Despite What The Race-Baiters Say, Josh Allen Is A Significantly Better Playoff QB Than Lamar Jackson

For the fifth time in six seasons, Patrick Mahomes will be the quarterback to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. This time, he got there by outdueling Josh Allen in the AFC Championship Game. 

So, naturally, Lamar Jackson is on the minds of the sports media.

A post is currently trending on X from Kelsey Nicole Nelson, whose resume as a sports journalist and broadcaster is actually quite impressive. We mean that sincerely. That said, she knew what she was doing with the following race bait:

"Josh Allen deserves the same energy folks give Lamar Jackson as it relates to the post season. I’ll accept nothing less."

Well, actually, no, he doesn't.

First, Lamar Jackson is quite clearly the most protected player in all of professional sports. He literally has his own advocates on television in Robert Griffin III and Cam Newton, who proactively defend him after every shortcoming. 

But, for the sake of argument, let's pretend that Nelson is right in that Jackson is criticized more for his post-season play than Allen – a narrative often propagated throughout the industry.

Put simply, Josh Allen is a significantly better playoff quarterback than Lamar Jackson.

Allen and Jackson were both drafted in 2018. Since then, Allen has won seven playoff games. Jackson has won only three (with wins over Ryan Tannehill, rookie C.J. Stroud, and the remains of Russell Wilson). Further, Allen is 2-0 against Jackson in the postseason, including a win over Jackson last week.

But it's a team sport, you bigot! 

Correct. And Jackson's postseason play has consistently put his team at a disadvantage. Last week, the Ravens had to play catch-up against the Bills from the start due to Jackson's two costly turnovers in the first half. 

Turnovers have been a trend for Jackson in the playoffs. In last season's AFC Championship Game (against who else, the Chiefs), Jackson threw an interception into triple coverage late in the fourth quarter, all but costing Baltimore the game.

But the stats!

All season long, the Lamar fanboys demanded voters cast their MVP ballots for Jackson because his stats were better (despite him winning the MVP in 2023 when Allen's stats were better). Fine, let's compare playoff stats:

Josh Allen: 31 total touchdowns, 101.7 passer rating, 65% completion percentage, 4,027 total yards, and four interceptions.

Lamar Jackson: 13 total touchdowns, 84.6 passer rating, 60% completion percentage, 2,394 total yards, and seven interceptions.

Those facts, they sure are pesky.

ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 19: Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens and Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills embrace after the AFC Divisional Playoff game at Highmark Stadium on January 19, 2025 in Orchard Park, New York.  (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Now, let's add some context to those stats.

Allen has never beaten Mahomes in the postseason. However, unlike Jackson, he has gone toe-to-toe with Mahomes in three straight meetings. In 2022, Allen did all he could to lead his team past Mahomes – then the most infamous 13 seconds in football happened. Last season, Allen drove his team downfield to tie Mahomes – then his kicker missed a 44-yard field goal in the waning moments. On Sunday, Allen was again just inches away – literally.

Josh Allen keeps coming up short against Mahomes and, thereby, has no case for the crown. Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback in the NFL, full stop. But it is dishonest to pretend, as Nelson and others continually do, that Allen and Jackson are postseason equals. 

Allen is the second-best postseason quarterback of this generation. He has done his part, year after year. However, his team and Mahomes' all-time greatness have let him down. Meanwhile, Lamar Jackson has been a mediocre playoff quarterback, at best. He has let his team down.

Yet, because the sports media has cast Jackson and Allen as chief characters of the race war, the narrative continues to be that Jackson is disrespected and Allen is overhyped.

It's all such a lie.

OutKick founder Clay Travis published a column over the weekend, deeming Lamar the modern-day Peyton Manning.

"In 2018, race baiters in sports decided it was racist to question if Lamar Jackson would be a good NFL QB. They ignored 25 years of progress in the NFL and divided us and attacked sports meritocracy," Travis posted.

Perhaps Jackson will win a Super Bowl before Allen. Mahomes can't win every year—can he? But until then, the race clowns are stuck trying to whitewash Jackson's legacy by pretending that Allen's shortcomings are equivalent.

They aren't.

To this point, Lamar Jackson is a great regular-season quarterback who has crumbled under pressure in the postseason (a la Peyton Manning). In the same time span, Josh Allen has been a great regular-season and post-season quarterback, who just can't get past Mahomes.

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In an actual meritocracy, where race is not principal, Jackson would be criticized more than Allen. But because of the Kelsey Nelsons, RGIIIs, and Bomanis, the opposite is true.

The scriptwriters of the race war are relentless. To them, this is religion.

Thus, moments after an AFC Championship Game, in which Jackson didn't even play, he was all the race-baiters could think about.