NFL heavyweights will collide once again in a Game of the Year contender on Sunday as Josh Allen’s Buffalo Bills and Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens meet in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.

It awaits as the latest meeting between the league’s two MVP frontrunners as they go head-to-head for a place in the final four on the road to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.

Jackson, chasing his third MVP award, inspired the Ravens to a commanding win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Saturday night’s Wild Card matchup, before Allen helped the Bills power past the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

Both have been knocking on the Super Bowl door in recent years, both have fallen victim to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, with a potential AFC Championship showdown against Andy Reid’s side now beckoning should the defending champions see off the Houston Texans.

“It’s what everybody has been waiting for, right,” said Bills head coach Sean McDermott.

“It’ll be a nice week, and everyone will be looking forward to it, and they’re a great football team. They handled us pretty good the first go-around and they’re certainly playing well, well-coached. [Ravens coach John Harbaugh] won a Super Bowl and comes from great pedigree, so it’ll be a big challenge for us.”

Allen threw for 3,731 yards and 28 touchdowns to six interceptions alongside 531 rushing yards and 12 scores on the ground in the regular season while becoming the first player in NFL history to record five straight 40-touchdown campaigns. Jackson meanwhile threw for 4,172 yards and 41 touchdowns to four interceptions as well as rushing for 915 yards and four scores having broken Michael Vick’s record for all-time rushing yards by a quarterback.

Two more touchdown passes and another turnover-less game from Allen saw him take down Bo Nix and the Broncos without ever really needing to get out of second gear on Sunday.

“It’s great, it’s amazing,” said Bills receiver Khalil Shakir of Allen. “We know we go as he goes, how special and what he’s able to do, we’re always in it no matter what.

“We just continue to work, you can never be too good, it is a league where everybody is constantly getting better.”

It was the Ravens who emerged victorious when the two sides met in Week Four, Derrick Henry torching Buffalo on the ground with 199 rushing yards and two touchdowns in a 35-10 victory.

“They got after us earlier this year, so we’ve got a lot of film to watch,” said Allen. “It’s a great team, it’s a great quarterback, obviously, with Lamar, what he’s able to do.

“He’s one of the most dynamic, if not the most dynamic quarterback in the league. He’s so fun to watch, but I’ll be watching their defense this week. That’s our focus.”

The Bills again flexed the range and the versatility of their offense as Joe Brady leaned on the running game to take control of the game, James Cook rushing for 120 yards and a touchdown as part of the team’s 210 total yards on the ground while Allen spread the ball between eight different receivers.

“Josh Allen is 20/26, no turnovers, clean game, that’s kind of the way I think Sean McDermott wants his team to perform,” said Sky Sports NFL‘s Jeff Reinebold.

“When you have that kind of balance, he distributed the ball really well, they ran the ball which they want to do, and when you don’t turn it over, what are the recipes for playoff football – it’s those things.

“They aren’t reliant on one way to win. When they are playing well they are playing great complementary football.”

Baltimore’s offense led the NFL in total yards and rushing yards in the regular season, while the Bills scored the most rushing touchdowns in the league as well as ranking second in scoring behind only the Detroit Lions.

Allen himself accounted for 18 total touchdowns to just one turnover in December alone as part of an offense that saw nine receivers post at least 250 yards and led by Shakir’s 821, his MVP case largely built on his team-elevating impact as the chief and unrivalled focal point to the Bills attack.

“I love watching this guy [Allen],” said Sky Sports NFL‘s Jason Bell. “It just doesn’t matter with him. He was off to an aggressive start, and then he struggled a little bit, before he just took over the game. That’s why we celebrate him.

“Great quarterbacks identify what you’re trying to do and they capitalise on it. Then when they’ve got to make a play, they clean you up. And that’s what he did – when things were breaking down, he made a play.

“You knew he had command of things. We felt it, and you know Denver felt it playing defense. He made it happen.”

The MVP votes are already in, so Sunday’s game will have no bearing on the final result, which is seemingly leaning towards a third triumph for Jackson after he was named First-Team All-Pro.

Neither, though, will care unless they have a Super Bowl to their name by the end of the season.

“We are really going to see who the MVP is,” said Sky Sports NFL‘s Ndamukong Suh. “That’s what it comes down to. Which quarterback will step up, or which one of these defenses will step up.”

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