James Cook rushed for a season-high 120 yards and a touchdown, Josh Allen threw two touchdown passes in the second half and the host Buffalo Bills won in the AFC wild-card round for the fifth straight year, beating the Denver Broncos 31-7 on Sunday in Orchard Park, N.Y.

Allen was 20-for-26 passing for 272 yards and added 46 rushing yards as Buffalo improved to 9-0 at home between regular season and playoffs. The second-seeded Bills will host the third-seeded Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round next weekend.

It will be a matchup between the top two contenders for NFL Most Valuable Player, Allen and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.

"They got after us earlier this year, so we got a lot of film to watch," said Allen, whose Bills lost 35-10 at Baltimore in Week 4.

The seventh-seeded Broncos scored on the game's opening drive, but it was all Buffalo the rest of the way. Running back Ty Johnson (24-yarder) and receiver Curtis Samuel (55) caught long touchdowns to put the game out of reach.

Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix completed 13 of 22 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown. He also guided the rushing attack with 43 yards. Courtland Sutton was the game's leading receiver with five catches for 75 yards.

Tyler Bass made a 27-yard field goal for a 13-7 Bills lead to begin the second half, and Buffalo regained possession after a quick three-and-out.

On fourth-and-1 at Denver's 24, Allen avoided the pass rush and tossed a deep ball to the back of the end zone. Johnson dove to the ground and corralled the pass while staying inbounds, and it was upheld as a touchdown upon review. Allen made it 21-7 by finding Keon Coleman for a two-point conversion.

"Ty Johnson's the best third-down back in football," Allen said. "... He made a heck of a play. It was fourth down. No point in holding it, taking a sack there. They played man and I just gave him a chance."

The Bills piled on with Samuel's touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter. He caught a deep ball near the right sideline, changed direction to get around two defenders and sprinted home.

Buffalo added Bass' third field goal of the day, from 34 yards, with 4:37 to go. The Bills dominated the Broncos in the second half, outgaining them 282-63 after halftime and 471-224 overall.

Denver struck first when Nix connected with his former college teammate Troy Franklin. He hauled in Nix's 43-yard bomb in the end zone just 2:24 into the game.

The Bills settled for a 26-yard field goal on their first possession before traveling 81 yards in 13 plays their next time out. Allen's 9-yard rush on third-and-3 set up Cook for a 5-yard touchdown run on the following play, putting Buffalo ahead early in the second quarter.

Denver punter Riley Dixon completed a 15-yard pass to Marvin Mims Jr. on a fake, but the Broncos' drive still fizzled out. Before halftime, Nix led them 60 yards in 1:52 before Wil Lutz's 50-yard field goal attempt resounded off the right upright as time expired.

"The things we felt we needed to do on the road to win, we didn't do nearly well enough," Broncos coach Sean Payton said. "Time of possession was heavily tilted in their favor. We struggled consistently, whether it was third downs (2-for-9) or running the football, and then we never really had an answer to stop their running game."

--Field Level Media