Mahomes gears up for Josh Allen again, compares to Brady-Manning - ESPN

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As a young football fan, Patrick Mahomes watched the great quarterback rivalry of the time, Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning, and hoped that someday he could be a part of something similar.

Maybe now he is. On Sunday, Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs will face quarterback Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills for the third time in the past four postseasons. This is in addition to the regular-season meetings in each of the past four seasons.

«We've played in a lot of big games,» Mahomes said Wednesday. «I'm excited for the challenge. I grew up watching those [Brady-Manning] games 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.»

Mahomes and Allen are friendly. They were teammates two years ago against Brady and Aaron Rodgers in The Match, an annual celebrity golf event in Las Vegas.

«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 ultracompetitive 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.»

Mahomes is 2-0 against Allen in the playoffs, including an epic divisional round game two seasons ago the Chiefs won 42-36 in overtime. Mahomes and Allen combined to throw seven touchdown passes and for more than 700 yards.

Mahomes is 1-3 against Allen in the regular season. The Bills have won three straight, all at Arrowhead Stadium, and beat the Chiefs 20-17 this season in Week 14.

«The Bills are a great