Tom Brady once said, “Joe Burrow and Josh Allen are two of the NFL’s best quarterbacks.” They boast similar status atop the sport, but go about their business in drastically different ways.
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Allen’s game thrives on power. Whether he’s rifling the ball through the wind gusts of Western New York or lowering his shoulder into your chest, you don’t want to find yourself in his way on Sundays. Burrow’s game, meanwhile, is more finesse. He’ll slice and dice your defense into a million pieces through perfect accuracy and incredible anticipation.
No matter which of them you face, you’re left wondering “what just happened?” when their offense is celebrating a touchdown drive. Their individual styles, though, do lead to different levels of intimidation. To Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones, the physicality Allen brings to the gridiron is more gut-wrenching than Burrow’s pinpoint execution.
“Josh Allen? He’s scary. And he’ll cuss you out,” Jones told NFL Network back in 2023. “He’ll talk nasty to you… Burrow… he’s polite. But Josh Allen? He’ll get nasty with you. He got a little attitude about himself.”
Allen’s rumored attitude could have something to do with Jones’ Chiefs ending his Super Bowl dreams so regularly. Buffalo is 0-4 against Kansas City in the playoffs during the Patrick Mahomes-Josh Allen Era. If the Bills can prevail this season, they’d exorcise some major demons after all of the heartbreaking defeats they suffered in 2025.
Interestingly, Burrow and Allen had a close race for the NFL MVP in 2024 and the Bengals not qualifying for the playoffs impacted Burrow’s chances.
Where do Joe Burrow and Josh Allen stand in preseason MVP race?
The 2024 MVP conversation was absolutely loaded. Burrow nearly eclipsed 5,000 passing yards. Lamar Jackson posted the fourth-highest single-season passer rating (119.6) in NFL history. Both Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry piled up more than 1,900 yards on the ground. Josh Allen didn’t lead the league in any category beyond ESPN QBR, but did enough to earn his first MVP award.
MVP MVP MVP @BuffaloBills‘ Josh Allen wins the AP Most Valuable Player Award pic.twitter.com/EC5Ocf3uE6
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) February 7, 2025
Jackson and Allen battled tooth and nail for MVP honors in 2024. DraftKings Sportsbook anticipates them doing so again, listing them as co-favorites (+550) to capture the award. Burrow, at +650, has the third-best odds in the country. Patrick Mahomes (+700) and Jayden Daniels (+750) round out their top five. You can see the rest of the top 10 below:
- Jalen Hurts (+1700)
- Justin Herbert (+1800)
- C.J. Stroud (+2500)
- Baker Mayfield (+2500)
- Jordan Love – (+2500)
Burrow’s Bengals are eager to start hot against the Cleveland Browns. As they learned last year, a Week 1 loss to an inferior foe can doom your playoff chances. Kickoff for the game is 1:00 p.m. E.T. on Sept. 7.
