Last year, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen had a clear path to the Super Bowl after his biggest AFC rivals, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, were out of the picture. However, as the 2026 regular season approaches, Hall of Famer Drew Brees believes Mahomes’ return will make the road difficult for every quarterback in the conference.

“I’ll start with Josh Allen. He’s certainly a fan favorite. I’m a huge fan of him. I love the way he plays the game. I love the way he’s evolved,” Brees said on Fox Sports Covino & Rich show. “I was then going to go to Lamar Jackson [and] Joe Burrow. I feel the same way about those guys as far as what they mean to their teams and to those franchises. The problem has been they all got to go through Mahomes and the Chiefs.”

Even though Brees wants Allen to win the Super Bowl, Patrick Mahomes has always made it difficult for him to reach the biggest stage. Mahomes and Allen both became starting quarterbacks in 2018, and since then, the Bills have reached the playoffs six times, losing four of those to Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

The rivalry has become one of the defining storylines of the AFC. Allen has dominated the regular-season games, but Mahomes always triumphs the Bills QB in playoff matchups. The Chiefs quarterback is undefeated against Allen in their postseason meetings, including the AFC Championship Game victories that prevented Buffalo from reaching the Super Bowl in 2024.

Joe Burrow meanwhile came into the league as the first overall pick in 2020. He led the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl just one year later. On his way to get there, the QB defeated Mahomes’ Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game, but eventually lost the Super Bowl to the Los Angeles Rams.

Since that Super Bowl outing, the Bengals reached the playoffs only once, in 2022, when they lost the AFC Championship Game to Kansas City.

Mahomes has led Kansas City to five Super Bowl appearances and won three championships. The Chiefs have reached the playoffs every single year of the Mahomes era, with the exception of last year.

Brees explained how things could have been different if Mahomes had not been standing in the way of these quarterbacks.

“It’s just like Peyton had to go through with Brady, right? How many Super Bowls does Peyton Manning go to if it wasn’t for Tom Brady, right? So there’s always those epic battles,” Brees added.

Peyton Manning won two Super Bowls during his career. However, many fans and critics believe he could have won more if Tom Brady had not stood in his way.

Almost every time the Indianapolis Colts reached the AFC Championship Game, Brady and the New England Patriots were waiting for them. Manning was able to break that pattern only once with the Colts, in 2006, when Indianapolis defeated New England and advanced to the Super Bowl, eventually winning the championship.