The Broncos may be 5-8 and essentially eliminated from the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean the Bills (10-3) are taking Denver lightly this week.

“They are a lot better team than what their record shows,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said. “It’s going to be no small task to go into Denver.”

Allen, along with star wide receiver Stefon Diggs, spoke highly of the Broncos this week leading up to Saturday’s game. Allen touched on his close relationship with Broncos quarterback Drew Lock. Meanwhile, Diggs praised Broncos rookie wide receivers Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler.

And both complemented Denver’s defense, which ranks first in the league in red zone defense, allowing touchdowns only 48.8 percent of the time. The Bills rank 18th in the league in red zone offense, scoring touchdowns 58.5 percent of the time.

“They’re extremely well-disciplined and they’re extremely well-coached,” said Allen, who’s thrown for 3,641 yards and 28 touchdowns this season. “It’s kind of that bend don’t break motto where that’s where they tighten up, in the red zone. And they’ve been tough all year and as a team, that’s where you need to score is in the red zone. When you see it on film, they play really well down there and it’s no surprise to us that that’s their strong suit. So we’ve got to find ways to get in the end zone.”

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Diggs echoed Allen’s statement, saying that despite an abundance of injuries the Broncos are still one of the better defenses in the league.

“They’re great up front. And there’s no slack in the backend,” said Diggs, who’s caught 100 passes for a career-high 1,167 yards and five touchdowns. “I think Justin (Simmons) is one of their safeties — very active, getting his hands on the ball. You got Kareem Jackson back there who’s known for putting pads on guys. They fly around. So they’re definitely active on the back end and they’ve got a hell of a front. This is going to be another test for us because I feel like their defense is definitely impressive. I haven’t seen much of their offense, but I know they’ve got some young guys that can ball as well.”

While Diggs maybe hasn’t watched much of the Broncos offense, he is familiar with Jeudy and Hamler.

Diggs’ brother, Dallas Cowboys rookie corner Trevon Diggs, played with Jeudy at Alabama, allowing Diggs to watch Jeudy often during his college career. Diggs also trained with Jeudy a couple of times this past summer. And as for Hamler, Diggs recalls watching him during his time at Penn State.

Diggs had only good things to say about the Broncos’ entire wide receiver unit.

“I believe they’re going to be damn good, especially these coming years,” Diggs said specifically of Jeudy and Hamler, who have combined for 69 receptions for 973 yards and five touchdowns. “I feel like you give them some time, not only this year but next year, they’ll make another jump and continue to move in the right direction. I don’t want to reach when I say this, but they’ll be a damn good duo.

“And they have another in Courtland Sutton, he’s been out, but they’d be a three-headed monster and I don’t know the other young kid, I think 81 (Tim Patrick) if I’m not mistaken — he can ball as well. They got nice little receiving corps over there.”

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Diggs isn’t the only one familiar with some of the Broncos young offensive pieces, with Allen becoming close friends with Lock. They trained together this past summer with former NFL quarterback Jordan Palmer and have become friends since.

Allen, who was taken seventh overall in the 2018 draft, and Lock draw a lot of similarities thanks to their big arms. Though, Allen has shown much more progress as he’s helped Buffalo become one of the best offenses in the NFL in his third year.

Lock, only in his second year, hopes to follow Allen’s path and Allen believes he’s well on his way to doing so.

“We get along really well and we have a good time when we’re together,” Allen said. “He’s a talented player, he’s starting to put it together now, he’s extremely fun to watch. He’s a really good buddy of mine, but I haven’t really mentored or anything like that. I will say this, he’s a 10 times better dancer than I am.”