Josh Allen

On Wednesday night, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen took part in the latest iteration of Capital One's The Match. He and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes took on fellow signal-callers Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers in a match play-style golf event to benefit charity.

It was a competition where Allen stood out in a couple of respects—neither of which had anything to do with his golf game. All three of the other players involved have been named the NFL's Most Valuable Player, with Rodgers winning the award four times (including each of the past two seasons). The other three competitors have all also lifted the Lombardi Trophy as champions of the NFL, with Brady accomplishing the feat a staggering seven times.

It was quite the metaphor for Allen's goals for the season to come. For what he needs to do on the playing field in 2022. For all that Allen has accomplished in his first four seasons, if he truly wants to be considered among the game's greats under center, he needs to do one of two things this year.

He needs to win the league's MVP or take the Bills to the Super Bowl.

For what it's worth, when asked in a pre-match chat who would be the next to win MVP honors, Mahomes singled out his golf partner:

It's not like he was going out on a limb with his statement. At DraftKings Sportsbook, Allen is +700 (bet $100 to win $700) to be named MVP in 2022. No player has better odds. Not Brady. Not Mahomes. Not the two-time reigning winner of the honor.

His numbers the past two years back up those odds. In 2020, Allen completed 69.2 percent of his passes for 4,544 yards with 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He added 421 rushing yards and eight scores on the ground, made his first Pro Bowl and finished as the runner-up to Rodgers in MVP voting.

Last year's passing numbers were down relative to 2020, but they were still outstanding. He completed 63.3 percent of his passes for 4,407 yards and 36 scores against 15 interceptions. However, he picked it up on the ground, setting a career high with 763 yards (while averaging a robust 6.3 yards per carry) with six touchdowns and 12 broken tackles.

When we last saw Allen on the playing field, he and Mahomes were engaged in one of the best duels we have ever seen. Allen's Bills came up short on the scoreboard, but it certainly wasn't his fault, as he threw for 300-plus yards in both of Buffalo's playoff games last year with nine touchdowns and no interceptions.

Those last two seasons from Allen are the two best single-season passing years in the history of the Buffalo Bills—a history that includes a Hall of Fame quarterback in Jim Kelly. Per Nick Fierro of Bills Central, Allen is the only player in NFL history with 100 passing touchdowns and 20 rushing touchdowns over his first four seasons. Only one quarterback had more total touchdowns over the first four seasons.

Fella named Marino. Played in Miami. Rumor has it he was good.

Edge-rusher Von Miller hasn't had the chance to play with Allen yet, but he has played with a Super Bowl champion in Matthew Stafford and an all-time great in Peyton Manning. As Mark Mulville of the Buffalo News reported, Miller said he believes Allen absolutely has what it takes to be the best in the game at what he does.

"All the great quarterbacks I've ever been around—from Peyton Manning to Matthew Stafford to all the guys I've been around—they all have this aura about them," Miller said. "Like no matter how high it gets, no matter how low it gets, no matter if it's OTAs or no matter if it's the day before the Super Bowl. And Josh Allen has this aura about him, for sure."

Of course, Allen can't do it all himself. No one can. It's half a dirty secret, but even the best quarterbacks can't win without talent around them. Yes, they can make those around them better, but they can't turn water into wine. Or perhaps more aptly in Buffalo, snow into beer.

Fortunately, Allen doesn't have to. As a matter of fact, he has as much talent surrounding him as anyone.

If there was any question about the wisdom of the trade for wide receiver Stefon Diggs, it has been answered—emphatically. In two years in Buffalo, he has caught 230 passes for 2,760 yards and 18 touchdowns.

It's not just Diggs, either. Third-year pro Gabriel Davis had a coming-out party in that shootout loss to the Chiefs in the playoffs, hauling in eight passes for 201 yards and four touchdowns. Tight end Dawson Knox set career highs in catches and receiving yards last year, hauling in nine scores. The Bills bid goodbye to a pair of veteran receivers in the offseason (Emmanuel Sanders and Cole Beasley), but the team offset those losses with the addition of an experienced slot receiver in Jamison Crowder.

That's more passing-game weaponry than Rodgers has in 2022 and probably better weapons than Mahomes.

The Bills were a respectable sixth in the NFL in rushing last year, but a large chunk of that was Allen. Per Mulville, the Bills had the second-fewest rushing attempts and ranked 25th in the league in rushing yards at the position. To help bolster that ground game, they spent a second-round pick on Georgia's James Cook. Buffalo also added veteran guard Rodger Saffold to bolster the offensive front.

Even when Allen is on the sidelines, he's getting help. The Bills fielded the best defense in the NFL last year by yards allowed. They also paced the league in scoring defense, surrendering just 17 points per game.

Every piece of the supporting cast Allen needs to take the next step in his career is there, and so is the talent.

Now it's on him to get it done.

Granted, if Allen doesn't win MVP or the Super Bowl, it won't be the end of the world. Marino never won a Super Bowl. Drew Brees was never named MVP. Both were great players. But neither was considered the best in the game, at least not widely. Not while they were playing, and not after. Marino spent his career in the shadow of Joe Montana. So did Brees with the likes of Brady and Manning.

A quarterback doesn't reach the heights that Allen already has by wanting to be one of the best. He wants to be the best. To be the guy. The big cheese. King of the mountain.

Allen is a great player, absolutely capable of wearing the crown. But to stake a real claim to that title, he needs hardware.

Now is the time to start collecting it.

Aaron Rodgers talked a big game heading into Wednesday's edition of Capital One's The Match. Then, he and Tom Brady did just what they set out to do: beat Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen in an all-quarterback charity golf event.

Rodgers made a 15-foot putt on the 12th and final hole at Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas, lifting him and Brady to victory in the sixth iteration of The Match. The veteran quarterbacks won by one point over the youngsters Mahomes and Allen, who played well despite entering the event as the clear betting underdog.

As you might expect, there was plenty of trash talk and a lot of reaction to this event. It was the first time in The Match series that no professional golfers were taking part.

Allen provided one of the best hot takes of the entire event. The Buffalo Bills quarterback had a reason why Rodgers was having so much success on the greens on Wednesday.

"This guy's pretty good at golf. That's what happens when you don't go to OTAs," Allen said during the round (h/t Bradley Gelber of Bills Wire).

Of course, Rodgers has proved he can have success during the regular season and get the Green Bay Packers into the playoffs even if he doesn't attend every offseason workout. But Allen was right about Rodgers' golf game, as he's the clear best player among these four quarterbacks.

Allen wasn't the only person who took a jab at Rodgers' football career while connecting it to golf. Skip Bayless of Fox Sports 1 tweeted:

Entering Wednesday, Brady had been 0-2 in his previous appearances in The Match series. He twice teamed with golf legend Phil Mickelson and lost both times, falling against the teams of Tiger Woods/Peyton Manning and Rodgers/Bryson DeChambeau.

But many pointed out on social media that Brady largely had Rodgers to thank for the victory:

However, there was praise for Brady's golf game, too:

Mahomes and Allen made their debuts in The Match series, and they showed they could hang on the golf course with two more experienced QBs who also have had more time on the greens in the past. That was especially the case for Mahomes.

The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback showed that he should likely be invited back for more The Match appearances, as he sank some impressive shots. He made a birdie putt on the fifth hole, and he even had his team in the lead late during the event.

It could be entertaining to watch Rodgers and Mahomes face off on the golf course again, perhaps even with some pros as their teammates. It's clearly not their top sport, but they were the most impressive two golfers on the course Wednesday.

Tom Brady's illustrious resume finally includes a win at Capital One's The Match, and he has Aaron Rodgers to thank for it.

The third time was a charm for the seven-time Super Bowl champion, who teamed up with Rodgers to defeat Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen in Wednesday's showdown at Wynn Golf Course in Las Vegas.

The Green Bay Packers quarterback sunk a birdie putt on the final hole to win The Match in its most pressure-packed moment just after Allen barely missed a much longer one.

It was the sixth edition of the event, and Brady is now 1-2 after he and Phil Mickelson previously lost to Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning in the second edition and Bryson DeChambeau and Rodgers in the fourth edition.

The latest version of The Match was the first one that didn't include PGA stars. Instead, it was just the quarterbacks in a battle between the old guard of Brady and Rodgers and the rising stars in Mahomes and Allen in a 12-hole match play format.

All four players teed off on every hole, and each team then picked their best drive. They each played their own ball from wherever those best drives were, and the lowest individual score won the hole for his team.

Each player was also limited to one mulligan, but there were no restrictions on trash talking.

Allen started before the competition even began, thanks to an infamous picture of his opponent. Brady had some trouble finding the first tee box but didn't struggle to return the quips:

Brady may be responsible for seven of the Lombardi Trophies pictured on his golf ball, but he relied on his teammate from the start of Wednesday's match.

Rodgers set the tone when he unleashed a beautiful drive, perfectly placed approach shot and clutch birdie putt on the first hole. The veterans then jumped out to a two-hole lead when Brady's second shot on the par-five second found the green.

Yet Mahomes countered with some "swing juice" and cracked open an adult beverage, which seemed to help as his team rallied and tied it up by taking two of the next three holes. The Kansas City Chiefs signal-caller stood out on the fifth as his second shot hit the green while everyone else shanked their approach.

That was just the start of Mahomes takeover mode.

The four-time Pro Bowler bailed Allen out with a clutch putt to square the hole after the Buffalo Bills quarterback wasted his mulligan on the sixth. Mahomes then won the long drive challenge on No. 7 and the closest to the pin challenge on No. 8 and gave his team its first lead of the match by parlaying that shot on No. 8 into a birdie.

He even drained a pressure putt to halve the ninth after Rodgers talked trash before the stroke.

Still, Brady and Rodgers wouldn't have seven combined MVP awards if they didn't know how to make a comeback.

It was the Packers signal-caller who played the role of clutch hero Wednesday by driving the green on the short par four 10th to help his side tie the match and then put his tee shot on the green on the par-three 12th.

All four golfers had a putt for birdie on that final hole, but only Rodgers drained his to clinch victory at The Match.

The sixth edition of Capital One's The Match saw Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers defeat Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen in the friendly competition between some of the NFL's best quarterbacks.

But perhaps no one on the green had more fun than Mahomes, who kept things loose while also remaining competitive. The Kansas City Chiefs star made up for Allen's shortcomings and carried his team with a number of clutch putts. He also looked more relaxed than Allen throughout the match as he enjoyed a few bottles of beer.

Some fans and pundits who were watching Wednesday's showcase had fun online highlighting Mahomes' performance.

Mahomes also helped his team to overcome a two-shot deficit and took a brief lead when he sank a putt on the eighth hole. Allen had no choice but to admit that Mahomes was shouldering the load for their team.

On the final hole when things were tied up, Allen came close to sinking a long putt that would've made up for his earlier struggles. But it just wasn't his day, and it opened the door for Brady and Rodgers to take the win.

Wednesday's performance may have solidified Mahomes for a spot in Capital One's The Match going forward. His candor, subtle trash talk and impressively clutch play made for an entertaining viewing experience.

However, it wouldn't be a surprise if Mahomes was playing with a different partner the next time he's on the green.

The rest of the Buffalo Bills would be wise to steer clear of Josh Allen before taking the field.

During an interview ahead of Capital One's The Match on Wednesday, the quarterback confirmed he throws up before every game:

Allen has appeared in 61 games for the Bills since they selected him with the No. 7 pick in the 2018 NFL draft. That's a lot of pregame jitters, but the routine must be working because he is one of the best quarterbacks in the league.

The Wyoming product has thrown for more than 4,400 yards in each of the last two seasons and led Buffalo to the playoffs in each of the last three years.

The games only figure to get bigger if the Bills continue to live up to expectations and challenge for a Super Bowl title during the 2022 campaign, so Allen might have plenty of throwing up to do come the fall.

At least Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers can take solace in knowing it didn't seem like Allen was going to throw up before The Match.

The sixth edition of Capital One's The Match is set for Wednesday evening, and this outing is going to be a bit different.

While previous versions of The Match have included PGA stars—often paired with other celebrity athletes—The Match VI will be a showdown comprised entirely of NFL quarterbacks. It will be the old guard of Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers (44 and 38, respectively) against the rising stars of Buffalo Bills' Josh Allen and the Kansas City Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes (both 26 years old).

These four are no strangers to one another. Rodgers and Brady vied for the NFL MVP award this year—and faced off in The Match IV—while Mahomes and Allen have clashed in the playoffs for two straight years. They're no strangers to playing on the big stage either. This foursome has nine Lombardi Trophies, eight regular-season MVP awards and 30 Pro Bowls between them.

However, their arena is the football field, not the golf course. While Brady, Rodgers, Mahomes and Allen are fierce competitors, we're unlikely to see elite shots when they face off.

Naturally, this has led to some entertaining hot takes, mostly from the competitors themselves. Here, we'll dive into some of the funniest comments ahead of The Match VI.

The Match VI

Who: Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers vs. Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen

Where: Wynn Golf Course, Paradise, Nevada

When: Wednesday, June 1

Time: 6:30 p.m. ET

Format: 12-hole match play

TV and Live Stream: TNT, truTV, HLN, Watch TNT, TNT app

Hot Seat Press Conference 2.0: 5:45 p.m. ET on the B/R app

This marks Brady's third entry in The Match, while Rodgers is competing for the second time. The Packers signal-caller alluded to his team's experience while also throwing shade at the competition.

"I know they tried to make it old guys versus young guys, but I said, 'Who thought about this? You want to put the two best guys against the two worst guys?'" Rodgers said, per The Athletic's Greg Auman. "That's not just conjecture. That's facts. We have the experience."

Brady, meanwhile, took a direct shot at his former AFC East rival, Allen:

"Josh really hasn't backed much up on the football field in his career, let's be honest, especially playing against me," Brady said, per Auman.

Allen fired back with a remark about Brady's inability to go off-script—and we're not entirely sure if he's talking about Brady's chattering skills or his play style.

"Once Tom's script from his team runs out of jokes, I don't think he's going to be able to think on his feet," Allen said, per Christopher Powers of Golf Digest. "I feel like I've got a lot of practice in just kind of wit and off-the-cuff stuff. I think Aaron is a little better in that aspect, but Tom's going to have his little note card out and it'll run out eventually and I don't think he's going to know what to do."

Mahomes had some similar thoughts on the trash-talking game of his elder opponents.

"They've been trying to talk trash, but you tell it to their scripted or old jokes that they found on Twitter," the Kansas City quarterback said, per Ed Easton Jr. of Chiefs Wire. "So when we get on that golf course, and we get to really talk trash, I know me and Josh are gonna do that. And we're gonna win the match as well."

As for the match itself, Mahomes believes that youth will allow him and Allen to play a different game than Rodgers and Brady.

"The reason we're going to win is that we're going to be able to play the course differently than old Tom and old Aaron over there," Mahomes said, per ESPN's Rob Demovsky. "They might get us on a couple of par threes and stuff like that but whenever we can really open it up and use the drivers ... it's going to be nice to be able to use our little wedges like they use their 6-irons."

While we're likely to see plenty of humorous exchanges between the teams on Wednesday, we're also likely to see a few quality lines from TNT analyst and The Match III participant Charles Barkley—who has already gotten in on the action:

The Match producer, Bryan Zuriff, expects Barkley to go in on any golfers who struggle during the contest.

"We have [Charles] Barkley, you know, so we can rip on them," Zuriff said, per James Colgan of Golf.com.

There's going to be plenty of trash talk during The Match VI and probably some hilarious commentary from the broadcasting crew. It's all in good fun, though, and for a good cause. The event will support Feeding America, which has already received 17 million meals to donate from The Match series.

Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen are four of the top quarterbacks in the NFL today. They each consistently play at an elite level, and that's why they're all part of successful teams.

Brady and Rodgers have been doing it for most of the past two decades. Brady is a seven-time Super Bowl champion and continues to put up big numbers for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Rodgers is a Super Bowl winner and is the Green Bay Packers' steady leader on offense.

Mahomes and Allen are two 26-year-olds who have quickly become top-tier NFL QBs. Mahomes led the Kansas City Chiefs to a Super Bowl title at the end of the 2019 season, while Allen has played an instrumental role in the Buffalo Bills' recent success.

But none of that is going to really matter on Wednesday.

That's because these four quarterbacks aren't going to be facing off in a football competition. They're instead taking part in the latest edition of Capital One's The Match, a charity golf event that features high-profile athletes. It's happening at Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas, and this will be the first of the six iterations of The Match to not feature any professional golfers.

Brady and Rodgers, the older guys, are pairing up to take on Mahomes and Allen. They're competing in a 12-hole matchplay format in which teammates will play the same ball on each hole.

Any NFL matchup featuring two of these quarterbacks could go either way, especially because football is a team sport. Golf is different. So, which of these pairs has the edge heading into The Match?

Brady and Rodgers have more football experience, and they have more history with this event, too. Brady has partnered with golf legend Phil Mickelson in two previous editions of The Match, although they lost both times. Meanwhile, Rodgers is 1-0 in The Match series, having teamed up with current PGA Tour golfer Bryson DeChambeau to defeat Brady and Mickelson last July at Moonlight Basin in Big Sky, Montana.

Luke Kerr-Dineen of Golf.com recently did a breakdown of the golf swings of each of these four quarterbacks, and he wrote that he'd "most prefer" Rodgers' swing.

"He still has a weaker left hand grip, where he can only see about one of his knuckles, but he makes it work because his hands are ahead of the ball at impact, which helps him hit little trap cuts," Kerr-Dineen wrote.

However, Kerr-Dineen noted that Mahomes has the "most powerful move." That could be valuable on a par-70 course, especially if they can execute in the short game.

If you ask Rodgers, though, it's not even going to be close. He believes the matchup is "the two best guys against the two worst guys."

"Tommy's played a ton of Pebble Beach events, he's played The Match a number of times. I've played in Pebble and Tahoe," Rodgers said, per The Athletic's Greg Auman. "We've got a decided advantage."

It could be a bit closer than Rodgers believes, but he is right in that he and Brady appear to have the edge for this matchup. But any of the four could have a bad day on the greens, so anything could happen.

Mahomes and Allen aren't exactly golf newbies, either. They're regular participants in the American Century Championship, an annual charity event held at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Stateline, Nevada. They've likely been practicing for Wednesday, and they're two highly skilled athletes.

No matter who wins, we know this: It's going to be fun and entertaining to watch as these four bring trash talk to the golf course while being mic'd up for the whole thing.

Capital One's The Match is known for trash talk. When you get a group of highly competitive athletes together who also happen to be among the best in the world, it comes naturally. Even if it's for an exhibition golf event.

That should be the case again Wednesday night, when the sixth edition of The Match is set to take place at Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas. Only this time, there are no professional golfers in the mix. It'll instead be a showdown of four top-tier NFL quarterbacks: Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers vs. Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.

There will be plenty of bragging rights on the line. But that's not all these QBs will be competing for.

The Match is known for raising large amounts of money for charity. Per a release for the event, The Match has raised close to $33 million for numerous organizations and has donated almost 17 million meals to Feeding America, which will again be the "primary charitable organization" for Wednesday's edition.

While there's no formal purse amount, Brady, Rodgers, Mahomes and Allen will have plenty of opportunities to rack up money for charity.

The third hole will be a Par 4 Challenge, awarding $500,000 for an eagle or $350,000 for a drive that ends up within 10 feet of the hole. If neither of those things occur, then the team that wins the hole will receive a $100,000 charity donation.

There will be a closest-to-the-hole competition on the fourth, sixth and eighth holes. A hole-in-one will award $2 million or a shot within five feet of the hole awards $350,000. If neither happens, a $100,000 donation will go to the golfer whose shot lands closest to the hole. If none hit the green, then they'll each get a donation.

The seventh hole will feature a longest-drive contest. The golfer with the longest drive on the fairway will get $400,000.

If both teams have a golfer hit the green on the 10th hole, those two will each get $350,000. If that doesn't happen, $100,000 will go to the team that wins that hole.

The biggest charitable sum up for grabs will be on the 12th and final hole, where a hole-in-one will award $5 million. A shot within five feet of the hole will net $350,000. And if neither happens, $100,000 will go to whomever was closest to the hole.

With so much money for charity on the line, there should be some sizable donations being made by the time the event is over. And that's a big reason why these quarterbacks are participating in the event.

That, and the opportunity to face off against their QB counterparts in a fun-yet-competitive setting.

"I love playing. It’s probably the one hobby I really have, outside [of] football," Brady said, per The Athletic's Greg Auman. "I love being on a golf course."

Brady and Rodgers are the narrow betting favorites, per DraftKings, but perhaps that largely relates to their greater experience in the event over Allen and Mahomes. Either way, it's sure to be an entertaining event that raises a lot of money for some good causes.