All season, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson have been one-upping each other from afar. Allen would have a big game, and Jackson would match it. Jackson would give us a great highlight, and then Allen would dazzle us with one. You couldn’t discuss the NFL MVP race without including both quarterbacks.
There haven’t been many more compelling divisional round matchups than what we’ll get in Buffalo next weekend.
The Buffalo Bills, behind a pair of touchdown passes from Allen, are moving on after a 31-7 win over the Denver Broncos in the AFC wild-card round on Sunday afternoon. They’ll face Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens.
The MVP votes have been submitted, but this upcoming game will help define the debate for both quarterbacks, not just this season but beyond.
Allen and Jackson are great players who haven’t made a Super Bowl yet, as both try to get a championship during the Patrick Mahomes-led Chiefs dynasty. One of them will be going to an AFC championship game, likely against the Chiefs. For both electrifying quarterbacks, a big part of their legacies could be at stake.
Broncos took the early lead
For a moment, it looked like maybe we wouldn’t get the Jackson vs. Allen showdown next week. The Broncos had a dream start. Bo Nix had a great throw to Courtland Sutton on third-and-8 to keep the drive going, then stood in as he was about to get hit and delivered a great deep pass to Troy Franklin for a 43-yard touchdown. CBS said it was the first passing touchdown in NFL playoff history from a rookie to a rookie.
That was about it for the Broncos’ offense.
Denver’s defense allowed long, methodical drives after that, which chewed up the clock but didn’t result in a lot of points for the Bills. The Broncos’ red-zone defense was keeping them in the game, though the problems forcing a punt between the 20s wasn’t helping them much.
The Bills took a 10-7 lead on a 5-yard touchdown run by James Cook. They maintained that lead when Denver doinked a field-goal attempt off the upright as the first half ended.
Buffalo was able to run the ball and extend drives, but not finishing them with touchdowns was keeping the Broncos in the game. Denver’s offense just couldn’t take advantage.
Bills pull away in second half
The Bills finally hit the play that was the turning point of the game. Leading 13-7, they decided to go for it on fourth-and-1. Allen scrambled around, and eventually found running back Ty Johnson in the back of the end zone. Johnson had a sliding catch, and barely was inbounds as he hauled it in for a huge 24-yard touchdown. The 2-point conversion put the Bill ahead 21-7. Given how little the Broncos’ offense was doing and how Buffalo was controlling the clock, that was a huge deficit.
It was a classic Allen highlight, buying time until he either could run for a big gain or find a receiver downfield. It’s the type of play we often see from Jackson, too.
The Bills put the game away on the first play of the fourth quarter. Buffalo created some confusion for the Broncos by lining up four receivers to the left side of the formation, then having Curtis Samuel cross the field. He was open and maneuvered past the secondary in the open field for a 55-yard touchdown. The game was probably over before that, but Samuel’s touchdown turned it into a blowout.
Allen completed 20 of 26 passes for 272 yards, and added 46 yards rushing.
It’s not the first time the Bills and Ravens have been to the divisional round in recent years. The AFC will have the same four teams in the divisional round as last season, the second time since the 1970 merger that has happened, according to Josh Dubow of the Associated Press. (It also happened in the AFC at the end of the 2011 season.) However, the narratives for Jackson and Allen won’t change dramatically unless they can finally reach a Super Bowl.
It will be great theater in Buffalo next weekend. It’s rare to see two quarterbacks who are a near-lock to finish 1-2 in the MVP race in some order — without knowing definitively which one will win — to face off in a playoff game. The stakes will be much bigger than which one wins MVP.
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