Sunday’s divisional-round game against the Buffalo Bills will have a little bit of something old and a little bit of something new for Patrick Mahomes.
The Chiefs‘ superstar quarterback is once again going up against Josh Allen in a playoff game, marking the third time the two quarterbacks have gone head-to-head in the postseason in the last four years. As both quarterbacks are arguably two of the best players at their position, naturally, the comparisons to the Tom Brady-Peyton Manning rivalry have continued this week.
Mahomes understands why many are making comparisons of his competition with Allen to that of the rivalry between two of the game’s greats. But Mahomes also embraces the comparisons too, hoping his matchups with Allen can provide similar inspiration as the Brady-Manning rivalry did for him.
“We’ve played in a lot of big games,” Mahomes told reporters on Wednesday. “I’m excited for the challenge. I grew up watching those games [between Brady and Manning] 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.”
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Similar to Brady and Manning, Mahomes and Allen have a cordial and friendly relationship off the field. In fact, Mahomes made note to apologize to Allen following his postgame outburst in the regular-season matchup between the two teams in December, saying he was sorry for complaining about the controversial penalty on Kadarius Toney during his postgame handshake with the Bills quarterback.
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Mahomes continued to show respect to Allen on Wednesday.
“When you compete against your friends, you almost want to win even more because of it,” Mahomes said. “Josh is a great dude. I respect the way he plays football and just the guy that he is. But when two guys that are ultra-competitive, that are friends off the field go up against each other, we obviously both want to win. We see each other in the offseason, and you want to have a little bit of those bragging rights.”
As for the little something that’s new, Sunday’s game will mark the first time that Mahomes has played a road postseason game in his already prestigious career. Outside of the three Super Bowls he’s played in, the other 12 playoff games Mahomes has played in were all at Arrowhead Stadium.
Mahomes isn’t worried, though, about leaving home and having a playoff game on the road.
“I’ve been lucky enough to play a lot of games at home at Arrowhead Stadium,” Mahomes said. “But now we have a great opportunity to go on the road, play in a hostile environment, one where I haven’t been able to play with fans in the stands. Even though I know it’s going to be hostile and there are going to be people talking trash, I’m excited for it because it’s one of the best environments in football, and you want to do that when you grow up watching these games, play in the best environment and see what it’s like.”
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As Mahomes shared, his first game at Buffalo came during the COVID-affected 2020 season with no Bills fans at Higmak Stadium, which the Chiefs won. Since then, all five games between the two teams have taken place at Arrowhead Stadium.
There has been a common theme in those five matchups. The Bills have won all three regular-season games, while the Chiefs won both postseason matchups.
If Mahomes’ rivalry with Allen continues to mirror the Brady-Manning rivalry, that wouldn’t be a good sign for the Chiefs’ chances of winning Sunday’s game. After losing his first two playoff matchups to Brady, Manning won his first playoff game against the fellow star quarterback on his third try, which was also the first time he got to play the Patriots quarterback at home in a playoff matchup.
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Additionally, the Chiefs are underdogs on the betting line against the Bills, which marks just the second time Mahomes has been an underdog in a playoff game.
As the Chiefs have actually gone 6-2 on the road this season as opposed to their 6-4 home record, Mahomes is preparing for whatever the Bills and their fans throw their way on Sunday.
“I go into every game with the same mindset, and that’s to go out there and win,” Mahomes said. “We understand it’s going to be a great challenge, we understand it’s going to be a hostile environment, and we’re playing a great football team.
“We know it’s going to be a great challenge for us but our mindset is we’re going to prepare ourselves this week to go out there to win the football game, and that never changes.”
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