For years, the tier of quarterback rivalry that Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen has now crossed into remained reserved for Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.
For these Patriots and Colts — after which Patriots and Broncos — showdowns.
For the six-game streak by Brady to begin their head-to-head, the comeback in January 2007 that modified all the things and all the unpredictable duels that adopted.
Allen and Mahomes slowly crept towards that time with three postseason conferences and 5 regular-season clashes.
They aren’t the one famous person quarterbacks within the NFL, however every matchup carried a sure weight, a sure aura, a sure expectation for surprising chaos that others haven’t matched.
The pair will collide within the AFC Championship sport at Arrowhead Stadium, with Kansas Metropolis needing a win to maintain its bid for a three-peat alive and Buffalo needing a victory to get again to the Tremendous Bowl for the primary time because the 1993 season seeking its first title.
However actually, that is simply Half IV of Allen-Patrick Mahomes within the playoffs. That is simply Half IX of Allen-Mahomes since 2020. That is the newest chapter in what has turn into Brady-Manning 2.0.
Within the eyes of Allen, the stacking of showdowns with the Chiefs turned an occasion reminiscent of Sunday right into a glorified “division game.”
With their fourth playoff assembly, Allen and Mahomes will sit only one shy of matching the file held by Brady and Manning.
At 29 and 28 years previous, respectively, they solely want eight extra matchups throughout the remainder of their profession to hit the frequency of the Brady-Manning rivalry.
“I feel like we’ve played them just as much as we’ve played the guys in our division, and with that comes familiarity,” Allen instructed reporters this week. “New wrinkles here and there throughout the game. But they know who we are. We know who they are.”
Even with Allen (2,063 yards, 17 passing touchdowns, 4 interceptions) and Mahomes (2,220 yards, 18 touchdowns, seven interceptions) possessing near-identical stats in opposition to one another, there are some distinctions between the rivalries.
It took Manning six tries earlier than he finally defeated Brady and the Patriots in any setting.
It took till the AFC Championship sport in the course of the 2006 season — 5 years after their first matchup — for Manning to earn his first postseason win in opposition to New England.
Allen hasn’t defeated Mahomes within the playoffs, however he has gone 4-1 in the course of the common season, together with a Week 11 win this season punctuated by an acrobatic 26-yard landing run within the fourth quarter.
However Mahomes has triumphed on the largest levels and dished out loads of heartbreak, beginning in 2021 when he orchestrated a masterful outing with 325 yards and three touchdowns because the Chiefs defeated the Payments, 38-24, within the convention title sport.
One yr later within the divisional spherical, Allen and Mahomes produced among the best video games in playoff historical past.
They mixed for 707 passing yards, seven touchdowns and nil interceptions.
Twenty-four factors had been scored after the two-minute warning, with the ultimate three following a three-play, 44-yard drive by the Chiefs that compelled time beyond regulation and led to the “13-second” label.
And when Mahomes linked with Travis Kelce on the game-winning landing within the further body and the Payments misplaced with out even touching the ball, it immediately led to the league revisiting its time beyond regulation guidelines.
Then, a season handed with out Allen and Mahomes overlapping within the playoffs.
The Payments defeated the Chiefs in the course of the 2022 common season however then misplaced in opposition to the Bengals earlier than what would’ve been a rematch within the AFC Championship sport.
As an alternative, the newest postseason chapter of the rivalry wanted to attend till January 2024, when Allen solely managed to throw for 186 yards and the Payments didn’t power time beyond regulation when Tyler Bass’ late subject aim sailed proper.
“You just have to know you’re gonna have to play your best football,” Mahomes instructed reporters this week. “I mean, I’ve played against Josh enough times to know that he’s gonna come out there and play great football, especially in those big moments. … And when you go up against a great quarterback, it takes your best as well.”
Mahomes has inherited Brady’s position amid his chase for Tremendous Bowl historical past.
Allen remains to be ready for his model of Manning’s comeback sport to interrupt by within the playoffs.
For the primary playoff matchup or two, the rivalry was budding. A piece in progress.
Then, after the Chiefs’ 13-second comeback, there was no query one existed — and no query there’d be loads of future matchups on these levels, too.
Sunday, 9 years after Manning escaped in opposition to Brady in what turned out to be their closing assembly, will simply mark the newest.
