Patrick Mahomes makes spot-on comparison to rivalry with Josh Allen
Ahead of Sunday night's third playoff meeting between Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen, Mahomes compared the rivalry between the two of them to perhaps the greatest quarterback duel of all time: Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning.
"We've played in a lot of big games. I'm excited for the challenge. I grew up watching those [Brady-Manning] games and remember how many memories I have from that, and hopefully we can play in these great games as well and give memories to the kids that come up behind us," Mahomes said Wednesday via ESPN.
Current Hall of Famer Manning and future Hall of Famer Brady faced each other five times in the postseason, with Manning having a 3-2 advantage.
What Mahomes may not have known when making that comparison is how similar these two rivalries are at this exact point.
In the early days of the Brady-Manning rivalry, Brady had the upper hand by beating Manning in each of their first six meetings - four in the regular season and two in the playoffs.
In the 2003 AFC Championship Game, Manning threw four interceptions as New England beat Indianapolis 24-14. The next season, the Colts offense couldn't get anything going in a 20-3 divisional round loss. This led CBS analyst Boomer Esiason to proclaim Manning as his generation's Dan Marino - a Hall of Fame talent at quarterback who couldn't win a Super Bowl. It was a harsh comparison made even more awkward by the fact that Marino was sitting just feet away from Esiason:
Allen has had more success against Mahomes in the regular season, winning three of their four such meetings. The postseason, however, has been a different story.
In the 2020 AFC Championship Game, Mahomes threw three touchdown passes to lead the Chiefs over the Bills 38-24. The next season, Allen's four touchdown passes to Gabe Davis weren't enough to stop Kansas City in a heartbreaking 42-36 divisional-round loss.
The first two times Manning faced Brady in the playoffs, the Colts had to travel to Foxborough. In the 2006 AFC Championship Game, Indianapolis was finally able to host New England. The Patriots jumped out to a 21-3 first-half lead, but the Colts came roaring back to win 38-34 on their way to victory in Super Bowl XLI. Manning would go on to win two more AFC Championship Games over Brady while quarterbacking the Denver Broncos.
Similarly, Allen's past two playoff matchups with Mahomes took place in Kansas City. On Sunday night, the Bills will finally welcome the Chiefs to Buffalo for the first true road playoff game of Mahomes' career (neutral-site Super Bowls notwithstanding). Perhaps the third time can finally be the charm for Allen.
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