This is hardly unfamiliar territory for these two
teams. This matchup, which every NFL fan has either dreamt of or dreaded, will
become the deciding game for one franchise's chance to play at the pinnacle of
the sport. These Josh Allen vs. Patrick Mahomes
playoff games are now becoming a regularity many fans may look forward to,
bringing a classic Brady vs. Manning-esque back to the NFL. This game will be the fourth time in five
years that these two star quarterbacks will face off in the postseason. Although this has happened almost routinely,
this will only be the second time they’ve squared off in the AFC Championship. The first time they played each other in the
Conference Round of the Playoffs the outcome was much like most of the games when
these two goliaths clash. A great deal
of offense accompanied by plenty of points.
Patrick
Mahomes is already widely known as a G.O.A.T., yet he is only in his eighth
season as a pro. We are only two years
removed from Tom Brady’s illustrious and rare career, though it seems that the
face of the NFL isn’t even close to suffering from its loss. What Mahomes has been able to do in just
seven seasons as the Kansas City Chiefs starter is unlike anything we’ve ever
seen in all sports history. This Sunday
evening the Chiefs QB will start in his seventh AFC Championship tying Joe Montana
for the second most starts of any quarterback in a Championship game. This is especially impressive as it took
Montana fifteen or fourteen and a half seasons (Montana didn’t become the
Niners starter until halfway through his second season) to achieve what Mahomes
has already done in half the amount of time.
Even Tom Brady who played in fourteen (most all-time) Conference Championship
games didn’t reach such a feat until his twelfth year into his career. Calling the Kansas City Chiefs a dynasty is
only fair as the past few NFL seasons concluded with Andy Reid’s team not just
winning two consecutively but also representing the American Football Conference
in the last five out of six Super Bowls.
Buffalo
Bills quarterback Josh Allen was not supposed to be here. In many people's eyes, Allen would never
become an elite QB1. He knew deep down
that he’d always be a professional athlete, but early on Allen played multiple
sports. The quarterback was also his
high school's leading scorer on the basketball team plus a pitcher for the
baseball team and could throw 90 mph fastballs.
It was Allens' determination that got him every step of the way. His story as a football player didn’t start
until his cousin's husband (a football assistant coach for Reedley College in
2014) assumably helped him get a chance as the school's starting quarterback. Within his first season at Reedley Allen
proved to be a more than competent starter plus he had grown two inches in
height while also gaining thirty pounds.
After a great year, he figured his gameplay would gain some noise enabling
cumulative offers from FBS colleges, but to no avail.
Then
after multiple failed attempts at his goal of getting into a Division I program,
Josh wound up on Wyoming's radar garnering himself a scholarship there. He ended up starting two seasons at Wyoming
in three years then declared for the NFL draft upon the completion of the 2017
season. Though Josh was drafted by the
Buffalo Bills and was believed to be their eventual starting QB, a lot of criticism
came with the start of his career in Orchard Park, New York. The star passer was seemingly more of just a
runner of the ball, frequently turning the ball over by throwing 21
Interceptions to just 30 touchdowns over his first two years in Buffalo. However, the California native changed that
exact narrative proving to the entire world that he is an elite passer just as
much as a winning quarterback, taking Buffalo to back-to-back playoff
appearances in his first three seasons as a pro. Much like Mahomes, Allen has become a recurring
theme in the postseason, making it there every year since his second season. He holds a current playoff record of 7-5 and
has propelled the Bills to at least the Divisional Round five straight
years.
This Mahomes-Allen storied rivalry stretches back to October 19th of the 2020 season,
the sole time Kansas City had beaten Buffalo in the regular season during the
Mahomes era. Mahomes may have an
undefeated playoff record against the Bills with Josh Allen under center (Mahomes
3-0 vs. Allen), but the roles have been reversed when they play one another from
September to early January (Allen 4-1 vs. Mahomes). This may not seem like a popular thing to say
because of how their playoff matchups have heavily favored the Chiefs, peculiarly
with one team attempting a first-ever three-peat title defense, though with a
total of eight meetings between this exact rivalry, this game is going to be
the tiebreaker. In an ironic twist, perhaps
we should dive back into the NFL history books to look at the 1990-1993 playoffs. These were the years that the Buffalo Bills went
to four straight Super Bowls, losing all four.
Why bring this up? To optimistically predict that this, being the
fourth time, the Bills and Chiefs superstar quarterbacks playing each other
could potentially reverse Bills Mafia's fortunes from their historic four-year letdown. Will the fourth time be the charm and end Buffalo’s
curse of their quad deficiencies?
Sunday's game
should be more of an evenly matched battle than you may think. The offensive struggles for KC could fare
well for Buffalo if Joe Brady’s offense gets off to a great start, while the
Bills defense has also had their difficulties this season. However, Bobby Babich (Buffalo’s DC) has had some
starters return to the lineup which has certainly helped them in the past
couple of weeks regain cohesiveness in their unit. Steve Spagnuolo is also coaching a good
defense as well. The Chiefs have had one
of the strongest defenses in all of football this year and will be ready for
the task ahead plus they have become accustomed to playing Josh Allen over the
last four seasons. The best way for Buffalo
to dissect the Spagnuolo-coached unit would be for Allen to utilize his tight ends
early and often. Matt Nagy should be pushing
Mahomes to try to roll out of the pocket and force the ball to the outside
weapons with a full complement of healthy receivers at his disposal now that Juju
Smith-Schuster and Hollywood Brown are back in the lineup. Another reason they should probably consider bootlegs
and rollout packages is to cater to the inadequacies of his offensive tackles. This could be a massive development for their
offense in addition to the emergence of the rookie wideout Xavier Worthy alongside
the obvious superstars in Kelce and Hopkins.
Bills will walk into Arrowhead Stadium as +1.5 underdogs on Sunday at
6:30 PM.
