Two of the NFL’s leading quarterbacks – both yet to win a Super Bowl – can move one step closer to that ultimate goal as Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen meet in the playoffs.
With the Kansas City Chiefs eyeing an unprecedented third-straight Super Bowl triumph, Jackson and Allen have often been the collateral damage left in their wake over their five-year-and-counting dynasty.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Jackson and Buffalo Bills QB Allen were both drafted in 2018, a year after the Chiefs selected Patrick Mahomes which sparked their sudden ascent to the top of the NFL.
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Mahomes has led the Chiefs to four of the past five Super Bowls, winning three of them, and while Jackson matches him for league MVP awards over that span (two), and Allen is a hot favourite to claim his first this season, the pair have too often fallen short where Mahomes has thrived: in the playoffs.
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Jackson is 3-4 in the playoffs, Allen a touch improved at 6-5 but neither can hold a flame to Mahomes’ mind-boggling 15-3 record.
One of their records will improve this weekend, as Jackson’s Ravens and Allen’s Bills meet in an AFC Divisional Round matchup in Buffalo – live on Sky Sports NFL, Sunday, 11.30pm – but the other will be chalking up another ‘L’ in the playoff loss column.
“This is a legacy game [for Jackson and Allen],” Sky Sports’ Neil Reynolds said on the latest episode of the Inside The Huddle podcast. “They have both struggled at the Divisional Round and beyond.
“Lamar Jackson is 1-3 in the divisional round or later, and Josh Allen is 1-4.
“Their Super Bowl windows are open, but Patrick Mahomes is there waiting ready to spoil all the fun if necessary.
“One of these quarterbacks has got to get that Super Bowl at some point.”
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And indeed Mahomes could again be lying in wait as the reward for the winner, with the Chiefs hosting the Houston Texans – live on Sky Sports NFL, Saturday, 9.30pm – in the other Divisional Round clash in the AFC.
While Mahomes and Kansas City are the No 1 seed in the conference, and hold such Super Bowl pedigree, the 2024 season has been an odd one which has seen then scrape 11 of their 15 wins by only eight points or fewer.
They ranked 17th in yards per game (327.6) – Baltimore best in class with 424.9 – and 15th in points per game (22.6), compared to Buffalo’s second-best in the NFL mark of 30.9, with the Ravens tucked in closely behind at 30.5.
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Sunday’s meeting is also the first in playoff history between two quarterbacks who have accounted for more than 40 TDs and under 10 turnovers in a season (Jackson: 45 total TDs, nine giveaways / Allen: 41 total TDs, eight giveaways).
It’s why this Divisional Round meeting between the pair is so greatly anticipated as, although, the Chiefs could await the winner, might the Ravens and/or Bills finally prove too powerful for Mahomes and co?
“I think the team that wins this game could win the Super Bowl,” said Sky Sports’ Phoebe Schecter, a former coach with the Bills.
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“Both of these teams have struggled with their identity in the postseason at times. Lamar and the Ravens have openly said they should have run the ball more [in playoff loss to the Chiefs] last year, and we’ve seen the Bills’ struggles.
“This game is so hard to pick, because both of these teams are phenomenal in a multitude of different ways, and these quarterbacks are so massive in the big moments.
“In Buffalo, it’s a funny one because this was supposed to a rebuild year. Their defense is what worries me the most, but I’ll go with the Bills to win this game.”
Watch the Baltimore Ravens at the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, live on Sky Sports NFL on Sunday, with kick-off at 11.30pm.
