After five straight years of playoff exits before the Super Bowl, the Buffalo Bills are back in the postseason in 2024 with perhaps their best chance of advancing there under head coach Sean McDermott. It begins Sunday afternoon as the No. 2 Bills host the No. 7 Broncos in the AFC Wild Card round.

The wild-card game Sunday at Orchard Park, New York, features Josh Allen and the rookie quarterback many feel is a younger version of the Bills veteran in Bo Nix.

In a way, you don’t have anything to lose,” Broncos QB Bo Nix said of going into the Bills playoff game as a big underdog.

The prospect of facing a rookie quarterback in his first playoff game normally would be a lick-their-chops moment for opposing pass rushers. Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, however, has succeeded this season where so many other rookies who scramble their way into sacks fail.

Could rookie QB Bo Nix and the Broncos wipe out the Bills' Super Bowl hopes? Who steps up for Houston? Our analysts provide bold predictions for Wild Card Weekend.

The Broncos head to Buffalo to play the Bills on Wild Card Weekend and Patrick Surtain II is the biggest key to victory, not Bo Nix

Since taking over the Buffalo Bills in 2017, McDermott has faced a rookie quarterback 17 times, including the postseason. The Bills are 13-4 in those games, including 2-0 in the playoffs.

They signed safety Brandon Jones, defensive lineman Malcolm Roach and inside linebacker Cody Barton to modest deals. During the NFL draft, they traded a future sixth-round pick for John Franklin-Myers and quickly signed him to a reworked, two-year deal worth $15 million.

The Bills will have a sizable advantage at QB Sunday when Josh Allen faces rookie Bo Nix of the Broncos in the wild-card game.

Zoom in: Denver (10-7) has its own rising star in Nix, whose emergence as a passing threat and leader has Broncos fans dreaming about lifting the Lombardi Trophy for a fourth time.