teams that will be going two weeks between games. (The Seahawks will have had 15 days between the Week 18 game and the division-round contest.)
The rest of the schedule will be set after Monday night’s game, when either the Texans or Steelers will earn a ticket to Gillette Stadium on Sunday.
Browns defensive end Myles Garrett set the single-season sack record during the 2025 season and he also became one of three unanimous choices for the Associated Press All-Pro team.
All 50 voters selected Garrett as one of their choices at edge rusher in this year’s voting. Those voters also unanimously selected Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua and Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba for this year’s first team.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford got the nod over Drake Maye at quarterback, which opens up the possibility of a split with MVP for the second straight season. Stafford got 31 votes while the Patriots quarterback got 18 with Bills quarterback Josh Allen getting the other one.
Stafford joins kicker Gary Anderson as the only players to be named a first-team All-Pro for the first time in their 17th season or later.
The full All-Pro teams appear below:
First team
Offense
Quarterback — Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
Running Back — Bijan Robinson, Atlanta
Fullback — Kyle Juszczyk, San Francisco
Wide Receivers — Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams; Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle; Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati
All Purpose — Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco
Tight End — Trey McBride, Arizona
Left Tackle — Garrett Bolles, Denver
Left Guard — Joe Thuney, Chicago
Center — Creed Humphrey, Kansas City
Right Guard — Quinn Meinerz, Denver
Right Tackle — Penei Sewell, Detroit
Defense
Edge Rushers — Myles Garrett, Cleveland; Will Anderson Jr., Houston; Micah Parsons, Green Bay
Interior Linemen — Jeffery Simmons, Tennessee; Zach Allen, Denver
Linebackers — Jack Campbell, Detroit; Jordyn Brooks, Miami
Cornerbacks — Derek Stingley Jr., Houston; Quinyon Mitchell, Philadelphia
Slot cornerback — Cooper DeJean, Philadelphia
Safeties — Kyle Hamilton, Baltimore; Kevin Byard, Chicago
Special Teams
Placekicker — Will Reichard, Minnesota
Punter — Jordan Stout, Baltimore
Kick Returner — Ray Davis, Buffalo
Punt Returner — Chimera Dike, Tennessee
Special Teamer — Devon Key, Denver
Long Snapper — Ross Matiscik, Jacksonville
Second team
Offense
Quarterback — Drake Maye, New England
Running Back — James Cook, Buffalo
Fullback — Patrick Ricard, Baltimore
Wide Receivers — George Pickens, Dallas; Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit; Chris Olave, New Orleans
All Purpose — Bijan Robinson, Atlanta
Tight End — Kyle Pitts, Atlanta
Left Tackle — Trent Williams, San Francisco
Left Guard — Quenton Nelson, Indianapolis
Center — Aaron Brewer, Miami
Right Guard — Chris Lindstrom, Atlanta
Right Tackle — Darnell Wright, Chicago
Defense
Edge Rushers — Brian Burns, New York Giants; Danielle Hunter, Houston; Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit
Interior Linemen — Leonard Williams, Seattle; Cameron Heyward, Pittsburgh
Linebackers — Devin Lloyd, Jacksonville; Ernest Jones IV, Seattle
Cornerbacks — Patrick Surtain II, Denver; Devon Witherspoon, Seattle
Slot cornerback — Derwin James, Los Angeles Chargers
Safeties — Jessie Bates III, Atlanta; Talanoa Hufanga, Denver; Xavier McKinney, Green Bay (Hufanga and McKinney were tied for the second-team spot)
Special teams
Placekicker — Brandon Aubrey, Dallas
Punter — Michael Dickson, Seattle
Kick Returner — Kavontae Turpin, Dallas
Punt Returner — Marcus Jones, New England
Special Teamer — Del’Shawn Phillips, Los Angeles Chargers
Long Snapper — Andrew DePaola, Minnesota
The Broncos earned the AFC’s lone bye week. Next weekend, they’ll have one key player back. As to the other, it’s TBD.
Asked by reporters on Friday whether he expects linebacker Dre Greenlaw to return for the playoffs, coach Sean Payton said this: “Yes, I think we see most everyone back.”
Greenlaw missed the last two games of the regular season with a hamstring injury.
The “most everyone” may not include running back J.K. Dobbins.
“No comments on him yet,” Payton said regarding Dobbins. “He’s getting close, but Dre is getting there.”
Dobbins suffered a foot injury during the Week 10 Thursday night game against the Raiders. He believed it happened on a hip-drop tackle, but no flag was thrown and no fine was levied.
In 10 games, Dobbins rushed for 772 yards, averaging five yards per carry. He was on pace for more than 1,300 yards for the season before landing in injured reserve.
Rookie RJ Harvey started most of the games during Dobbins’s absence. By Week 18, however, Jaleel McLaughlin had gotten the start for the game that clinched the top seed. Overall, however, Harvey has gotten the bulk of the snaps on offense with Dobbins out.
Harvey finished his rookie year with 540 rushing yards, averaging 3.7 per carry. McLaughlin gained 187 yards, with a 5.1-yard average. Harvey was much more involved in the passing game, with 47 catches for 356 yards. McLaughlin caught four passes for 27 yards.
Harvey scored 12 total touchdowns. McLaughlin scored one.
Dobbins, if healthy, is the most effective option. Still, the Broncos kept rolling without him. If he’s back, the chances of rolling to the Super Bowl will be enhanced.
The Giants will interview Broncos special teams coach Darren Rizzi for their head coaching job on Saturday, Albert Breer of MMQB.com reports.
Rizzi is a New Jersey native.
The Giants also have interviewed or will interview former Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, former Cowboys and Packers head coach Mike McCarthy, interim head coach Mike Kafka, former Falcons head coach Raheem Morris and former Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce.
Rizzi is in his first season on Denver’s staff, but he worked with Sean Payton in New Orleans before remaining with the Saints when Dennis Allen was their head coach. Rizzi became the interim head coach when Allen was fired during the 2024 season.
He went 3-5 in that role.
Rizzi began his NFL coaching career as assistant special teams coach with the Dolphins in 2009 and then spent nine years after that as the team’s special teams coach.
