Sean Payton Criticized by NFL Fans as Bo Nix, Broncos Suffer Playoff Loss to Bills

The Denver Broncos' first postseason trip since the 2015 campaign was short-lived.

Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills defeated Denver 31-7 in Sunday's AFC Wild Card Round at Highmark Stadium and will face Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens in an MVP-caliber showdown in the Divisional Round.

Allen went 20-of-26 passing for 272 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions with 46 rushing yards, while James Cook ran for 120 yards and one touchdown.

It seemed like Denver was going to threaten an upset when Bo Nix threw a deep touchdown to open the scoring in the first three minutes, but the Bills took the lead in the second quarter and never looked back.

It was a game to forget for Broncos head coach Sean Payton, who became quite conservative and predictable in his play-calling after a quick start that included the deep-ball touchdown and a fake punt. The visitors failed to take advantage of their early momentum as a result, and social media highlighted Payton's struggles:

To say Denver was facing an uphill battle would be an understatement, as it had to play with a rookie quarterback in front of a raucous Buffalo crowd against Allen and a Bills squad with realistic Super Bowl aspirations.

But that rookie quarterback wasted no time announcing his presence when Nix unleashed a 43-yard touchdown pass to Troy Franklin on the game's first possession. It was the first rookie-to-rookie touchdown in NFL playoff history and put the Bills in comeback mode out of the gates.

Comeback mode wasn't a problem.

Cook's touchdown run in the second quarter gave Buffalo the lead for good, although the Broncos went into the halftime locker room feeling good after successfully executing a fake punt and holding Allen to just 69 passing yards before intermission. They also moved into field-goal range in the two-minute drill, although Wil Lutz's kick bounced off the post.

Still, there would be no hanging around down the stretch.

Allen made the play of the game on 4th-and-1 when he bought himself time in the pocket and found a sliding Ty Johnson in the back of the end zone for a momentum-altering touchdown. From there, he hit an open Curtis Samuel, who did the rest by breaking a tackle and cutting it back for a 55-yard touchdown to open a three-score lead.

While Nix has a bright future and played well at the start, there was no way he was going to lead a multi-score comeback on the road against this Bills squad.

As a result, it has now been nine seasons since the Broncos won a playoff game.