Josh Allen's golden ticket: The AFC finally opens, and history is waiting

Allen's modern rivals are sitting out this postseason, while the next young wave of QBs may be too green to win it all. The time, then, is now

The quest for football's holy grail, a Super Bowl title, has eluded the Buffalo Bills for 60 years. That makes this year's postseason, which for Buffalo begins Sunday against Jacksonville (1 p.m. ET, CBS and Paramount+), the opportunity of a lifetime. 

This could be the most wide open Super Bowl race ever. There's unproven teams with quarterbacks we don't trust at every turn and a few superstar quarterbacks didn't even make the dance. 

All-world quarterback Josh Allen has his golden ticket. He might be nursing a right foot injury, but I imagine him strutting into the postseason like Willy Wonka at his grand entrance. 

Josh Allen showing up to the playoffs without Mahomes, Lamar and Burrowpic.twitter.com/DQ3HT919cl

— Doug Clawson (@doug_clawson) January 7, 2026

That's because his three contemporaries in the AFC are out, presenting a golden opportunity for Allen and the Bills to make a run in a conference where only six quarterbacks have made the Super Bowl in the last 22 years (Manning, Brady, Roethlisberger, Flacco, Burrow, Mahomes). If anyone is going to add their name to that list it should be Allen.

The current Mount Rushmore of quarterbacks has had a big presence in the postseason since they've all been in the league together. Patrick Mahomes has racked up three Super Bowl MVPs, Lamar Jackson two MVPs, Josh Allen won last year's award and Joe Burrow was a play away from winning a Super Bowl.

Each year from 2020 to 2024, three of the four were in the playoff field and there were two matchups between the group. Allen and the Bills were knocked out by Mahomes' Chiefs or Burrow's Bengals in each of those years. Jackson's Ravens gave Allen a run for his money last year, too. 

Now Allen is the lone wolf, though. This is a solar eclipse. Somehow, someway, the stars have aligned in a way they rarely do. To truly appreciate what an incredible moment this is for the Bills, you can look at other all-time great quarterback groups that had to contend with each other year after year in the same conference

2012-19 NFC: Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Matt Ryan and Russell Wilson 

These four horsemen traded blows in the NFC for the eight years they all overlapped. Do you think they got a break? No. There were zero seasons when only one (or none) of the group made the playoffs. 

2004-15 AFC: Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers

This is the gold standard. Poor Rivers was in the same conference as Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger for a dozen seasons. No wonder he never made a Super Bowl. There were zero seasons during their overlap where only one (or none) made the playoffs. Good on Roethlisberger for winning in 2008 when Brady tore his ACL in the season opener and Peyton Manning went one-and-done in the playoffs.

1992-98 NFC: Brett Favre, Steve Young and Troy Aikman

Favre, Young and Aikman overlapped from a seven-year stretch beginning with Favre's arrival in Green Bay in 1992 to Young's career-ending concussion at the start of 1999. Do you think they got a break from each other? Heck no! They combined to win five MVPs and five Super Bowls in that span. There were zero seasons where only one (or none) made the playoffs. In fact, two of them matched up in the postseason in each of those years. Favre had to play either Aikman's Cowboys or Young's 49ers in six straight postseasons. It's amazing they all got some hardware in such a short stretch. 

1986-93 AFC: John Elway, Dan Marino, Jim Kelly and Warren Moon

The crown jewels of the 1983 draft class and Hall of Famer Warren Moon overlapped in the AFC for eight seasons. There was actually one season where only one (or none) made the playoffs. That was in 1986 when Elway took full advantage by making his first Super Bowl thanks to "The Drive" in the 1986 AFC title game. Sure, he wouldn't win his first championship for another 11 years, but at least he got to the big game, something Allen has yet to do.

1973-80 AFC: Terry Bradshaw, Ken Stabler, Bob Griese and Dan Fouts

Finally, another foursome of Hall of Fame signal callers overlapped for eight seasons in the 1970s, with Bradshaw and Stabler going toe-to-toe many times. There was not a single year where only one (or none) made the playoffs. 

Nobody was flying solo like Allen is in 2025. That's 43 seasons worth of three or four all-time great quarterbacks overlapping in the same conference and only two where someone had a golden ticket, a free ride. 

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All-time great QB groups in same conference

	Postseasons with zero or one in field
2020-25 Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow	2025
2012-19 Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Russell Wilson	None
2004-15 Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers	None
1992-98 Brett Favre, Steve Young, Troy Aikman	None
1986-93 John Elway, Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Warren Moon	1986
1973-80 Terry Bradshaw, Ken Stabler, Bob Griese, Dan Fouts	None

Allen and the Bills have hit the jackpot this year and they need to turn in that golden ticket because this year is a blip. I assume Mahomes, Jackson and Burrow will all be back in the postseason looking like themselves. They've all got injury or some kind of adversity to overcome, but they are just too darn good.

Meanwhile, the other young blue-chip quarterbacks in the conference are still a little green. Bo Nix, Justin Herbert and Drake Maye have all yet to win a playoff game in their careers. Trevor Lawrence and C.J. Stroud has flirted with excellence, but haven't sustained it for a long period of time like the current mount rushmore. These could all be rising powers, though.

The Bills could have their hands full with Drake Maye in the AFC East for years to come, especially when the Patriots build out a better roster around his rookie deal. Right now he's still a one-man band. 

Buffalo's Super Bowl window won't be closing but it also won't be this open again for a while. Sure, the roster has its flaws. They haven't been able to find a number-one option for Allen to throw to or a closer on defense. They also have one of the worst run defenses in the NFL. But have you seen their financial situation? They spent an NFL-high $626 million on extensions this offseason on the likes of Josh Allen, Greg Rousseau, Christian Benford, Khalil Shakir, James Cook and Terrel Bernard. They spent more than any other team locking up their core for years to come and I would venture a guess they are having buyer's remorse on a few of those deals (hint: not Allen). The Bills rank in the top 10 in cap committed to players currently on their roster in each of the next five years. 

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There's no guarantee this roster is getting better around Josh Allen. The division will get harder. Some of the blossoming, young quarterbacks in the AFC will turn into superstars and the ones who are making this golden ticket possible will be back in the fold. If history is any indication, Allen needs to cash in this ticket. It's not do or die but it's time to seize the moment. Hakeem Olajuwon snagged two rings because of Michael Jordan's mid-dynasty retirement in the nineties. Who is going to rise up with Patrick Mahomes taking a quick break from ring blocking?

Allen has the golden ticket.