PHILADELPHIA – You could make the case that the Bills’ Josh Allen and Eagles’ Jalen Hurts are the two best quarterbacks in the NFL, and their respective teams will line up against each other on Sunday in Buffalo.
Nobody wants to give Hurts that sort of credit, though no one would argue that Allen doesn’t belong in the conversation. It’s a weird dynamic when you look at Hurts, who has done nothing but lead his team to the playoffs in each of his five years as the starting quarterback.
This will be Allen’s seventh straight playoff trip after missing it as a rookie in 2018 when Buffalo went 6-10. Also, Hurts and Allen are the only two quarterbacks in the entire league with an active streak of at least four years of 30-plus touchdowns. Allen has six consecutive seasons doing it, Hurts has four.
This year, Allen has 37 total touchdowns, Hurts has 32. Both numbers put them in the top five this season in that department. The two are also 1-2 in total touchdowns since 2022 – Allen has 163, Hurts 137.
And there’s this: Look around at the playoff field already as it stands heading into Week 17 and it’s notable for the quarterbacks that have been eliminated from the postseason with two weeks still to play:
-Patrick Mahomes (shocking).
-Joe Burrow (hurt all the time).
-Lamar Jackson (what’s going on with him?).
-Jared Goff (two picks, three lost fumbles in a Christmas Day loss that bounced the Lions out of the postseason).
Josh Allen Stats Match Up Favorly With Jalen Hurts
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) gets a pass off during the first half of an NFL football game at Huntington Bank Field, Dec. 21, 2025, in Cleveland, Ohio. | Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Hurts and Allen keep on trucking. It’s been a struggle for both teams this year, but the quarterbacks have, for the most part, been steady.
Hurts hit a slump, where he threw four interceptions and lost a fumble in an overtime loss to the Chargers in Los Angeles. Allen had his struggles, too, throwing five interceptions in a three-game, mid-season stretch that saw Buffalo go 1-2.
Allen has 10 interceptions this season, but the Bills have 11 wins. Hurts has thrown just six picks, but the Eagles have 10 wins.
Good quarterbacks know how to roll with adversity, and every season brings it share of that. Hurts and Allen have overcome it.
The Eagles beat Allen in Buffalo in 2019 when Carson Wentz was the quarterback. They beat Allen again in Philly in 2023 with Hurts as the quarterback. Hurts ran for a 12-yard TD in overtime to notch a walk-off win.
“First time I had ever been a part of a game where you win on the very last play in the NFL,” said head coach Nick Sirianni. “I remember in that same 2014 season when we beat the Rams, they were driving to score and win the game and we picked off a pass, but then we had to take a knee off of it. But in this game, I think about that walk-off touchdown that we scored on.”
This game on Sunday could resemble the 2023 game in many ways, with the outcome uncertain until the final seconds.
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