Friends and Rivals: Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen Are Doing It Their Way

Drawing comparisons to a modern-day Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning, another chapter in the Mahomes-Allen story will be written this weekend.

As the Kansas City Chiefs' ongoing rivalry with the Buffalo Bills continues, there's something within the game to keep an eye on. For yet another time in their careers, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen will square off against one another.

Despite Mahomes not becoming a full-time starter until 2018, Allen doing so the following year and both quarterbacks not playing in a game together until 2020, they've made up quite a bit of ground. In the regular season, Allen boasts a 3-1 record against the Chiefs. In the playoffs, however, it's Mahomes who's managed to reign supreme with a perfect 2-0 mark versus Buffalo. That means for the seventh time since October of 2020, the storied competition will write another chapter.

Is this a modern-day version of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning's legendary bouts in the 2000s and 2010s? When asked about it on Wednesday, Mahomes understood the comparisons. 

“Yeah, I mean, we’ve played in a lot of big games," Mahomes said. "I think the great thing about the NFL now is there’s a lot of quarterbacks that are really good and not to say they weren’t back in the day, but it seems like every year a lot of these guys are in the playoffs playing in these big games on Sunday night, Monday night, whatever that is. So, I’m excited for the challenge. I grew up watching those games and remember how many memories I have from that. Hopefully we can play in these great games as well and give memories to the kids that come up behind us.”

Mahomes plays the Brady role: a generational quarterback who's managed to accomplish more than any of his current peers. He's on a fast track to being one of the top five greatest signal-callers to ever do it. He's won Super Bowls, MVPs and everything in between. Allen, though, has yet to get over the proverbial hump. His accolades include merely a couple of Pro Bowls and some soft MVP contention. Through his first nine postseason games, he's 5-4. With that said, Manning started 3-6 and finally broke through in the 2006-2007 campaign. Allen is hoping for something similar.

Unlike the Brady-Manning dynamic, Mahomes and Allen appear to be friends off the field. They've participated in Capital One's The Match together and speak highly of one another at just about all times. They recognize how talented the other quarterback is. Speaking to the media this week, Allen tipped his cap to Mahomes for the stellar job he's done in just six complete years as a starter. 

"Yeah, I think I consider us fairly good friends," Allen said. "Obviously, in the offseason, we tend to play some golf together — at least we have in the last few offseasons. He's a fantastic player. His track record and his resume speaks for itself at such a young age. One of the greatest quarterbacks to already play this game, and he's still growing and still getting better. So yeah, he's not an easy matchup for any team. They've gotten the best of us in the playoffs in the last few years. We've finally got a home game; just got to go out there, put our best foot forward and play as hard as we can play."

Sunday's Divisional Round outing between the Chiefs and Bills will mark a pivotal point for both franchises. For Kansas City, a win gets them back to yet another AFC Championship Game but a loss gives them their worst finish to a season with Mahomes at quarterback. For Buffalo, a win preserves some championship hopes in a perceived down-year for the reigning champions. A loss could bring about some unfortunate consequences and potentially a change or two during the offseason.

Everyone understands what's at stake from a team perspective. Bragging rights for the personal rivalry and friendship are also hanging in the balance, too. With the football world tuning in to see which superstar quarterback gets the best of the other this weekend, Mahomes is hopeful that his side can emerge with a victory. 

“Yeah, no, I think everybody — you have friends but almost like when you compete against your friends, you almost want to win even more because of it," Mahomes said. "Josh is a great dude. I respect the way he plays football and just the guy that he is, but it’s like when two guys that are ultra-competitive that are friends off the field go up against each other, we obviously both want to win because we know we see each other in the offseason, and you want to have a little bit of those bragging rights."

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