Denver Broncos vs. Buffalo Bills Matchup Preview (12/19/20): Betting Odds, Depth Charts, Live Stream (Watch Online)

The Denver Broncos will host the Buffalo Bills this week on the first set of Saturday NFL games. The Buffalo Bills are coming off an impressive win over the Pittsburgh Steelers at home on Monday night to make their record 10-3. The Denver Broncos captured a close-call win over the Carolina Panthers last weekend to make their record 5-8. For odds movement and full matchup history, visit the Denver Broncos vs. Buffalo Bills Matchup Page.

TV Schedule

Date: Saturday, December 19th, 2020
Time: 4:30 PM ET
Location: Empower Field – Denver, Colorado
TV Coverage: NFL

Broncos vs. Bills Live Stream

Where can you watch Broncos vs. Bills online? You can stream this game, and many other NFL games live online with Hulu. Hulu has a 7 Day free trial and is cheaper than cable options at $5.99/month. Watch Broncos vs. Bills Free Online Now.

Injuries:

Denver Broncos: Questionable: Noah Fant, Melvin Gordon, Out: Duke Dawson
Buffalo Bills: Questionable: Taron Johnson

Denver Broncos Analysis

The Denver Broncos got away with a close one last weekend after having won only one of their last five previous games. Their playoff hopes are still alive, but with much needed to happen to secure them. The Buffalo Bills will be a great challenge for this team in total on both sides of the ball.

Drew Lock led this team to victory on offense last week by completing 77.8% of his passes for 280 yards and a career-high four touchdowns in his game against the Panthers. This is easily one of the best games that Drew Lock has put up all season, and it helped his team secure a win. He connected with rookie wide receiver K.J Hamler for two touchdowns in this game too. While Buffalo is below average in passing yards per game and opponent completion percentage, their defense has really picked up lately. Last game, they held the Steelers to just two touchdowns and completed two interceptions.

According to Mike Klis of 9news, “Melvin Gordon’s plea and setting DUI charge has been continued to Jan. 14.” This is really good news for the Broncos team, meaning that he will be able to play the rest of the season. Last game, he averaged 5.2 yards per attempt on the ground from 13 attempts and 68 rushing yards. He also had three catches in the backfield for 23 yards. Buffalo struggles against the run, allowing 119.9 yards per game on the ground and 4.6 yards per attempt. Gordon and Phillip Lindsay should take advantage next week.

Denver’s defensive struggles pertain heavily to the ground. They allow 131 rushing yards per game, the fifth-most rushing touchdowns per game, and a 4.6 yards per attempt average. But, under Vic Fangio, the passing defense is excellent and will be a challenge for the Bills to get through. The Broncos allow just 220 yards per game through the air (10th), 9.5 yards per completion (4th), 1.2 passing touchdowns per game (3rd), and 2.8 sacks per game (9th). The Bills and Josh Allen are an excellent passing team, and it will have to be Denver’s focus to stop them next week.

Denver Broncos Depth Chart

QB: Drew Lock
RB1: Melvin Gordon
RB2: Phillip Lindsay
WR1: Courtland Sutton
WR2: Jerry Jeudy
WR3: KJ Hamler
TE: Noah Fant

Buffalo Bills Analysis

The Buffalo Bills are coming off an impressive win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night. They allowed the Steelers just 15 points in the game while putting up 23 of their own against a defense that allows just 17.3 points per game to their opponents. Josh Allen has led this team now to a 10-3 record to secure a two-game lead over the Miami Dolphins in the AFC East. The Denver Broncos should help them extend their lead and improve their seeding for the playoffs.

If you watched and listened to Cris Collinsworth and Mike Tirico last night, you would have heard them talking about Josh Allen’s throwing mechanics and how they have changed. His instructor would like him to throw hip-shoulder-arm instead of shoulder-hip-arm. However, it did not matter for Allen too much last night. He threw for 238 yards and two touchdowns, with just one interception against the Steelers’ outstanding defense. Allen will have his hands full again against the Broncos’ outstanding passing defense. Either way, Allen is ranked 6th in passing yards, passing touchdowns, and completion percentage this season.

The run game is one area where the Bills may want to take advantage of the Broncos next week. However, this may prove difficult for the Bills’ below average run game. They rank below 20th place for team rushing attempts, yards, yards per attempt, and touchdowns. However, the Broncos rank 27th in rushing yards per game and 28th in rushing touchdowns per game. They also rank 29th in power success rate to opponents with a 75% success rate on 3rd/4th down. The Bills should try to take advantage of their rushing defense to open up the passing game.

As I said before, the Bills defense has really stepped up in the back half of the season for them. While they rank below average in the passing and rushing defensive categories, they really stepped up last night. The biggest defensive highlight was an interception returned for a touchdown by Taron Johnson for 51 yards. The Bills also held the Steelers’ run game to just 47 total yards off of 17 attempts. The Broncos have a mediocre offense, so the Bills should be able to handle it.

Buffalo Bills Depth Chart

QB: Josh Allen
RB1: Devin Singletary
RB2: Zack Moss
WR1: Stefon Diggs
WR2: John Brown
WR3: Cole Beasley
TE: Dawson Knox

Betting Corner Bills -6

Spread: +/- 6
Moneyline: Broncos +220, Bills -260
Over/Under: 48

Prediction

Spread: Bills -6
Moneyline: Bills -260
Over/Under: o48

The Buffalo Bills are looking to lock up their playoff spot and the divisional win over the Miami Dolphins. With the way they have been playing and the impressive wins they have gotten this season, Denver should not be a problem for them. I would take the Bills money line and their spread next Saturday.

The Bills and the Broncos both have very productive offenses while having some struggles on defense. Last week, the Broncos put up 32 points on the Panthers, and the Bills put up 23 on the best defense in the league. I would take the over for this game.

Love/Hate Fantasy Picks

Love

Melvin Gordon has put up two weeks with 10+ points over the last two weeks. He has run for 233 yards over the last two weeks. Next week, he will take on the Bills, who have allowed the 10th most fantasy points to running backs this season. Gordon’s recent news of having his court case for a DUI pushed back to January is great news for fantasy owners. But, he has been dealing with a shoulder injury that he sustained last game against the Panthers. His status should be monitored this week, but assuming that he plays, he has a great upside against this defense.

Hate

K.J Hamler had a stellar game last week with 2 touchdowns that secured him 22.6 fantasy points on the week. This outing was the highest total fantasy points he obtained from one game. But, before this, he had only recorded two games over 10 points on the year. Plus, his 22.6 point game came from the two catches. His targets are quite limited on this offense, and he has just 4 catches in the last three weeks. I am not a fan of starting Hamler because he is too risky.