Josh Allen vs. Patrick Mahomes: The historic rival story so far

Jim Kelly vs. Dan Marino, Troy Aikman vs. Steve Young, Tom Brady vs. Payton Manning. The halls of NFL history are littered with the rivalries of great quarterbacks; What is history if not the stories of today, yet to be written? Among the shattered drywall and upturned tables left by the QB fights of old, we find Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes, laying waste to the rest of the NFL. It's a rivalry akin to those greats, soon to be counted amongst them. These heavyweights of football go head-to-head for the eighth time on Sunday, the journey far from over. How will this matchup compare to the rest?

10/19/2020 - Kansas City Chiefs 26 - 17 Buffalo Bills

The story begins with Josh Allen emerging onto the NFL's stage in his breakout season. The 4-0 Buffalo Bills had blown the doors off the NFL, but came to a short stop in Week 5 as the Tennessee Titans handled them in a game rescheduled due to a Covid-19 outbreak on the Titans, dropping them to 4-1. The Chiefs sat at the same record themselves, but their powerhouse offense hadn't let up all season. It didn't halt against the Bills either, as Josh Allen's breakout year was on hold.

A game where it was all Josh Allen could do to stay alive, the offense floundered and the Bills lost 26-17. It may not have felt like it at the time, but this was the lowest point for the Bills 2020 season. They would go on to lose only one more game all year, the 'Hail Murray', and cruised into the playoffs at 13-3, tied for the best record Buffalo had ever achieved.

01/24/2021 - Buffalo Bills 24 - 38 Kansas City Chiefs

The only difference between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs in 2020 was that fateful Week 6 matchup. The Chiefs record of 14-2 was decided by that win over Buffalo. As a result, when the Bills advanced to the AFC Championship game for the first time since 1993, they had to visit KC.

Call it the road game effect, first-time jitters, or just getting outplayed; The Bills didn't have what it took to topple the Kansas City defense. The blame can't fall on Allen, who passed for nearly 300 yards and ran for another 88, as many as his best receiver caught. Buffalo made some decision early that would come back to bite them. Settling for field goals, failing to contain the Chiefs speedy playmakers, and much more, Kansas City was just too much to handle offensively and Buffalo wasn't experienced enough on offense to keep pace.

Mahomes was electric, putting up argaubly the best playoff performance of his career. Three TDs, 325 passing yards, and only nine incompletions. It was a mistake-free game from the best QB in football at the time. The Bills left the game heartbroken, their Cinderella-run over, but they wouldn't have to wait long for their shot at redemption.

10/10/2021 - Buffalo Bills 38 - 20 Kansas City Chiefs

Only five Buffalo Bills games later, the Kansas City Chiefs were dismantled in an 18-point beatdown in Week 5 of 2021. They came out strong, and the Chiefs stayed the same, but a six-minute throttling in the second quarter saw Buffalo put up 17-points in only 5:22 of possession.

Mahomes had his worst stretch against the Bills he's ever had, and Kansas City turned the ball over in three of their final four fourth-quarter possessions. In a near-perfect game where Josh Allen put up four touchdowns, led his team in rushing yards, passed for 315, and made no turnovers, the Bills seemed destined to take over the league as Kansas fell to 2-3. in the 38-20 beatdown.

01/23/2022 - Buffalo Bills 36 - 42 Kansas City Chiefs

But, all too quickly, the Chiefs record went from 2-3 to 3-4, but then to 12-5. Risen from the ashes of their early-season failings, Kansas City was once again back on top. The Bills meanwhile had lost five of eight games in their midseason stretch, and the late push to win four-straight pulled them into the playoffs with an 11-6 record and the 3rd seed, one game behind the Chiefs.

Both sides handled the Wild Card round with the comfort of vested veterans. The Chiefs slaughtered the Pittsburgh Steelers 42-21, and Buffalo dominated the New England Patriots in the NFL's first ever perfect game. Josh Allen led Buffalo to a touchdown on every possession and confidence was sky-high entering the 2021-22 Divisional Round.

Then came the greatest game ever lost.

Buffalo had once again arrived in Kansas City for a playoff game. The game opened as one would expect, with long drives for scores, and the occasional traded punt. Buffalo ran a perfect two-minute drill to end the for half, making it 14-14 ahead of a missed field goal by Harrison Butker. A strong game so far, they headed to the locker room to try and figure out how to get the upper hand. It felt to the fans like one thing resonated above all else; Whoever scores last wins.

A Chiefs field goal, followed by a Bills three-and-out, put the advantage back on Kansas City. They scored another TD on a short two-minute drive, and pulled out to a 23-14 lead. Buffalo responded with a one-play house-call by Gabriel Davis for 75 yards. Two punts later, KC found the uprights to take a 26-21 lead, and Josh Allen responded. The Bills' ensuing 75-yard drive, spanning 17 plays and eating seven minutes of game time, wound them up on fourth down, with 13-yards to go for a fresh set. Instead, they went for all the marbles, and Gabe Davis caught his third touchdown of the night on the first play following the two-minute warning.

Fans were ecstatic, at least the ones in blue, but there was too much time left on the clock. It took Kansas City four plays and 38 seconds to go 11 yards, but just one play to go the final 64 yards as Tyreek Hill ran in the long score. A shocking result, but they too had left too much time on the clock.

With 1:02 remaining, Buffalo had one chance to take the game back, down 33-29 and unable to settle for less than the end zone. Two incompletions to Stefon Diggs, two great catches by Gabriel Davis, and one more from Emmanuel Sanders, and the Bills were staring destiny in the face. From the Kansas City 19-yard line, Josh Allen fired a bullet to Gabriel Davis in the end zone, his fourth of the night. Silence consumed the stadium, and all seemed lost for the Kansas City faithful.

But, one last time, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills had left too much time on the clock.

The Bills' prevent defense allowed too much ground, and a last moment kick from Harrison Butker shocked the world, forcing overtime. With the way these two quarterbacks were playing, it seemed that the winner of the coin toss would end this game on the first possession. As Patrick Mahomes took the field, Josh Allen never got the opportunity to answer back. The game led to a rule change that allows both teams the chance to score in overtime, but it did no good for the stunning end of the 2021 Buffalo Bills.

10/16/2022 - Buffalo Bills 24 - 20 Kansas City Chiefs

At this point, for many Bills fans, a victory over Kansas City started to seem obsolete unless it came in the playoffs. That wouldn't stop Buffalo from eking out a close victory over the Chiefs the following season, as another electric matchup between Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes came down to the wire. The only difference, like in many of the Bills wins over KC, was that Josh Allen was perfect where Mahomes was not.

Josh Allen's ability to evade the pass-rush is second-to-none, and Mahomes came just an inch behind on gameday. Both quarterbacks passed for over 325 yards, and combined for five passing TDs, but where Allen tucked the game away on a 14-yard touchdown to Dawson Knox, Mahomes threw his final pass directly into the arms of Taron Johnson, and the Bills ranout the clock. One rivalry game too late, Buffalo's defense stepped up against Kansas City.

12/10/2023 - Buffalo Bills 20 - 17 Kansas City Chiefs

The next time they met was over a year later, for the lone matchup between these players with little-to-no juice. The lowest-scoring of the meetings, featuring four combined team turnovers and eight punts, saw both teams making costly errors. The Bills' defense started out stronger, as the offense took a 14-point lead on the back of their success. Kansas stayed close, allowing just three points to the Bills for most of the second half, and leaving the game tied with 11:30 left. On the first play after the two minute warning, Buffalo kicked the field goal to take the lead, but KC wasn't dead yet.

Mahomes marched the Chiefs to midfield. He took the snap and hit Travis Kelce for 25, who lateralled it to Kadarius Toney for the rest of the field and the touchdown. The crowd went wild, but they wouldn't stay that way. Buffalo was saved by the bell, as an offside call on WR Kadarius Toney cost Kansas City what could have been a game-winning touchdown score. A few incompletions later, the Bills got the ball on downs and kneeled out the clock.

01/21/2024 - Kansas City Chiefs 27 - 24 Buffalo Bills

As always seems fated, Josh Allen and the Bills found themselves face-to-face with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in the playoffs once again. Their third playoff matchup in four seasons, it was bound to be a thriller. If nothing else, it was exactly that.

Buffalo entered the game on even footing once again, finally hosting the Chiefs for the first time since 2020. It was a right they had to earn, fighting back from 6-6 to earn a playoff spot, they'd started their streak with the previous win over KC. At 11-6, they'd stolen the AFC East from Miami in the season's closing moments, and the win over KC proved to be a tiebreaker. A shocking loss to the Raiders just before the season ended had public perception doubting the Chiefs, if not Mahomes himself. Those doubts were short-lived.

Whilst the Chiefs' offense was quietly efficient, the Bills' was scary. The game would come down, as always, to whoever blinked first. It seemed to be Kansas City in the first half, as their long drives ended in two field goals and a touchdown, but Josh Allen ran in two touchdowns of his own to leave the half up 17-13.

A quick 75-yard drive found the end zone to start the second half, as Mahomes led his team to another lead. Buffalo responded excruciatingly, drawing out a 15-play, eight and a half minute drive that ended with Khalil Shakir in the end zone. Four minutes and three seconds later, Kansas City did the same again, leading 27-24. with plenty of time to go in the fourth quarter.

Following a bizarre fake punt call from their own 30-yard line, the Bills gave up possession, then got it right back to plays later on a KC end zone fumble turned-touchback. Two quick punts gave Buffalo the ball back with eight minutes left. Now, Stefon Diggs really dropped the ball in this one. It was the end of the Diggs era in Buffalo. To start the ensuing 15 play drive, which consumed nearly the entirety of the remaining clock, Diggs let the Bills down one last time. Josh Allen dropped back and delivered a perfectly placed pass over 50 yards downfield, right into the arms of Diggs. The defender fell to the ground, the end zone and the lead were his for the taking. Suddenly, it was gone. Dropping one of the biggest catches of his career, Diggs let the air out of Buffalo.

Allen wasn't done, but Diggs seemed to be. With two more incompletions to Diggs, and some solid play by the rest of the roster, Allen drove the Bills down to the Kansas City 26-yard line. Again, he was let down, as Tyler Bass missed the 44-yard field goal to tie the game. Mahomes was able to pick up the first down, and Buffalo once again was sent packing.

The Greatest Of Their Time

Getting to witness a timeless matchup like this again and again is a true privilege football fans of yesterday could only dream of. It's greatness that must be appreciated in it's time.

But, it's the brutal reality of the game that no matter what you do on the field, it is up to the collective memory of millions of sports fans to truly define your legacy. With Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes, so often they are inseparable head-to-head. Alas, with three wins for the Bills in the regular season, and three undefeated wins for Kansas City in the playoffs, the narrative rears it's ugly head.

Wins may not be a quarterback stat, or even indicative of quality play, but they're still the end of the story. Every great player's career has ended with a mark in the win column, or a mark of a loss. The tale of Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes will not be determined by who played better, but by who ends up winning it all in the big moment. Despite some of the greatest postseason football ever played by a man, Josh Allen will never get to cement himself as the league's top without that win over Patrick Mahomes when it matters most. It won't make him an inferior quarterback, or a less proven contender, but .

This Sunday, head-to-head, Allen and Mahomes will get to do it all over again. All we want to do is watch.

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