The NFL greats know that making it to the Super Bowl requires talent, a little bit of luck and above all, persistence.
Following the Buffalo Bills’ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship game, quarterback Josh Allen was understandably upset after getting beaten by Patrick Mahomes and Co. yet again in the postseason. Allen is now 0-4 in his career against Mahomes in the playoffs, and many talking heads in the media are starting to debate Allen’s legacy sans a Lombardi Trophy.
NFL Hall of Famer Peyton Manning has Allen’s back, though, having been in the Bills quarterback’s shoes not too long ago.
Manning recently spoke to Adam Schefter about what he told Allen after the disappointing AFC title loss:
“I left Josh a message the other day, I just told Josh how much I enjoy watching him play and how he competed his butt off against the Chiefs the other night,” Manning said. “And look, I’ve been there. I have lived that world. There’s always a little bit of a ‘Yeah but’ attached to the article written about you.”
What Peyton Manning said to and thinks about Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson:
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 4, 2025
🎧 https://t.co/cNE5TesZeq pic.twitter.com/YsmeHgj2FY
Manning also grouped Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson in the same category as Allen after Jackson similarly came up short this postseason.
“Look, he’s doing it, Lamar’s doing it, they’re owning it. They’re not shying away from it. They are very honest in their desire that they would like to get the ‘Yeah but’ off and they would like to win,” continued Manning. “It’s not like Lamar and Josh are losing to bad teams by the way. They seem to be losing to the team that goes on to win the Super Bowl, so not that that softens the blow, but you can go sit in the corner and sulk all offseason, or you can go keep working hard and try to take it one step further the next year. I think both those guys will do it, that was my advice to them.”
Manning didn’t reach the Super Bowl until his ninth season in the league, when he led the Indianapolis Colts to a 29-17 victory over the Chicago Bears in 2006. He was thwarted by Tom Brady and the New England Patriots twice in the 2003 AFC championship and a 2004 divisional round matchup before exorcising his demons, so to speak, en route to the first Super Bowl win of his career.
Allen and Jackson will likely have to go through Mahomes for the foreseeable future to fulfill their own Super Bowl dreams, but they can keep their heads up knowing that it is indeed possible to overcome the narrative.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Peyton Manning Shared His Encouraging Message to Josh Allen After AFC Title Loss.
