Broncos' little-used running back likely saved team from playoff defeat vs. Bills

The Denver Broncos played the Buffalo Bills in one of the best football games of the 2025 season. 

It was the divisional round of the playoffs, a rematch from the Wild Card round the year before. This time, the site was Empower Field and this game had it all. It went to overtime and with fans sitting on the edge of their seats, they watched in utter suspense as the teams battled for a spot in the AFC Championship Game. 

The Broncos came out on top in thrilling fashion, but it very easily could have gone the other way and if not for a fateful decision, it likely would have. 

The Broncos got the ball first in the overtime period but facing 4th-and-11 from their own 38-yard line, Sean Payton called for a fake punt. What?

ESPN reporter Seth Wickersham got a behind-the-scenes look at Payton and his process and as reported by Broncos 9News insider Mike Klis, Payton was going to run a fake punt on that play. 

Sean Payton called for 4th and 11 fake punt run at own 38 in OT vs Bills.
Luckily, upback Tyler Badie called it off.
A few plays later Ja’Quan McMillian came up with Steal of past Seven Decades. https://t.co/uaolUR0ngW

It would have been as gutsy as calling the onside kick to start the second half of Super Bowl XLIV, but it's understandable why he wouldn't want to give Josh Allen the ball only needing a field goal to win. However, if the Broncos don't convert, the Bills may have been one play away from being in range for a Matt Prater field goal. 

Instead, running back Tyler Badie saw something and checked out of it. The Broncos audibled to a punt and Jeremy Crawshaw boomed one, pinning the Bills back deep in their own territory. Later in that Bills' drive, Ja'Quan McMillian came up with this interception that would send the Broncos on their game-winning drive. 

After the game, Payton stubbornly said, "We had the right look. I was so pissed. It was perfect." But it was the right call by Badie to get out of it. Had the team gone for it, would it have converted? Maybe, but we know that if the Broncos failed to do so, they probably don't see the ball again and they don't advance to the AFC Championship Game. 

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It's small things like this that separate players in a sport that is so competitive in terms of roster spots. When the Broncos are examining their running back room this summer, trying to decide who to keep, who to cut, and who to place on the practice squad, it's highly likely that this smart play by Badie won't be forgotten and will help his cause. 

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