One of the biggest things that was mentioned going into this weekend was the newest rivalry between the Bills and the Chiefs, specifically Patrick Mahomes versus Josh Allen. The broadcast, fans and even multiple publications have dubbed it the new Tom Brady/Peyton Manning pairing in the NFL, which people have gone back and forth on especially with Allen losing again to Mahomes. Comparing generations in sports is nothing even remotely new but I wanted to see how much of this comparison was true.
Looking back at the regular season matchups, they looked on par. Brady typically got the best of Manning, taking him down nine times in their 12 regular season games. Allen and Mahomes have already matched up four times in the regular season, with Allen taking the 3-1 advantage. The win this year at Arrowhead for the Bills really brought the team back to life and is where I think that the comparison started to make sense.
The playoffs are what have been the separating factor for me. Manning and Brady met in the playoffs three times between 2003 and 2006. Brady and the Patriots took the first two matchups hosting the Colts and then when Manning and Indianapolis got homefield for the third game, they managed to get their first playoff win.
It then took seven more seasons from 2006 to 2013 before Manning (now with the Broncos) and Brady would meet in the playoffs. Peyton and his new team would get the last laugh in his last two playoff games with Brady, sending Tom and the Patriots home in the AFC Championship game in 2013 and 2015.
To everyone’s credit, the similarities are there to what we saw with Allen and Mahomes. From 2021 to 2024, the Bills and the Chiefs met with each other three times. Mahomes and the Chiefs hosted and won the first two meetings, and this Sunday’s game was Allen’s chance to be just like Manning. That sadly didn’t happen as Mahomes and the Chiefs took down Buffalo on the road, giving Mahomes the 3-0 all-time head-to-head record in the playoffs against Allen. To me, that’s what we need to see to even get close to calling this the new Brady/Manning rivalry: an Allen win against Mahomes in the playoffs.
The easiest rebuttal to anyone making this argument is of course to mention the history behind Brady and his seven rings and how dominant Manning was in his prime, but that’s too easy. I think it’s just people projecting nostalgia onto the game they love, and I get it, but I don’t think the rivalry is at the point where it can be compared because Mahomes has the edge in the playoffs. One playoff win can change the whole narrative, but what made the Manning and Brady games so great was that both had proven they could beat the other when it mattered most; that cannot be said about Allen and the Bills.
This is also not to say that this can’t be a great rivalry itself. People forget just how Brady dominated the first six matchups against Manning and the Colts. He took each of their first six meetings, including two playoff games, with an average margin of victory of over 14 points. In the last four meetings between the Bills and Chiefs, every single one of them has been a one score game as time expired. This resembles more of the latter half of the Brady/Manning head-to-head matchup as seven out of their last ten meetings ended up being decided by a single score.
If anything, this just proves the lack of star power that the NFC has with quarterbacks, as fans aren’t really hyping up the Jared Goff/Brock Purdy NFC Championship next weekend. Why would they either, when after this week’s Bills/Chiefs game we get to see MVP Lamar Jackson taking on Mahomes, who’s in his sixth consecutive AFC championship himself.
I’m hopeful that we’ll see this rivalry between Allen and Mahomes build in years to come, but let’s just let it be its own thing. Mahomes and the Chiefs have been like the Astros of the NFL, making the conference championship for six years straight. I don’t think they’re going anywhere soon. Losing again only grows the chip on the Bills’ shoulder and losing at home added insult to injury. These teams will remain powerhouses atop the AFC and will have many more meetings, but it doesn’t need to be compared to others to still be great.