NFL Broncos: Divisional Round

BOISE, Idaho – Boise State football will be represented by three former players during the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs. Former teammates JL Skinner (Denver Broncos) and Khalil Shakir (Buffalo Bills), who each earned All-Mountain West honors in 2021, will face off in the AFC's first game of the weekend. They will meet on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. MT, with the game airing on CBS. DeMarcus Lawrence and the Seattle Seahawks also begin their postseason journey on Saturday, hosting the San Francisco 49ers at 6 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast on FOX. Full matchup information is below. All times are Mountain.

SATURDAY

Denver Broncos (JL Skinner) vs. Buffalo Bills (Khalil Shakir) – CBS, 2:30 p.m.

JL Skinner and the Broncos host the Bills after earning a bye in the Wild Card round. Skinner is a special teams standout for Denver, playing 322 snaps, second-most on the team. He totaled 12 tackles, including eight solo, while adding a fumble recovery. The Broncos won the AFC West title with a 14-3 record, their most wins in a regular season since 1998, when they won Super Bowl XXXIII. Skinner appeared in all 17 regular season games this season. His lone playoff appearance came in last year's Wild Card loss to the Bills. The safety played a team-high 20 special teams snaps, tallying a solo tackle on kickoff coverage.

Khalil Shakir had a career day for the Bills in their 27-24 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, catching a career-high 12 passes for 82 yards. This is tied for the 13th-highest single-game reception total in NFL Playoff history and he trails Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas for the most receptions in a playoff game in franchise history. He tallied 61 yards after catch and picked up three first downs, helping Buffalo score the go-ahead touchdown with 1:04 remaining. This was Shakir's fifth consecutive playoff game with six or more receptions, tying the second-longest active streak in the NFL. In eight career playoff games, the Boise State product has 45 catches for 422 yards and two touchdowns. Buffalo has won at least one postseason game in six-straight seasons, the NFL's longest active streak and third-longest streak in league history.

Seattle Seahawks (DeMarcus Lawrence) vs. San Francisco 49ers – FOX, 6 p.m.

DeMarcus Lawrence and the Seahawks will face the 49ers for the third time this season after earning the NFC's top seed. The teams split the regular season series, with San Francisco winning the season-opener and Seattle capturing the season finale to clinch the NFC West title. In those contests, Lawrence combined for seven tackles, including two solo and two TFLs. The Pro Bowl selection finished the regular season with 53 total tackles, 11 TFLs, 6.0 sacks, 20 quarterback hits, three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries, two of which he returned for touchdowns. The Seahawks set a franchise record with 14 wins and had the league's top scoring defense, holding opponents to 17.2 points per game. Lawrence has played in nine playoff games throughout his 12-year career, all with the Dallas Cowboys. In those games, he has posted 29 tackles, 8.0 TFLs, 3.0 sacks, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble.

--BroncoSports.com--

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