Josh Allen

The Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs are in good positions to extend the run of top seeds advancing to the Super Bowl.

Since 2013, 10 No. 1 seeds moved on to the NFL's championship tilt from conference championship weekend.

If the Chiefs and Packers prevail, they would set up the fifth Super Bowl matchup between top seeds during that span. However, a newcomer on the championship stage in this era and a six-time Super Bowl champion stand in their ways.

Both sets of conference championship participants have familiarity with each other, which could help the Chiefs down the Buffalo Bills for the second time. For Green Bay, the key is to avoid the mistakes it committed in its regular-season loss to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

                   

Super Bowl LV Odds

Kansas City: +190 (bet $100 to win $190)

Green Bay: +200

Buffalo: +400

Tampa Bay: +450

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

                

Prediction

Kansas City vs. Green Bay

Most of the attention in the AFC Championship Game will be paid to the quarterback battle between Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.

However, the difference-maker could be the play of the Kansas City defense that limited the Bills to 206 total yards in Week 6.

The Chiefs have not allowed an opponent to reach more than 300 passing yards since they faced Brady in Week 1, and their defensive starters held their past two foes under 20 points. Kansas City played most of its backups in the Week 17 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

Six of the nine teams that entered Arrowhead Stadium this season left with a maximum of 20 points, including the Houston Texans, New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns. If the Chiefs turn in another strong defensive performance, Mahomes and Co. should take advantage of that and create some separation on the scoreboard.

Kansas City's offense is due for a high point total at home after failing to score more than 22 points in each of its past four contests at Arrowhead Stadium. The AFC's No. 1 seed averaged 32 points in its first five home contests.

A score in the 30s or 40s is possible for Kansas City based on Buffalo's performances against playoff qualifiers.

Three of the Bills' four highest point concessions occurred against playoff teams, and they averaged 26.8 points conceded on their travels.

Tampa Bay's defense has not been perfect on the road, either, as it allowed 20 points in eight of its 10 trips away from Raymond James Stadium. The Buccaneers allowed 43 combined points in their first two games of the postseason, and those concessions came against quarterbacks who are not at the level of Aaron Rodgers right now.

Taylor Heinicke was thrown into the Washington lineup because of Alex Smith's injury and Dwayne Haskins' release, and Drew Brees did not look like his old self in the divisional round.

Rodgers is playing at an MVP level, and he has been much better since the Packers' 38-10 defeat to the Bucs in Week 6. Since that contest, Rodgers has thrown three interceptions in 12 games. He was picked off twice by the NFC South side.

The Green Bay quarterback tossed three or four touchdown passes on 12 occasions and lost once at Lambeau Field this season. Rodgers' effectiveness inside the pocket and the lack of concessions from the Green Bay defense could be the perfect combination to win the NFC Championship Game.

Green Bay's past four opponents at Lambeau Field failed to reach the 20-point mark, and only one of them recorded more than 300 total yards.

If the Packers follow a similar blueprint Sunday afternoon, they could be headed to the Super Bowl for the first time under head coach Matt LaFleur.

                  

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from Pro Football Reference.

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Each of the four remaining Super Bowl contenders presents an intriguing championship storyline.

The Kansas City Chiefs are going for a championship repeat, Tom Brady is trying to lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a title game in their own stadium, Aaron Rodgers is attempting to get back to the Big Game under a new head coach and the Buffalo Bills are one win away from making their first appearance since the 1993 season.

Those storylines, combined with the talent on the four rosters, create plenty of buzz around all of the potential Super Bowl matchups.

However, only two sides can emerge from the conference championship round ,and a strong case could be made for both home teams to progress from Sunday's contests and into Super Bowl LV.

                     

Super Bowl Odds

Kansas City: +190 (bet $100 to win $190)

Green Bay: +210

Buffalo: +375

Tampa Bay: +450

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

             

Matchup Prediction

Kansas City vs. Green Bay

The Chiefs and Packers have arguably been the best teams in the NFL this season.

Kansas City went 14-2 in the regular season, but its group of first-string players only lost once. The second defeat occurred in Week 17 with Chad Henne starting for Patrick Mahomes.

Andy Reid's side gutted out its divisional-round win without Mahomes on the field, but it should have the star quarterback available for Sunday's clash with the Bills.

Mahomes has a 5-1 postseason record, and he played well in both of the AFC Championship Games he participated in.

The Chiefs quarterback put together two nearly identical stat lines in his two AFC title tilts. He had 295 yards and three touchdowns versus the New England Patriots two seasons ago and 294 yards and three touchdowns against the Tennessee Titans last year.

As a whole, Kansas City has more experience at this level than the Bills since it is set to host its third straight AFC Championship Game. Most of Buffalo's roster are playing at this stage for the first time.

Kansas City also owns a regular-season victory over the Bills, in which it held the AFC East squad to 206 total yards and 17 points.

Green Bay suffered a much different fate in its regular-season showdown with the Buccaneers. The Packers scored the first 10 points and then gave up 38 to Brady and Co.

Matt LaFleur's team is on a seven-game winning streak, during which it beat a trio of playoff qualifiers at Lambeau Field by a combined 56 points. In fact, the Packers took every game of their winning run by seven points or more. There were only two one-score victories in that lot.

Green Bay's offensive line can counter Tampa Bay's top defensive strength on the interior. The Packers ran for more than 120 yards in six of their past seven games. If Green Bay continues to win the battle on the interior, Rodgers should have plenty of time to work in the pocket, and the Packers should be able to get their pair of running backs going as a complement to the quarterback.

Of course, Green Bay has to be wary of the threat Brady poses at this stage of the postseason, but in his past two road conference championship games, he threw for two touchdowns and four interceptions.

If Kansas City and Green Bay win their respective conference championship games, they will meet in Tampa, Florida, on Feb. 7 in a rematch of the first-ever Super Bowl.

                      

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from Pro Football Reference.

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Three of the five quarterbacks selected in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft led their teams to the divisional playoffs this season.

Two—Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens and Baker Mayfield of the Cleveland Browns—lost last weekend and are now technically entering the final year of their rookie contracts. The other—Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills—remains in the Super Bowl hunt as Buffalo prepares to play the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday's AFC Championship Game. 

So while there's no chatter right now about Allen's contract for obvious reasons, the focus in Baltimore and Cleveland has already begun to shift to what the Ravens and Browns might do with Jackson and Mayfield, respectively. 

"I'm very confident that [general manager] Eric [DeCosta] and those guys will do a great job of looking at that," Ravens head coach John Harbaugh told reporters at his end-of-season press conference. "Of course, absolutely, we want Lamar to sign a long-term deal and be with us. I'm totally certain that that's going to happen. When it happens, that's the details and that's what we've got to figure out."

"There will be plenty of time for those discussions with all the 2021 decisions," Browns GM Andrew Berry told reporters at his end-of-season presser. "I think it's probably just easier to say that I'm really pleased with Baker's performance, really pleased with what he's done this year. We wouldn't be here without his contributions."

Because Jackson was the league MVP as a sophomore in 2019, and because Allen has a chance to be MVP runner-up this year, those two would appear to have a serious edge over Mayfield, who made strides under new head coach Kevin Stefanski in 2020 but was inconsistent in his first two pro seasons and has yet to come close to a Pro Bowl, let alone MVP consideration. 

Starting with that duo, let's look at what the future might hold financially for the sport's most promising and accomplished quarterbacks who have yet to sign long-term extensions.  

             

What Should Jackson and Allen Expect?

Jackson and Allen (and Mayfield, but more on him in a moment) are exactly one year behind 2017 first-round quarterback success stories Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs and Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans, both of whom signed jaw-dropping long-term deals pretty much as soon as they were eligible to do so last offseason. 

Mahomes' 10-year, $450 million deal with Kansas City is the most valuable overall contract and the most lucrative pact in terms of average annual salary in NFL history, but the length of the deal has drawn criticism along with the fact that the Chiefs can get out of the contract practically free of charge with significant notice at almost any point beyond the 2021 season.

Writing for CBS Sports, former NFL agent Joel Corry suggested that type of deal will continue to be an anomaly, which makes sense because most players prefer shorter contracts with more cash flow.

With that in mind, the more appropriate benchmark for Jackson, Allen and others might be Watson's four-year, $156 million extension with the Texans. That's an average annual salary of $39 million, with a $1 million incentive available between 2022 and 2025 if the Texans win the Super Bowl in the previous season.

Watson has stronger career passing numbers than Jackson and Allen, but the best season on his resume when he signed that deal wasn't close to as formidable as Jackson's unbelievable MVP campaign or Allen's 2020 season that featured a 37-to-10 touchdown-to-interception ratio for a 13-3 Bills team. 

Ordinarily, it'd be a given to take inflation into account here. However, after the salary cap increased by approximately 5-10 percent every year for about a decade, there's a sense that it could plummet in 2021 as a result of losses related to COVID-19. The cap was $198.2 million this season, but ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio reported this week that it could drop to the $180 million range this year.

That could complicate matters to a degree, but the reality is blockbuster extensions signed with rookie contracts still in place aren't often financial burdens right away. Watson's cap hit was just $9.8 million in 2020, while Mahomes' was a mere $5.3 million, according to Spotrac.

Veterans deemed worthy of only short-term deals will likely bear most of the brunt related to revenue losses stemming from the pandemic. 

Meanwhile, we're one year closer to the league striking new television deals with networks, which could result in a monumental rise in the salary cap beyond 2021. ESPN's deal expires next offseason, while NBC, CBS and Fox have two years remaining on their current contracts with the league. 

"Rates on Sunday afternoon games may double," reported CNBC's Alex Sherman last year, "jumping from $1 billion annually to $2 billion annually. ESPN pays $2 billion annually for Monday Night Football and may need to pay $3 billion to keep the package."

You might read and hear that teams will be incentivized to get long-term deals hammered out before anticipated salary-cap spikes in and/or beyond 2022, but suggesting that players and agents won't negotiate with that inevitability on the table is naive. The reality is Mahomes and Watson reset the market by such large margins that it's fair to assume that trajectory was considered.

One year later, with the NFL still dominating the competition on television despite 2020 declines that were likely at least partly attributed to the presidential election, there's little reason to believe superstar players like Jackson and Allen will have less leverage than the arguably less accomplished Watson.

That doesn't guarantee anything will get done immediately. Watson didn't strike a deal with Houston until less than a week before the start of his fourth season. If required, the Ravens and Bills will inevitably exercise fifth-year options for their respective quarterbacks by the May 3 deadline, and they have franchise tags for 2023, 2024 and possibly even 2025 at their disposal if need be.

In other words, they technically have the flexibility to go year to year for another half-decade. But the potential drawbacks associated with those tactics are daunting. That's generally viewed as a worst-case-scenario route, which is often littered with threats and holdouts and often leads to a toxic, if not scorched, relationship between star player and team. 

The best way for the Ravens and Bills to avoid a situation like the one the Washington Football Team encountered with Kirk Cousins or the one the Dallas Cowboys are enduring with Dak Prescott is to get something done between now and the start of the 2021 season. 

Let's operate under the assumption they do exactly that. What is each worth?

Jackson is an MVP with rate-based passing stats in Watson's range but far superior rushing numbers. In fact, only five running backs have rushed for more yards than Jackson the last two seasons. He's also about a year younger than Watson was when he signed his deal. And although he appeared to regress a bit early in 2020, a late-season hot streak silenced any notion that his 2019 MVP campaign was an aberration.

Contract prediction for Jackson: Five years, $210 million with $125 million guaranteed.

         

Allen's not quite as accomplished or as dynamic as Jackson, although he's done more for us lately than Jackson has and there's still room for him to increase his value with a strong performance in the AFC title game and/or Super Bowl LV. If he delivers in both of those games, he might challenge Mahomes for $45 million a year, but the odds don't favor that happening.

For now, let's be a little more conservative. Still, coming off his best season gives him an edge over Jackson, and it could be argued he's a safer investment because he runs less than Jackson. And yet his legs are still a tremendous weapon. 

These guys are likely to wind up in the same range. 

Contract prediction for Allen: Four years, $160 million with $120 million guaranteed.

           

Mayfield Isn't on the Same Level...Yet

The Browns, on the other hand, might want to roll the dice on Mayfield's fourth season. They might want to exercise his fifth-year option (which will be fully guaranteed under the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement) and see if he continues to improve in 2021. 

If he does, his extension will likely be a lot more costly next offseason than it would be now. But he'll cost just $10.6 million in 2021, and there should be plenty of room to fit his salary in once the new TV deals are in place. 

If he doesn't take off, you probably consider treating 2022 as a make-or-break year with or without competition on the roster.

That said, I wouldn't fault the Browns for extending Mayfield now. They haven't had a star quarterback in decades, they could use the newfound contractual flexibility to free up extra cap space in a 2021 season that is expected to be a tough financial ride for everyone, and the 25-year-old's 15-to-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio in his last 11 regular-season and playoff games is extremely encouraging. 

Still, he hasn't done enough to merit money within reaching distance of Mahomes and Watson, so it wouldn't be surprising if he were to bet on himself changing that in 2021. In other words, both parties might prefer to wait. 

Contract prediction: No deal this offseason. Otherwise? Four years, $130 million with $100 million guaranteed.

          

Dak Prescott is a Wild Card

This was a messy situation even before Prescott suffered a severely broken ankle that required surgery and ended his fifth NFL season in October. At the time, he was the league's most prolific passer on paper and had solid numbers across the board despite a poor start from the Cowboys. 

But Prescott was also playing under the franchise tag. Another tag in 2021 would cost Dallas $37.7 million, which could cripple a team that Spotrac projects to possess just $17 million in salary-cap space without accounting for key impending free agents Aldon Smith, Chidobe Awuzie, Xavier Woods, Jourdan Lewis and Tyrone Crawford. 

Prescott is a two-time Pro Bowler with the ability to serve as a franchise quarterback, but with those dynamics in mind, Dallas might either have to make a long-term deal happen now or find a replacement on the trade market or in the draft. It might be able to save money by acquiring Matthew Stafford from the Detroit Lions or Derek Carr from the Las Vegas Raiders, or it could use its No. 10 overall pick on a blue-chip signal-caller like Trey Lance or Zach Wilson. 

So logic points to Prescott finally landing a long-term deal, either in Dallas or elsewhere. It also points to Prescott making less than he would have earned if he didn't get hurt and continued to produce at that level. That's an unfortunate reality in this league. 

The team insists it is committed to signing Prescott, but the organization obviously drew the line during last year's negotiations and the open market could make it even more difficult to find a happy medium if it opts against using the tag.

A glass-half-full speculative take: The Cowboys and others might now be more inclined to go with a shorter-term deal considering his injury, which is reportedly Prescott's preference.

Contract prediction: Four years, $146 million with $100 million guaranteed.

           

Kyler Murray Is at Least a Year Away

The 2019 Arizona Cardinals No. 1 overall pick and Offensive Rookie of the Year appeared to make strides despite still lacking consistency as a sophomore, and he isn't eligible for a long-term extension until after the 2021 campaign. 

Still, Murray generated a combined 37 passing/rushing touchdowns in a Pro Bowl season that saw him improve his career touchdown-to-interception ratio to 46-to-24. He's as close to Jackson as you'll get on the ground, and his ceiling remains remarkably high considering he's just 23 years old and was only a one-year starter in college. 

If he delivers in 2021, he could be up for an extension at the ideal time as the league bounces back from the pandemic-disrupted 2020 season and new TV deals begin to fall into place.

At that point, you'd have to expect Murray to command Jackson-level money.

Contract prediction for next offseason: Five years, $200 million with $120 million guaranteed.

           

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012. Follow him on Twitter: @Brad_Gagnon.

The Kansas City Chiefs are set to play in their third consecutive AFC Championship Game. The Buffalo Bills are making their first appearance in the conference title game since the 1993 season. There's a bit of history here for both franchises, and this epic clash is going to send one of them to Super Bowl LV.

On its surface, Sunday's Bills-Chiefs matchup will be a duel between two young, up-and-coming quarterbacks. Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes has already won a league MVP award, while Buffalo's Josh Allen is firmly in the conversation this year. Mahomes is 25. Allen is just 24.

Anyone who watched the Chiefs outlast the Cleveland Browns in the divisional round knows that there's no guarantee that Mahomes will play. He suffered a concussion in that game and remains in the league's concussion protocol.

The good news for Chiefs fans is that Mahomes has made enough progress to return to practice on a limited basis.

"He's done well up to this point,'' Kansas City head coach Andy Reid said, per ESPN's Adam Teicher. "Today [Mahomes was allowed to do] limited work and no contact. That's kind of what we're doing on Wednesday, so this fits in well."

If Mahomes cannot play, the Chiefs will rely on backup Chad Henne.

Regardless of who is under center for Kansas City, this is going to be a battle between two of the league's most complete teams—and two squads with the goods to take home the Lombardi Trophy.

Which team has the best chance of coming out on top? Let's take a look.

                          

2021 AFC Championship Game Info

Date: Sunday, January 24

Time: 6:40 p.m. ET

TV and Live Stream: CBS, CBS All Access

Line: Kansas City -3

Over/Under*: 54

Prediction: Buffalo 28, Kansas City 27

Line via DraftKings Sportsbook.

    

While Mahomes has the most high-profile injury for this game, his isn't the only notable one. Chiefs running back Clyde-Edwards-Helaire remains limited with an ankle injury, Chiefs wideout Sammy Watkins has been limited with a calf injury, Bills wideout Stefon Diggs has been limited with an oblique injury and Bills linebacker Tremaine Edmunds has been limited by a hamstring injury.

While injuries alone probably won't decide this contest, defensive play might. Allen and Mahomes each helm a high-octane offense capable of moving the ball at will. Kansas City and Buffalo respectively rank first and second in total offense for the 2020 season.

Therefore, the team able to make the most big defensive plays or the most timely stops is going to have a huge advantage. For Buffalo, the goal will be to keep Kansas City out of the end zone more than it will be about shutting them down entirely.

"We're a bend-but-don't break defense," Bills safety Jordan Poyer said, per ESPN's Mike Reiss. "We're going to keep fighting for every grain of grass."

The key here—for both teams—will be putting offensive touchdowns on the board while limiting the opposition to field goals. This will be easier in theory than in practice, but Buffalo should have a chance to slow Mahomes and Co.

The Bills held the Baltimore Ravens to just three points in the divisional round and have restricted seven of their past eight opponents to 25 points.

The Chiefs have held their past three opponents below 25 points and are more than capable of making timely defensive plays. However, an inconsistent pass defense could be problematic against Buffalo's pass-oriented offense.

Kansas City ranks 18th in net passing yards allowed. If Allen can avoid turnovers—Kansas City ranks sixth in interceptions—he has the arm talent and the improvisational skills needed to take advantage.

                             

---

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NFL fans love a good rivalry, and for much of the 21st century, they were treated to a great one between two Hall of Fame quarterbacks. From the 2001 to 2015 seasons, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning faced each other a whopping 17 times, including four times with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

This week's AFC Championship Game in Kansas City features arguably the league's two best young quarterbacks in Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs and Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills. Neither signal-caller is older than 25. Both are leading MVP candidates this season. The two combined to throw for 9,284 yards and a staggering 75 touchdown passes.

And while it will be a while before we can compare Allen vs. Mahomes to Brady vs. Manning, it's not hyperbole to say we could be in the nascent stages of a rivalry under center that will dominate the AFC—and the NFL—for the next decade.

The two have met once—a Monday night affair in Week 6 of this season that Mahomes and the Chiefs won 26-17. In that inaugural duel, neither quarterback lit up the scoreboard. But Mahomes had the better game, completing 21 of 26 passes for 225 yards and two scores. That game was scheduled for Thursday, October 15, but was moved to the following Monday night because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There probably won't be any moving of this second meeting. But there's a massive cloud hanging over the game nonetheless: Mahomes' status after he landed in the concussion protocol when he took a shot in last week's win over the Cleveland Browns.

There was potentially some good news in that regard Monday, courtesy of Carrington Harrison of CBS Sports Radio in Kansas City:

A source has told me

“Patrick passed all of his tests last night. He didn’t actually hit his head, there was a nerve in his neck that got tweaked that made him out of it. He’s getting testing done on his neck/nerve today but did clear all tests last night.”

@610SportsKC

— Carrington Harrison (@cdotharrison) January 18, 2021

ESPN's Adam Schefter noted that Mahomes is expected to practice Wednesday, but Schefter also tweeted a reminder that Mahomes suffered a foot injury in the first half of the divisional-round win that many forgot about once he left the game.

Additionally Patrick Mahomes is dealing with a foot issue, per source. He still must go through certain steps to clear concussion protocol in the coming days, and there is hope and optimism, considering he is expected to practice Wednesday, per source. https://t.co/zKwHaosaA3

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 19, 2021

Mahomes will still need to pass a series of neurological tests ahead of Sunday's game. But for the sake of argument (and football fans everywhere), we'll assume that Mahomes' injuries aren't serious enough to keep him off the field Sunday at Arrowhead, and that he'll be (reasonably) close to 100 percent.

It's a relative number by the second half of January.

If that's the case, we could be in for an all-time classic of a game.

It took Mahomes all of three seasons to go from surprise pick out of Texas Tech to the gold standard at the NFL's most important position. In his second year in the league, Mahomes became just the second player (after Manning in 2013) to throw for 50 touchdown passes and 5,000 yards in the same season. That year, Mahomes was named the league's Most Valuable Player and led the Chiefs to the AFC title game before they fell in overtime to the New England Patriots.

The next season, Mahomes would avenge that setback, leading three straight double-digit comebacks in the playoffs on the way to winning the Super Bowl LIV MVP award.

This season, his fourth, Mahomes threw for 4,740 yards—second only to Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans. He led the league in passing yards per game (316.0), finished fourth in the NFL with 38 touchdown passes and led the Chiefs to a 14-2 record and a third consecutive conference title game at home—a feat that had never been accomplished in the AFC.

As Rany Jazayerli wrote for The Ringer in November, Mahomes has already accomplished as much (if not more) in January or later than some quarterbacks who are considered mortal locks to be enshrined in Canton when their careers are over:

"While Mahomes has a short postseason resume so far, he has more heroics in five playoff games than most quarterbacks do in their entire careers. He already has more playoff wins after trailing by double digits (three) than Rodgers does (two). Mahomes has averaged 295 yards per game in the playoffs, a hair off his regular-season average of 304, and his touchdown-to-interception ratio of 6.5 is better than his regular-season mark of 5.2—even though the Chiefs have played from behind in four of the five games and the defenses generally knew what to expect."

Remember, he's also just 25 years old.

Josh Allen, 24, hasn't had the consistent success that Mahomes has. But if his 2020 breakout campaign was any indication, the third-year pro out of Wyoming is just getting started.

After a pair of up-and-down seasons to begin his career, Allen got a shiny new No. 1 receiver in 2020 in the form of Stefon Diggs—and the volume was cranked to 11. After he completed less than 60 percent of his pass attempts each of his first two years, Allen's completion percentage spiked to 69.2. He threw more touchdown passes (37) in 2020 than in his first two seasons combined. Allen's passer rating jumped by over 20 points to 107.2. And he led the Bills to a 13-3 record, the AFC East title and the team's first berth in the conference title game since Buffalo's four straight Super Bowl trips in the early '90s.

While speaking with Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News, Allen credited an offseason of working on his mechanics with his improvement this season:

"Being able to add my hips and make that as consistent as possible and try to slow everything else down up top and use my hand as the leverage for the speed and the accuracy has changed a lot of things. The accuracy has gone up, but it's actually added some mph to my throwing power, too. It's been a pretty cool process. … It was like a wake-up call."

Whether it was Diggs' arrival, improved mechanics, Allen's natural maturation or a combination of those factors, he went from a talented but erratic quarterback over his first two seasons to a legitimate MVP candidate in year three. His improvement has been remarkable, and there's nothing to indicate it was a one-off.

Now the two quarterbacks with arguably the strongest arms in the game will battle for a trip to Tampa, Florida, in a contest that has shootout written all over it. Last summer, Mahomes made it clear to ESPN's SportsCenter (via Adam Teicher and Marcel Louis-Jacques) that he's not about to cede anything to Allen—including the title of biggest gun in the NFL:

"Obviously, Josh has an extremely strong arm. But I've yet to see someone have a stronger arm than me, so maybe we can line up—I know we talked about having a throw-off—and then we can prove who really has the strongest arm. I have ultimate belief in myself. He does have a strong arm, but I've put it out there 80, 85 yards. If he beats that, he beats it."

The stakes are slightly higher this week.

There aren't a ton of parallels that we can draw between Brady vs. Manning and Allen vs. Mahomes—for starters, the youngsters are exponentially more athletic than Brady and Manning ever thought about being. It's also premature to compare Mahomes and Allen to two quarterbacks who have combined for 13 Super Bowl appearances and eight championships.

But the Brady vs. Manning rivalry defined AFC football for 15 years. Seventeen meetings total (of which Brady won 11), four AFC title games (of which Manning won three).

There's a long way to go before Allen vs. Mahomes can be mentioned in the same breath. Never mind the possibility that 2019 MVP Lamar Jackson could insert himself into the battle to be the battle at quarterback. Jackson is the youngest of the lot and immensely talented.

But Jackson also hasn't gotten past the divisional round (yet) and just got bounced from the playoffs by Allen and the Bills. Regular-season matchups are well and good, but it's the contests with the biggest stakes where rivalries go from good to great.

Where we are right now, it's Allen and Mahomes who most have the combo of talent inside them and weapons around them to dominate the conversation under center in the AFC for a similarly extended period as Brady and Manning—much to the despair of the rest of the conference.

Sunday we'll find out which one gets bragging rights in the first go-round between the two with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

And we could all be bearing witness to the beginning of an epic struggle for dominance of the AFC between two outstanding players whose best days (we hope) are still to come.

As Terrell Owens would say, "Get your popcorn ready."

Football fans will be hoping to be treated to a duel between two young gunslingers in Sunday's AFC Championship Game.

The Kansas City Chiefs outlasted the Cleveland Browns in the divisional round, while the Buffalo Bills smothered the Baltimore Ravens. This should set up a quarterback head-to-head between Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes, though the latter is in the concussion protocol.

Even if Mahomes cannot play, it would be unwise to write the Chiefs off here. They have a very capable backup in Chad Henne, won with him playing most of the second half last weekend and survived for a stretch without Mahomes back in 2019.

Kansas City is still loaded on both sides of the ball and will make this game interesting, regardless of who is under center—though an Allen-Henne matchup doesn't have the same drawing power as an Allen-Mahomes battle.

This marks the third-straight appearance by Kansas City in the AFC title game, and it will be the Chiefs' second-straight Super Bowl if they're victorious. Meanwhile, Buffalo hasn't appeared in the AFC Championship Game since the 1993 season, when it beat the Chiefs but went on to lose Super Bowl XXVIII.

Here's everything you need to know about the 2021 AFC Championship Game.

       

AFC Championship Game Info

Date: Sunday, January 24

Time: 6:40 p.m. ET

TV and Live Stream: CBS, CBS All Access

Line*: Kansas City -3

Over/Under*: 53.5

Prediction: Buffalo 27, Kansas City 26

*From DraftKings Sportsbook

    

The biggest storyline heading into this game is the health of Mahomes. He suffered a concussion in the third quarter against Cleveland and remains in the protocol. The good news, though, is that he cleared some steps to return on Monday, and the Chiefs are optimistic he will play.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, there is "hope and optimism" and the 25-year-old could practice as early as Wednesday. He also suffered a toe injury against the Browns, though Kansas City is less concerned with that injury.

"Yeah, I think he'll be OK there for right now with the toe part," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said, per ESPN.

A bigger concern for Kansas City might be a Buffalo defense that has been playing tremendously over the past couple of months. The Bills held the Ravens to just three points in the divisional round and have held seven of their last eight opponents below 25 points.

If Buffalo can pressure Mahomes without the aid of the blitz—something Cleveland struggled to do—it could make this one very interesting.

Offensively, the Bills have the firepower to keep pace with the Chiefs. Allen, 24, is a dangerous dual-threat quarterback, and he has an elite wide receiver in Stefon Diggs plus some fine complementary pieces.

While matching points with Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce and the rest of Kansas City offense is never easy, Buffalo—which ranked second in both total offense and scoring offense—won't have to completely shut down the Chiefs offense to win here.

Still, this game is likely to be decided by the turnover battle and whichever defense makes the most timely stops. There will be some tremendous individual matchups to watch, such as Tre'Davious White against Hill and Charvarius Ward against Diggs.

The Chiefs did enough to escape the Cleveland game with Mahomes on the sideline, but the Bills have been making huge defensive plays with consistency. Expect such a play to either steal this game or seal it late.

                             

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