Are Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, Ravens’ Lamar Jackson the next Tom Brady-Peyton Manning rivals?

Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes are about to face each other in the playoffs for the first time, with a Super Bowl berth on the line. 

Sunday’s AFC Championship Game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens is bound to be one that helps define legacies, with plenty to gain for both Jackson, the overwhelming favorite to win his second NFL MVP award this season, and Mahomes, who already has two MVPs and two Super Bowl titles to his name.

Both quarterbacks are aware of the stakes, but they have nothing but positive things to say about each other.

“He’s going to be the MVP for a reason,” Mahomes told reporters when asked about Jackson on Wednesday. “He does whatever it takes to win, and that’s what the greats do.”

And Jackson kept things similarly blunt when a reporter asked him Wednesday what he likes about facing Mahomes.

“I don’t like competing against him at all,” Jackson said with a smile. “He’s a great quarterback. It’s a no-brainer, he’s definitely a Hall of Famer. I believe it’s just two greats, up-and-coming greats going toe-to-toe, like a heavyweight fight.”

Jackson and Mahomes’ budding rivalry has been must-see since the two burst on the scene in their first years as starting quarterbacks in 2018, both leading their teams to the playoffs with Mahomes winning his first MVP. Then in 2019, Jackson won his first MVP while Mahomes won his first Super Bowl. While Mahomes has more accolades as well as the head-to-head record — the Chiefs are 3-1 against the Ravens when Mahomes and Jackson have faced off — Jackson has a chance to strike a definitive blow in their first playoff matchup.

Could this rivalry eventually echo the great clashes between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning that dominated the AFC for well over a decade? First Things First’s Chris Broussard says it’s the closest thing to the Manning-Brady rivalry, more so than Mahomes’ battles with the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen, seen in last week’s Chiefs’ divisional-round victory.

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Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/is-lamar-jackson-patrick-mahomes-the-next-great-nfl-qb-rivalry

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Publish date : 2024-01-26 01:45:40

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