Bills HC: Lamar Jackson vs. Josh Allen is 'What Everybody's Been Waiting For'

The Buffalo Bills trounced the Denver Broncos in the wild-card round on Sunday, setting up an exciting matchup between two MVP candidates in Josh Allen and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Ahead of the divisional round game, Bills coach Sean McDermott called the matchup between Allen and Jackson something that "everybody's been waiting for," per GoLongTD.com's Tyler Dunne.

Allen had high praise for Jackson when asked about the contest.

"They got after us earlier this year, so we've got a lot of film to watch," he said. "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."

Despite the Bills and Ravens being perennial contenders since Allen and Jackson entered the league in 2018, the two star quarterbacks have only faced off in the playoffs one time. Buffalo beat Baltimore in 2020 in the divisional round before losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship.

Since that meeting, Allen and Jackson have only improved their respective games.

Allen threw for 3,731 yards, 28 touchdowns and just six interceptions this year while adding 531 rushing yards and 12 scores on the ground to help the Bills finish 13-4. Jackson has had a career season with 4,172 passing yards, 41 touchdowns and four interceptions to go with his 915 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground.

On Saturday, Jackson led the Ravens past the Pittsburgh Steelers behind 175 passing yards, two touchdowns and 81 rushing yards. Allen had 272 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Bills' 31-7 win over Denver on Sunday.

As good as Buffalo was this season, it was no match for Baltimore in September when the Ravens won 35-10. Allen and the Bills will look to learn from their mistakes in the matchup and produce a different outcome this time around.

While Allen and Jackson have both had tremendous success over the course of their careers, both are still chasing their first Super Bowl. One of the MVP favorites will get a step closer to winning a championship next week in the divisional round.