Allen vs Mahomes IIII: The Missing Piece
Mike D: Overdue Bills Senior Writer
Welp, here we are again. Last Saturday night for the wild card game, the Buffalo Bills absolutely destroyed the New England Patriots. While this settled one rubber match, it set up another. Because on Sunday night, the Kansas City Chiefs put the beats on the Pittsburgh Steelers in what was Big Ben’s final NFL game. The stage is set, Buffalo at Kansas City, 6:30 PM Sunday night. While beating the Patriots was symbolic because the last 20, this game is more about recent history, the present, and the future. Let’s get into it.
We all know the history of these two teams, but let me give you a quick rundown. In 2017, Buffalo traded back from 10 to 27 with Kansas City. Kansas City drafted Mahomes, Buffalo got a 2018 first-round pick, and Tre White. Fast forward the following year, Buffalo traded up using that first-round pick to select Josh Allen at #7. From here on, it was discussions about if the Bills was better off drafting Mahomes or having Allen (glad those are done). Then in 2020, they finally met. Mahomes got the better of Josh, and KC won 26-17. Then in that same year, he got the better of Allen in the AFC Championship. KC beat Buffalo 38-24. That’s when the picture of Diggs standing watching the celebration from the sidelines went viral. That led into this season.
The AFC rematch happened in week 5 this year, and Buffalo was ready. The offense, defense, and coaching was hitting on all cylinders. This resulted in a beat down of the Chiefs of 38-20. We went to 4-1 and was the betting favorite to represent the AFC in the Superbowl at the time, while KC went to 2-3 and was being written off by people, and coaches were constantly being fired in the media. Somehow someway, the Chiefs passed us in the standings, and now we are going there for the Divisional Round. This is being called the AFC championship game because whoever wins this, is going to the Super Bowl.
I really want to look beyond this game though. The guys will be having our guy CJ from “The Aftermath Podcast” and they will deep dive into this game. My interest is what does this means for the future. Because before, KC was the pick because Mahomes was considered the better QB by anyone, not in Buffalo. For the first time, I am hearing national pundits say Josh Allen has the highest ceiling in the league. The way that he passes accurately while being a beast on the ground, gives you the best of both worlds. With this, they may be the best two QBs in the NFL for the next 10 years. If this is true, what does that mean? Well, for starters, they both can’t make the Super Bowl. This is another reason why my Brady vs Manning comparison is applicable. Manning and Brady normally won their divisions, so they would always meet in the regular season. This will be true for Mahomes and Allen. Brady and Manning met a lot in the playoffs, this will be true for Mahomes and Allen. Essentially, all we did was end one “rivalry” with the Patriots and started a new one with KC.
Everyone keeps asking me, will Buffalo win? Hell, I don’t know. All I know is that both these coaches are top of the crop, these offenses are highlights waiting to happen, Buffalo has the better defense, but KC has home field. If I had to bet, and people asked me to bet, I would pick Kansas City. Like Kansas City, I am from Missouri, so you have to show me. Allen has to show me he will be better than Mahomes in a playoff game. McDermott has to show me he can outcoach his Mr. Myagi in a playoff game. Until then, I had to go with KC because they’ve been here for the last 4 years. We are still young, with this being only our 2nd real playoff run. As always, I hope I am wrong, but I’m rarely am. #GoBills
Betting Information
Spread: Chiefs -1.5
Over/Under: Over 54.5