In a hundred-plus year of NFL football, fans have been blessed with some epic quarterback battles. There was Terry Bradshaw versus Roger Staubach in the 1970s and Peyton Manning against Tom Brady for most of the 2000s. Now, this generation can enjoy seeing Josh Allen take on Patrick Mahomes. The NFL odds have leaned on Mahomes’ Chiefs traditionally. But their meeting this Sunday finally favors Allen and his Bills.
Mahomes and the Chiefs have beaten the Bills in three of their four meetings. This includes two playoff victories, with the last one being considered by many as the greatest NFL playoffs game.
Allen and the Bills took that loss and have come back stronger hence why they’re the favorites in the sportsbook. Before they kick off this Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET, we look back at these budding rivals’ last four meetings.
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First Meeting: Chiefs Run Through Newly Ascendant Bills
- Score: Chiefs 26, Bills 17
- Date: Oct. 19, 2020
- Line: Chiefs -5½
In the first meeting between Allen and Mahomes, the latter’s Chiefs schooled the Bills. Mahomes did not have to do too much. He threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns. The Chiefs’ running game went through the Bills easily as Clyde Edwards-Helaire & Co. compiled 245 yards and a touchdown.
Allen completed just over 50% of his throws for 122 yards, two touchdowns, and a pick. It was his worst game against Kansas City as his young Bills were no match.
This game was also the only time these two have played at Allen’s home field. The next three games took place in Mahomes’ Arrowhead Stadium.
Second Meeting: Chiefs Smoke Buffalo in First Playoffs Matchup
- Score: Chiefs 38, Bills 24
- Date: Jan. 24, 2021
- Line: Chiefs -3
The first playoff meeting between Allen and Mahomes was another lopsided affair. The Bills jumped to a 9-0 lead after the first quarter but Kansas City scored 21 second-quarter points. By the fourth quarter, Mahomes’s Chiefs were up 31-15 with the game mostly out of hand.
Allen was a bit better here as he threw for 287 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. He also rushed for 88 yards. However, Mahomes was unstoppable. He threw for 325 yards, three touchdowns, and was sacked just once.
Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill combined for 290 receiving yards with the former scoring a pair of touchdowns. The Bills had no answer for the tight end as folks betting online on KC cashed out big again.
Third Meeting: Bills Blast Through Kansas City in a Major Upset
- Score: Bills 38, Chiefs 20
- Date: Oct. 10, 2021
- Line: Chiefs -3
The third game between Allen and Mahomes was a shocking one: the Bills dominated the Chiefs in what was the most one-sided meeting of the four. Allen had four total touchdowns and threw the ball 26 times to gain 315 passing yards with a whopping 139.1 passer rating. The Chiefs had no answers for Allen as he and the Bills scored at will.
As for Mahomes, he had his worst game against the Bills as he threw two touchdown passes while turning the ball over three times. He also needed to throw the ball 54 times to gain just 272 passing yards.
It was a statement game from Buffalo as the Bills cashed as underdogs and momentarily usurped the Chiefs as the best team in the AFC.
Fourth Meeting: Chiefs Outlast Bills In All-Time Playoff Classic
- Score: Chiefs 42, Bills 36
- Date: Jan. 23, 2022
- Line: Chiefs -2½
Everyone tuning in to the Chiefs and Bills’ 2022 AFC Divisional playoff game knows exactly where they were when it happened. The result may have been anticlimactic – the Chiefs scored a touchdown in overtime to defeat the Bills as Allen stood on the sidelines – but getting to it was the craziest final moments of any football game.
With the Chiefs up 26-21, Allen and the Bills converted on multiple fourth downs to score a touchdown and a two-point conversion to push them ahead 29-26. Mahomes fired right back with a touchdown to give the Chiefs the 33-29 lead. With 57 seconds remaining, Allen found Gabriel Davis for his fourth touchdown to give Buffalo the 36-33 lead with 13 seconds left.
This “13 seconds” would live on in infamy in Buffalo sports lore almost like the “Wide Right” from 1991.
The Chiefs elected to kick deep as opposed to a squb that could have eaten some time. This allowed Mahomes to move the ball to the BIlls’ 31-yard line where Harrison Butker kicked a field goal to send the game to overtime.
When the dust settled, Allen and Mahomes had combined for seven touchdowns. Davis set a record with four receiving touchdowns while the 25 points the teams scored in the final two minutes of regulation was the most in any NFL playoff game and the most in any NFL game since 1966.
This game set an impossibly high standard for Allen and Mahomes’ next game. But as far as NFL predictions are concerned, you just never know what could happen when these two meet.
