Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen will forever be linked by being part of the same 2018 quarterback draft class.
Both prospects had major question marks surrounding them. Scouts and pundits doubted that Jackson's hybrid running style could translate to the NFL. They wondered if Allen's wild cannon of an arm could be tamed.
Of course, there were more worries about Jackson. After all, he went No. 32 overall while Allen was taken seventh by the Bills.
"The fact is, I don't think anybody, maybe other than people in our buildings, thought we'd still be playing right now," Allen told Buffalo reporters this week with a grin.
In the six years since, their similarities have multiplied. As they enter their fourth career meeting on "Sunday Night Football" at M&T Bank Stadium, Jackson and Allen stand as one of the NFL's premier and most interesting matchups.
Ravens veteran outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy has played 145 NFL games. He was teammates with Tom Brady when he battled Aaron Rodgers and other legends. So, when asked if there's a special energy about a game like this, Van Noy was speaking from experience.
"I always respect matchups," he said. "I love football. I'm kind of like you guys in a way, media, as well as fans, so I enjoy that kind of nostalgia and I think it's an awesome opportunity. I think the young guys will look back on it when they're done playing, kind of like I will, and be like, 'Man, I got to play with those two young guys.'"
It didn't take Jackson or Allen long to prove to the doubters that they were going to be very successful quarterbacks in the NFL.
Jackson was named the league's MVP after his first full season as a starter. Allen's first professional regular-season action, funny enough, came in M&T Bank Stadium in 2018, when he stepped in for battered veteran Nathan Peterman late in a Week 1 Ravens blowout and flashed his strong-armed potential and mobility. By his third season, Allen had become a Pro Bowler and thrown for more than 4,500 yards.
While the stats are different, the way they play the game is analogous. Both quarterbacks have developed into refined passers who can put their offense on their back and take over a game, either with their arm or their legs. Jackson can run around any defender. Allen can run through them. Jackson can carve defenses with his arm. Allen can flat-out bomb them with his cannon. There's a fearlessness to both of their games, though Allen has turned the ball over way more.
Take this description from Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton about what stands out to him most. Without putting a name on which quarterback he's talking about, it's difficult to discern if he's talking about his teammate or Allen.
"Probably just his belief in himself, just not even throwing the ball, that [is] included obviously, but just his belief that he's going to make a play out of nothing," Hamilton said. "If somebody misses a block, he can escape out of a sack. It doesn't matter who's rushing him. He can escape a DB or a D-Lineman, and then roll to his left and fire the ball 60 yards downfield on a rope."
Beyond their style of play, individual awards, and accomplishments, the two superstars also share a yearning. They've come close multiple times, but a Super Bowl appearance has been out of reach for both – namely because of the same man, Patrick Mahomes.
Jackson lost to Mahomes and the Chiefs in last year's AFC Championship game. Allen lost to him in the divisional round last year and in the 2021 playoffs, and in the AFC Championship game in 2020.
When it comes to the AFC quarterback pecking order, Jackson and Allen can put up as many gaudy stats and take home as many individual honors as they want. But until they beat Mahomes in the playoffs, they'll play second fiddle to him in the court of public opinion. They, unfortunately, share that too.
Jackson was asked Wednesday if he ever gets tired of the quarterback rankings.
"It's always going to be that way as long as we are in the league," he said. "I really don't know how people will judge it or what people will say. I'm just going out there trying to get a dub."
Jackson and Allen have squared off three times as starters. The Ravens won the first in 2019, as MVP frontrunner Jackson outdueled Allen with three passing touchdowns in windy early-December Buffalo. The Bills won the second in the 2020 divisional playoffs, as Jackson threw a pick-six late in the third quarter, then was knocked from the game. Allen did enough for a 17-3 victory. The Bills won the most recent, a Week 4 battle in Baltimore when Allen led the Bills back from a 17-point deficit.
Allen leads the head-to-head battle as they prepare to meet again in Week 4 at M&T Bank Stadium, this time under the lights. It's a game that will surely draw huge ratings with the whole nation tuning in to see which superstar prevails.
Allen gushed about Jackson Wednesday. He said Jackson is an "inspiration to a lot of people in this country." He cited Jackson's doubters, and said players around the league have taken notice about Jackson's resiliency and work ethic to prove them wrong and win two MVPs. Allen basically called Jackson a quarterback revolutionary.
"I think he's really changed the way that guys play the game," Allen said. "But make no mistake. He can throw the snot out of the football. I've got a lot of respect for him, a lot of love for him. I love watching him play because every play is never dead with him. He's got a crazy ability to keep plays alive, make guys miss, and get the ball down the field. He's a special player."
But this is where Allen and Jackson differ. Evening the score is all Jackson cares about.
"To be honest, I really don't care who's out there playing [against us]," Jackson said. "I'm just trying to get a win. That's all I'm doing, is just doing what I can do with my ability to help my team get in the win column. So, I approach those games just like any other game, just like I always say."
Jackson respects Allen, but he's not the type to gush about an opponent. Before their Week 1 meeting, Jackson called Mahomes a "great quarterback" but said he doesn't have a relationship with him and doesn't take anything from his game.
Jackson doesn't put quarterback matchups like the one we'll see Sunday at blacked-out M&T Bank Stadium on a pedestal. That's for the rest of us to enjoy and him to try to win.
"I'm just grateful to be a part of it and to be around it, because these are the things that you're going to look back on, and you're going to say, 'Wow, wasn't that cool to be there for that,'" Head Coach John Harbaugh said.
"For two guys like Lamar and Josh to kind of have that and to be those guys is a pretty amazing, cool thing. I'm just glad to be next to it."
