ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Ending the Denver Broncos' long playoff drought was especially poignant for left tackle Garett Bolles and wide receiver Courtland Sutton.

“GB and I are the two longest-tenured guys on the team, so we’ve been through the ugly,” Sutton said. “For us to be able to see this other side of it, and to be able to have this opportunity to continue this legacy of this season, man this is really dope.”

The Broncos (10-7) visit the Buffalo Bills (13-4) on Sunday in the wild-card round after ending their eight-year playoff drought. Their clincher was a 38-0 shutout of Kansas City's backups Sunday.

“I am grateful for these last eight years," Bolles said. "It’s just made me who I am today, made this organization who it is today. I’ve gone through so many different coaches and so many different things and so many different quarterbacks. But to be in this moment, take this franchise back to where it belongs, in the playoffs, and be one of the longest-tenured Broncos, it’s the sweetest moment that I can think of.”

The Broncos are back in the postseason for the first time since beating Carolina in Super Bowl 50 on Feb. 7, 2016, and their MVP of that game, Von Miller, now plays for the Bills, where he had six sacks at age 35 this season.

Bolles, 32, and Sutton, 29, a seventh-year pro, embraced as the clock ticked away on the Broncos' win over the Chiefs.

“GB and I got to have a little moment on the sideline when the game was getting ready to be over," Sutton said. "You want to talk about a guy who has been through a lot, a guy who has battled through injuries, a guy who has battled through just as much as I have and you add a year on top of it. To see the joy and the light in his eyes, man, to know that we have a chance. That’s all you can ask for — to have a chance.”

Both Bolles, who signed a four-year, $82 million extension last month, and Sutton have had some of their best seasons since coach Sean Payton's arrival two years ago.

Bolles allowed just one sack this season and Sutton has caught 18 of his 32 career touchdown passes since 2023, including a career-best 10 last season. This season, he caught a career-best 81 passes for 1,081 yards, earning the first 1,000-yard season by a Broncos receiver since he did it in 2019.

What both found lacking was the chance to prepare for a playoff game instead of cleaning out their lockers following the regular-season finale.

“It’s kind of hard to put into words the feeling,” Sutton said. “To be in that situation where we get a chance to extend our season one week at a time, it’s a really cool experience. It’s a really good feeling to just know that we have an opportunity to extend our season, to do something special and get this organization back on track to what it’s known for.”

Sutton motioned toward a wall where blown-up images of newspaper clippings show Miller celebrating his MVP performance in Super Bowl 50.

“You look on the wall and you see all of the success that this organization has had,” Sutton said. “For the past nine years, we haven’t held up our end of the bargain on the field. To be able to be in this spot where we get to continue this legacy of this season and to potentially do something special to get put up on this wall of past champions, it’s a humbling experience.”

Rookie Bo Nix, the 13th player to start at quarterback since Hall of Famer Peyton Manning's retirement a month after winning Super Bowl 50, said it was sweet to see the veterans such as Bolles and Sutton celebrate a playoff berth at long last.

“That’s really what it comes down to. That’s all of it,” Nix said. “Those guys have worked really hard. They deserve it, and they owned it this year. It means a lot. You hate to see the work you do each year and kind of be a little short, but this year was not. Those two have led us really well this year. They’re going to continue to lead us.”

Daniels and Nix will become a rare rookie QB duo to start in the same NFL postseason

The impressive feats from the 2024 rookie quarterback class will carry over into the postseason.

Washington's Jayden Daniels and Denver's Bo Nix are expected to make their playoff debuts on Sunday in a rare case of two rookie starting quarterbacks in the same postseason.

While there are a few examples of fill-in rookies getting the nod in the playoffs, this will be just the fourth time that two rookie quarterbacks start in the same postseason after making at least six starts during the regular season.

It last happened in 2012 when Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson all got playoff starts. The other times came in 2008 with Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco, and 1983 with Hall of Famers John Elway and Dan Marino.

Only seven rookie quarterbacks have won playoff starts, and there's never been a year when more than one did it. A rookie quarterback has never started in the Super Bowl, with Brock Purdy (2022), Mark Sanchez (2009), Flacco (2008), Ben Roethlisberger (2004) and Shaun King (1999) all losing in the conference title game.

Daniels and Nix already have had barrier-breaking seasons, with both QBs winning at least 10 starts, producing at least 30 touchdowns rushing and passing, and accounting for at least 4,000 yards of offense on the ground and through the air.

Before this season, no rookie QB had ever hit all those marks in a season.

Daniels and Nix have some company when it comes to young quarterbacks, with a record-tying 11 of the 14 projected starters in the postseason in their 20s.

That includes four members of the 2018 draft class: Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. This is the fifth time that four QBs from the same draft class started in the same postseason, with the 2018 class also doing it last season, when Mason Rudolph got the nod instead of Darnold.

Run it back

This year’s version of the playoffs will have a familiar look.

Ten of the teams that made the postseason are back after getting there last season, with only Denver, Minnesota, Washington and the Chargers breaking through after missing out in 2023.

The four newcomers are tied for the fewest since the NFL expanded to 12 playoff teams in 1990, with that last happening in 2015. The four previous seasons with 14 playoff teams featured at least six newcomers each season, with seven new teams qualifying in 2022 and eight in 2020.

All four division winners in the AFC are repeat champions, with Kansas City (nine straight), Buffalo (five), Baltimore (two) and Houston (two) all going back to back. The only other times since the 2002 realignment that all four division winners in a conference repeated came in the 2019 AFC and the 2012 AFC.

Tampa Bay won its fourth straight NFC South title and Detroit won its second straight in the NFC North, marking the third time there were six repeat division winners. It previously happened in 2012 and 2014.

Bungling Bengals

When it came to individual accomplishments, few teams fared better than the Cincinnati Bengals. It just didn't lead to success on the field.

Ja'Marr Chase became the fifth player since the 1970 merger to win a receiving Triple Crown, leading the NFL in catches, yards receiving and TD receptions.

Joe Burrow led the league in yards passing and TD passes, while Trey Hendrickson had the most sacks.

No team had ever had the individual leaders in all of those categories, but it didn't help the Bengals, who finished 9-8 and missed the playoffs.

Win and stay home

Posting a winning record again wasn't good enough for the Seattle Seahawks to make the playoffs.

A year after going 9-8 but missing out on the final wild-card spot to Green Bay on the strength of victory tiebreaker, the Seahawks were done in again by that seldom used tiebreaker.

Seattle tied the Rams for first in the NFC West at 10-7 after splitting the season series. The teams also had identical records in the division, against common opponents and in conference games. The Rams came out ahead because the teams they beat combined for two more wins than the teams the Seahawks beat.

Seattle became just the second 10-win team to miss the playoffs since the seventh team was added in each conference in 2020, with Miami also falling short after going 10-6 in 2020. Twelve other teams that won at least 10 games missed the postseason from 1990-2019, when there were six playoff teams per conference.

The Seahawks became the fourth team to miss the playoffs in back-to-back seasons with winning records since 2000, with Cincinnati also falling short after going 9-8 for the second straight season. Miami came up short twice in back-to-back winning seasons, missing out on the postseason in 2002-03 and 2020-21.

Stumbling Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers are stumbling into the postseason.

The Steelers lost their final four games to go from being a team fighting for the top seed to a team that is the second wild-card and a heavy underdog Saturday night at AFC North champion Baltimore.

Pittsburgh is just the third team to enter the playoffs on a losing streak of at least four games and the first to do it since Detroit in 1999. The Lions sneaked in as a wild-card team at 8-8 that season and then lost 27-13 to Washington.

The 1986 New York Jets were more similar to the Steelers, getting off to a 10-1 start before losing their final five games. New York recovered to beat Kansas City in the wild-card game before losing in double overtime at Cleveland in the divisional round.

Pittsburgh has another losing streak to worry about, having lost five straight playoff games starting with the 2016 AFC title game at New England. A loss to the Ravens would leave the Steelers tied with the fourth-longest playoff losing streak ever, trailing Detroit (nine), Cincinnati (eight) and Kansas City (eight).

Connor Bedard scores as Blackhawks top Avalanche 3-1

CHICAGO (AP) — Connor Bedard had a goal and an assist, and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Wednesday night.

Frank Nazar and Ilya Mikheyev also scored for Chicago, which had lost six of seven. Petr Mrazek stopped 35 shots.

Bedard made it 3-1 when he beat Trent Miner for his 11th goal 11:54 into the third period. The 19-year-old center has four goals and seven assists during an eight-game point streak, a career-best run in his second season.

Juuso Parssinen scored for Colorado in the opener of a three-game trip. Miner stopped 17 shots in his first career start.

The Avs played without forward Jonathan Drouin, who was sidelined by an upper-body injury. They dropped to 12-4-1 in their last 17 games.

Colorado jumped in front when Parssinen converted a backhand 6:14 into the first period. It was his first goal since he was acquired in a trade with Nashville on Dec. 28.

Mikheyev responded with his eighth of the season with 3:12 left in the first.

Nazar lifted the Blackhawks to a 2-1 lead 10:17 into the second. Colton Dach got his first NHL point when his shot created a rebound opportunity for a streaking Nazar, who knocked it in for his second career goal.

Takeaways

Avalanche: It was a tough start to the road trip for Colorado, which also lost 5-2 to Chicago on Oct. 28.

Blackhawks: Nazar has played well since he was recalled from the minors last month. But he had no goals and two assists in 11 games before breaking through against the Avs.

Key moment

Chicago was clinging to a 2-1 lead when Mrazek made a terrific sliding save on Nathan MacKinnon with 21.2 seconds left in the second.

Key stat

The Avs went 0 for 2 on the power play.

Up next

Colorado visits Minnesota on Thursday night. Chicago is at Detroit on Friday night.

UCF overcomes late gaffe then uses Hall's defensive stop at the end to beat Colorado 75-74

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Jordan Ivy-Curry scored 22 points and Keyshawn Hall scored 18 and his lone blocked shot helped preserve UCF's 75-74 frantic-finish win over Colorado on Wednesday night.

Darius Johnson scored 17 points for UCF (11-3, 2-1 Big 12) which bounced back from its 99-48 defeat at the hands of No. 7 Kansas on the Knights' home court on Sunday.

Julian Hammond III scored a career-high 26 points, Andrej Jakimovski scored 16 and reserve Bangot Dak 10 for Colorado (9-5, 0-3).

Out of a timeout following a UCF turnover with four seconds left, Colorado inbounded the ball underneath its own basket to center Elijah Malone, who pivoted, spun and had his jump-hook shot attempt swatted by Hall to the end the game.

Colorado got the last look after UCF failed to in-bounds the ball, giving the Buffaloes the ball, but UCF's smothering defense forced Colorado's Julian Hammond III into a desperation 3-point heave as the shot clock expired. His air ball bounced harmlessly out of bounds with four seconds left.

Dallan Coleman made 1 of 2 foul shots with 35 seconds left to give UCF the 75-74 advantage.

Colorado hasn't started 0-3 in conference play since the 2016-17 season when it was playing in the Pac 12.

Colorado travels to play Arizona on Saturday. UCF hosts No. 21 West Virginia on Sunday.

Jamal Murray and Russell Westbrook help the Nuggets rout the Clippers, 126-103

DENVER (AP) — Jamal Murray had 21 points and nine assists, Russell Westbrook added 19 points and eight assists and the Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 126-103 on Wednesday night in a matchup of short-handed teams.

Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard was not available after he flew back to Los Angeles before the game to help his family deal with the wildfires.

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic was out for the second straight game due to an illness. Denver is 2-3 without him this season.

Norman Powell scored 30 points to finish with a 27.6 average in the Clippers' four games against the Nuggets. James Harden had 16 points and Ivica Zubac added 10.

Denver took control with a 20-3 run in the first quarter and led 55-30 late in the second before Los Angeles cut it to 16 at halftime.

The Nuggets used another spurt midway through the third quarter to put it away.

Takeaways

Clippers: Powell came into the night hitting 85.2% percent of his free throws but missed 3 of 6 in the third quarter. The team missed 5 of 15 in the period.

Nuggets: Coach Michael Malone made a change from Tuesday night by starting DeAndre Jordan in Jokic’s place and bringing Dario Saric off the bench. Jordan finished with a season-high 12 points and tied his season high with nine rebounds.

Key moment

Jordan had a big third quarter. He made two free throws, threw down two alley-oops and tipped in a feed from Westbrook that helped the lead grow from 16 to 27.

Key stat

The Nuggets improved to 8-0 on the second leg of back-to-backs. They are 2-6 in the first game of a set.

Up next

The Clippers return home to play Charlotte on Saturday night. The Nuggets host Brooklyn on Friday night.