Bills quarterback Josh Allen has been dubbed “Mr. January” by Tony Romo in years past. Comical as it may seem to Chiefs fans—who have watched Allen’s annual stumble at the hands of Patrick Mahomes in three of the last four seasons—the fact is that Mahomes isn’t there to send Allen packing this time around.
The Bills traveled to Jacksonville to face the upstart Jaguars in the Wild Card round of the playoffs on Sunday. At a national level, all eyes were on Allen. With Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and Lamar Jackson all out of the playoffs, can Allen finally propel the Bills to a Lamar Hunt Trophy?
But in Kansas City, there is an aura around the Allen/Mahomes relationship. Here in Chiefs Kingdom, we hold fast to the absolute stranglehold Mahomes has over Allen and the Bills in the playoffs. And though the Chiefs won’t be beating the Bills this January, the two teams will likely meet in the postseason again someday soon.
Did Chiefs fans really want Josh Allen to lose in the opening round of the 2026 playoffs?
Allen’s current legacy, by any national metric, is that he would probably be a Super Bowl champion if not for Patrick Mahomes always getting in his way. But if Allen had lost to the Jaguars, it would be very clear-cut that his ability to take the Bills to a Super Bowl always comes up short. This would effectively remove the Mahomes factor from the Allen equation.
If Allen and the Bills fail to make it to a Super Bowl without Mahomes, Burrow, Jackson, et al. in the postseason, the offseason narratives will indubitably evolve into some form of the question, “Sure, he finally won one, but can he do it if Mahomes and others are in the playoffs?” Conversely, if the Bills lose next weekend to the Broncos, they can effectively be written off in the AFC conversation entirely. They would not be able to be taken seriously.
So, if you’re feeling conflicted about rooting for the Bills to beat the Broncos, release that feeling, knowing that even if the Bills go all the way this year, your quarterback still owns theirs in the postseason. Allen’s playoff success apart from games against the Chiefs only solidifies the narrative that Mahomes has Allen’s number. And if you’re a part of Chiefs Kingdom, you should be rooting for that.