Bills Central

Rival NFL MVPs light up Sunday night with Bills' Josh Allen shining brightest

The Buffalo Bills' MVP out-dueled the Baltimore Ravens' MVP in a marquee NFL Week 1 matchup
Khari Demos|
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17).
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17). | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

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Everyone loves to talk about the matchups between Buffalo Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. But his battles with Lamar Jackson have become just as memorable.

The winners of the last two MVP awards put on a show again, as Allen and the Bills fought back to down Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1 of the 2025 season. Down 15 points in the fourth quarter, Allen orchestrated a win over the Ravens that will be reflected on for years to come.

Early on, Jackson looked like he was going to be a hero. On a night where he went 14 for 19 passing with 279 total yards (209 passing, 70 rushing) and three scores (two passing, one rushing), his best play of the game may have been a third-down scramble that preceded what looked like Derrick Henry’s game-sealing score.

But Allen kept pushing. He ended up driving Buffalo downfield and finding Keon Coleman on a tip drill TD. That set up what may have been the play of the night, as Ed Oliver forced a fumble from Henry to give the Bills the ball back.

RELATED: Josh Allen met unlikeliest Bills' hero only two days before wild win over Ravens

The reigning league MVP attacked the Ravens once again, setting up his goaline rushing score that put Buffalo within two points. Once the Bills’ defense slowed Jackson and company down with a three-and-out, it was Allen’s time to deliver again.

He had back-to-back huge connections with Josh Palmer and Coleman, setting up Matt Prater to kick the game-winning field goal as time expired.

Overall, we as fans have to take a step back and enjoy another thriller from these two. From the 2024 divisional game to their battle during the 2020 divisional matchup with Taron Johnson’s Pick 6 of Jackson, the 2018 NFL Draft classmates deliver in their head-to-head games.

Allen is now 4-2 in head-to-head starts against Jackson, including the playoffs.

But seeing how the scoreboard lit up in this latest installment in this budding rivalry, one can only help we see their seventh matchup come playoff time.

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Khari Demos
KHARI DEMOS

Khari Demos is an award-winning sports media creator and is a contributor for Bills On SI. He has written sports betting article covering the NFL for The Athletic and has written pieces about the NBA, MLB, college football and basketball, and more, throughout his career.

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