Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen Headline Marquee Matchup of AFC's Best

The Kansas City Chiefs will host the Buffalo Bills for the third time in the past 12 months on Sunday afternoon. The meetings will continue to pile up as long as both teams are winning their division year in and year out. Not only will they play every year in the regular season, but there is potential to add more playoff matchups into the fold as well.

Since Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen have taken over as starting quarterbacks for their respective teams in 2018, they’ve played four times. The Chiefs have won three of those games.

The first time they faced off, it was in the strange COVID-impacted season, and the game was moved from Sunday to Monday afternoon. That game wasn’t played in front of fans, and the Chiefs decided to run the ball down the Bills' throat. Clyde Edwards-Helaire rushed the ball 26 times for 161 yards. Mahomes threw two touchdowns to Travis Kelce. Allen only threw for 121 yards as the Chiefs won 26-17.

There was a rematch in the playoffs that year. Mahomes dominated the AFC Championship game, throwing for 325 yards and three touchdowns, with two more to Kelce, and the Chiefs won a 38-24 game on their way to a second-consecutive Super Bowl appearance.

In the third meeting, Allen finally got the best of Mahomes and the Chiefs. Allen threw for 315 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions while also rushing for 59 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, Mahomes threw for 272 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. There was a lengthy weather delay and the Bills ended up winning 38-20.

Then there was the instant classic in the 2022 AFC Divisional Round game. The Chiefs were leading 26-21 with two minutes left in the game before all hell broke loose. There were five more scores in the game, including overtime, and the Chiefs would advance to host their fourth-straight AFC Championship game.

Josh Allen continues to get better. He’s still not Patrick Mahomes, and that’s just fine. Allen’s first two seasons were a struggle and his progress into becoming one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL has been remarkable. He finished second in MVP voting in 2020 and this year he is putting together a very impressive season.

Going into the 2022 season, Allen was the favorite to win NFL MVP and the Bills were the favorite to win the Super Bowl. Heading into Week 6 of the season, both of those odds are still in Allen’s and the Bills' favor. Mahomes has the second-best odds to win MVP and the Chiefs have the second-best odds to win the Super Bowl.

While betting odds don’t really matter at the end of the day, the game itself will go a long way for the winner, giving the victor a tiebreaker with the chance to be the top seed in the AFC and a chance to host the AFC Championship Game in January.

A majority of the national media are siding with the Bills this weekend. They are coming off a massive 38-3 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers where they were clicking on every level of the game. Meanwhile, the Chiefs are coming off a close 30-29 home win over the Las Vegas Raiders.

Patrick Mahomes had never been an underdog at home – until now. So far in his young career, Mahomes is 6-2 outright and 7-0-1 against the spread when playing as an underdog. This isn’t a primetime game, but it will be the only game on CBS during the late afternoon time slot. Mahomes seems to elevate his game when the lights are the brightest and when he feels people are doubting him.

This one could be another instant classic. I would not expect the Bills to come into Arrowhead and get a double-digit win like they did last year in the regular season. I also wouldn’t expect a 25-point explosion of offense in the final two minutes of the game. Could it go to overtime? I wouldn’t put that past these two teams.

No matter the outcome of this game, it is just one regular-season game. Yes, the winner has the fast track to the top seed in the conference, but there is still a lot of regular season football to be played before any playoff seeding is finalized. Mahomes and Allen will dazzle with their unique talents and we should all be grateful any time the league blesses us with the opportunity to watch two of the best at their craft battle it out on the field.

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