Allen and Jackson are set for big playoff showdown

Young, dynamic star quarterbacks go head-to-head in much-anticipated battle between Bills and Ravens

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh was immediately impressed by Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen’s competitive fire following their first face-to-face encounter in a National Football League setting.

It happened in the 2018 season opener, when the then raw rookie Bills QB was shoved into the Ravens’ sideline.

Allen hopped up and exchanged words with players and Harbaugh before officials stepped in to separate everyone.

“He came up jawing and talking and shoving and pushing,” Harbaugh recalled as fifthseeded Baltimore (12-5) prepares to face the AFC East champion Bills (14-3) in a divisional playoff Saturday night. “Rookie quarterback. Man, I love this guy.”

Allen was only in the game for mop-up duty after Nate Peterman was benched upon throwing his second interception, in an eventual 47-3 Ravens win.

What struck Harbaugh is how Allen refused to back down, a quality he also sees in Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, who made his NFL debut that day, as well, as Joe Flacco’s backup.

“They’ve come up on the quote-unquote other side of the tracks from a football perspective where they came up the hard way, doubted often, and had to overcome that,” Harbaugh said. “I always like the underdog.”

Allen, whom the Bills traded up five spots to select No. 7 in the 2018 draft, had accuracy issues and was dismissed for playing at lowly regarded Wyoming. Jackson, selected 32nd in ’18, was questioned as to whether the dynamic mobility he showed at Louisville would translate to the NFL.

Three seasons later, both are coming off their first career playoff victories and have their teams one win short of appearing in the AFC Championship Game.

Jackson earned NFL MVP honours last season after leading the NFL with 36 touchdown passes, 43 combined TDS and became the league’s first player to top 3,000 yards passing and 1,000 rushing.

But he failed to silence his critics because he was 0-2 in the playoffs before a 20-13 win at Tennessee last weekend.

Allen blossomed into a star this season, setting numerous franchise passing and scoring records, while finishing fourth in the NFL in completing 69.2 per cent of his passes.

An NFL MVP candidate, Allen is the key reason the Bills matched a franchise record in winning 13 regular-season games and clinched their first division title in 25 years.

Much like Jackson, Allen prefers putting the past behind him and focusing on the next challenge. And yet he remembered his encounter with Harbaugh, and noted how the two laughed about it the following April when they bumped into each other at The Masters.