What Patrick Mahomes & Josh Allen are saying about their fierce rivalry this week

The best NFL quarterback rivalries over the years have carried a heavy dose of postseason drama. For instance, four of the five playoff meetings between Peyton Manning and Tom Brady happened in the AFC Championship Game.

Brett Farve vs. Steve Young, Terry Bradshaw vs. Ken Stabler, and from the way-back machine, Otto Graham vs. Bobby Layne: They all met multiple win-or-go-home showdowns.

On Sunday in Buffalo, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs will square off against Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. It will be their third postseason encounter, and there should be many more to come — Mahomes is 28, Allen 27.

According to CBS Sports, no rivalry has gotten off to a faster start. It’s the first time quarterbacks have met in the playoffs three times before each turned 29.

“We’ve played in a lot of big games,” Mahomes said. “Hopefully we can play in these great games as well and give memories to the kids that come up behind us.”

The AFC Divisional Round is loaded with fascinating quarterback matchups: Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, on the verge of his second MVP award, meets rookie of the year leader C.J. Stroud of the Houston Texans.

In the NFC, the San Francisco’s Brock Purdy, the final selection of the 2022 Draft, takes on Green Bay’s Jordan Love, who in his first playoff game led an offensive onslaught against the Dallas Cowboys.

Detroit’s Jared Goff, the top overall pick in 2016 by the L.A. Rams, guided the Lions to their first playoff victory in more than three decades last week. And now he takes on another quarterback who’s making the most of his relocation: Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield.

But no postseason game this weekend game pits quarterbacks with greater accomplishments than Chiefs-Bills.

Although Mahomes was drafted a year before Allen, they’ve been starters for six seasons. And in that time, they rank 1-2 in combined passing and rushing touchdowns. Since 2020, Mahomes has led the Chiefs to 50 regular-season victories as a starter, Allen 48. That’s also first and second in the NFL.

Their personal series is tied 3-3. Allen owns a 3-1 edge in regular-season games, and amazingly neither quarterback has won at home.

The playoffs are a different story. Mahomes is 2-0, with the Chiefs taking the AFC Championship Game after the 2020 season and surviving an epic Divisional Round game the next season. The latter is the game in which Mahomes drove the Chiefs into field-goal range in the final 13 seconds of regulation, then won it in overtime.

The Chiefs didn’t win the Super Bowl in those seasons, but they’ve won two championships with Mahomes as their QB. And that team achievement drives Allen, who has led the Bills to five consecutive playoff appearances.

Mahomes is 12-3 in the postseason. Allen’s record stands at 5-4.

“They’ve been at the top of the mountain.,” Allen said. “As a competitor, as a player, to be in a situation like this is something you dream about. Guys on this team have been waiting for this moment for a long time.”

The hardware also stacks up in Mahomes’ favor. He’s been league MVP twice and a Pro Bowl selection six times. Allen has earned two Pro Bowl nods and a second-team All-Pro honor.

The rivalry is fierce, but friendly. Mahomes and Allen have golfed together in the offseason and admire each other’s abilities.

“He has a knack for making plays when they need plays — not that he doesn’t the other times,” Mahomes said. “When they need one, he’s willing to step up there.”

After their regular-season meeting this year — a 20-17 Bills victory in KC, when the Chiefs had a late go-ahead touchdown touchdown nullified because of an offensive offside penalty — Mahomes used his brief postgame handshake with Allen to gripe about the play. And later apologized.

“I consider us fairly good friends,” Allen said. “He’s a fantastic player. His track record, his resume, speaks for itself. (He’s o)ne of the greatest quarterbacks to play this game.”

To Mahomes, their friendship takes the competition between them to another level.

“When you compete against your friends,” Mahomes said, “you almost want to win even more because of it.

“When two guys are ultra-competitive, that are friends off the field, go up against each other, both want to win. You want to have a little bit of those bragging rights.”