This has become real in the past dozen of Allen’s football games, including the playoffs. In mid-December, the pendulum swung in this direction, with No. 17 carrying the notes on its back.
All since week 15 of last season: 10-2 QB record, 34:8 TD-to-INT ratio, 105.7 passer rating; 6.3 yards per carry, 51.9 rushing yards per game, four hasty touchdowns.
Don’t get me wrong: I love Mahomes. Good luck finding a quarterback with a more impressive resume during his first four years as an NFL starter. The league could have renamed the AFC Championship Game as The Patrick Mahomes Invitational. Good thing they didn’t, because there’s a new conference sheriff in town.
Allen started this season as the MVP favorite. Since then, he has only furthered the cause. His latest feat of MVP power: Storming Arrowhead Stadium, beating Mahomes and giving the Bills (5-1) a big lead in the race for the coveted No. 1 seed and home field advantage in the playoffs. Buffalo trailed 20-17 in enemy territory on Sunday with just under six minutes left. Then Allen led the Bills on a 12-play, 76-yard scoring drive, spectacularly hindering a potential tackler for a first down before delivering a precision laser to Dawson Knox for the go-ahead touchdown. Reaction from Mahomes? A decisive pick on the second snap of Kansas City’s subsequent possession that left the Chiefs 4-2.
Josh Allen is the best quarterback in the NFL. The numbers back it up. The eye test confirms it. And we’ll all be able to enjoy the show in February, with Allen leading the Bills to their first Super Bowl in nearly three decades.