ORCHARD PARK — The Rivalry.
The Great Quarterback Rivalry.
Getcha chicken wings ready.
Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen were drafted to win high-stakes games like this one. They were drafted to win high-stakes games like this one, where the last gunslinger with the ball wins.
The modern-day Great Quarterback Rivalry resumes with this AFC divisional round showdown on Sunday night at Highmark Stadium — where Mahomes will strike fear in the hearts of the championship-starved Bills Mafia, and Allen will strike fear in the hearts of Chiefs fans hungering for a repeat.
Patrick Mahomes has what Josh Allen wants, what this desperate city has been chasing since Jim Kelly reached out in the Super Bowl from 1990-93 but could not touch the franchise’s first Lombardi Trophy.
Mahomes has two Super Bowl rings, but this time, on Sunday night, he will be defending his Super Bowl LVII championship in Allen’s cold, hostile house, and there isn’t a quarterback this city would rather have standing between Mahomes and Super Bowl LVIII than Josh Allen.
Patrick Mahomes has won two Super Bowl rings with the Chiefs.USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
Josh Allen’s showdowns with Patrick Mahomes have developed into the modern quarterback rivalry.Getty Images
This is far and away the greatest quarterback rivalry since Tom Brady versus Peyton Manning.
Manning, before he retired, could not keep Brady from winning four of his seven Super Bowls, but did capture two himself. Mahomes has prevented Allen from winning one.
Mahomes versus Allen is the Ali-Frazier heavyweight clash of this generation, because we have witnessed both of them throwing haymakers until the final bell rings. No one can forget the final two minutes and overtime when they combined for 31 points in Chiefs’ 42-36 win in the 2022 divisional round at Arrowhead Stadium.
Allen was heroic in that one, refusing to let Mahomes beat him in regulation before Mahomes needed the last 13 seconds to force overtime, and never let Allen see the ball before the overtime rules were changed.
The shootout was reminiscent of Manning’s dramatic comeback in the Colts’ 38-34 victory over Brady’s Patriots in the 2006 AFC Championship game in Indianapolis. It was his first win in three playoff tries against Brady.
“I don’t get into monkeys and vindication,” Manning said afterward.
You better believe Allen would welcome the opportunity to make the same proclamation, even if he and Mahomes are friends. Allen hasn’t forgotten Mahomes also beating him 38-24 in the 2020 AFC Championship game in Kansas City.
Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes embrace after the Bills defeated the Chiefs in December.AP
The biggest edge Mahomes holds over Allen in any tale of the tape is this one: 2-0 in the playoffs.
Mahomes is tied with Brady for the most QB playoff wins (12) before 30. Allen is the only quarterback to average 250 yards passing per game and 50 yards rushing per game in playoff history (minimum five games).
To Allen, to the Bills franchise, to all of western New York, Mahomes has been the Heartbreak Kid with the biggest chips on the table. They are 3-3 head-to-head overall following Allen’s 20-17 win in the Kadarius Toney Offsides game Dec. 10 at Arrowhead that left Mahomes infuriated.
Mahomes is 10-2 at home in the playoffs. This will be his first true road playoff game, because Super Bowl LV in Tampa was considered a neutral site.
Patrick Mahomes will play the first true road playoff game of his career Sunday against the Bills.USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
Mahomes will bring an elite defense with him, but no Tyreek Hill this time. He will lean on rookie Rashee Rice to help Travis Kelce and the violent running in the cold of Isiah Pacheco.
Allen has cut down on the reckless interceptions under offensive coordinator Joe Brady following the firing of Ken Dorsey. And though Mahomes will transform into Houdini to escape trouble in the pocket, Allen will have Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo wary of him as a rampaging running back. Allen will also have an emerging RB James Cook, WR Khalil Shakir and rookie TE Dalton Kincaid with him to take the heat off Stefon Diggs.
There is always someone standing in the way. The Bad Boy Pistons were the roadblock for the Michael Jordan Bulls across three consecutive playoffs. Then the Bulls swept them in the 1991 Eastern Conference finals and the Pistons walked off their home floor without shaking hands.
Josh Allen and the Bills would reach another AFC Championship game by defeating the Chiefs on Sunday.Getty Images
“We were very strong mentally and they were a little weaker mentally, and we kept the pressure on them,” Jordan said. “We never broke our focus, and they never broke us mentally.”
Mahomes has not broken the Bills mentally because Allen has not let him. All of western New York watches and waits for him to slay the dragon and propel the Bills to another AFC Championship game, where they would be just 60 minutes from their fifth Super Bowl appearance, and a long-awaited chance to make history.
