Patrick Mahomes vs Josh Allen: Who has the edge in the 2026 NFL season

Josh Allen vs Patrick Mahomes (Getty Images)Ten yards. That is all that separates Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen in passing this season, 2,037 to 2,027, after Week 9. Buffalo is 7-1 and Kansas City is 6-2. Allen has scored 21 touchdowns, nine of them rushing. Mahomes has also thrown two fewer interceptions, four to six, but he is dealing with an elbow injury ahead of Sunday's game at Atlanta. The Chiefs visit Buffalo on Nov. 26, and the early numbers suggest Allen is no longer chasing Mahomes. He is level with him, and in some areas ahead.Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes are almost even as passersThe passing numbers are close enough to look like a typo. Mahomes completes 67.3 percent of his throws and Allen 66.1. Spread over eight games, that is about 253 yards a game for Allen and 255 for Mahomes. Before the season, ESPN's Sam Block ranked Mahomes ahead of Allen, while a poll of coaches and executives reported by Outkick leaned the other way. Eight games in, neither camp has a clean win.Allen separates himself on the ground. He has 285 rushing yards to Mahomes' 85.That running also explains the touchdown gap. Allen has 12 touchdown passes and nine rushing scores. Yahoo's tracker lists Mahomes at 15.The team results lean Allen's way. Buffalo averages 32 points a game, Kansas City about 25, and the Chiefs' three-point night in Seattle drags that figure down hard. Without it, they are at 28.Form is the other thing to watch. Mahomes has been sharper lately, throwing for 563 yards and five touchdowns in his last two games, against Denver and the Jets. He completed 73.6 percent of his passes and posted a passer rating of 119.2 over that stretch. Allen's last outing was quieter. He went 21 of 31 for 234 yards with one touchdown and one interception in a 23-6 win at Minnesota, against a defense Yahoo called arguably the league's best.Mahomes' elbow adds a wrinkle before the Nov. 26 gameMahomes hurt his elbow in last week's win over the Jets, then came back into the game. He was listed as questionable for Atlanta earlier this week. The Chiefs also added receiver Josh Downs this week.Kansas City's two losses were ugly. Seattle held the Chiefs to three points on Oct. 25. Denver won 28-24 a week later.Buffalo's lone defeat was a 29-26 home loss to New England on Oct. 4. Allen also carries last January with him, when four turnovers hurt him in a divisional loss to Denver. Mahomes spent that same postseason watching, after Kansas City missed the playoffs, largely because of injuries.Mahomes still has three Super Bowl rings and two MVP awards. Allen has no rings and one MVP. That history will sit over the Nov. 26 game in Buffalo, but this year's numbers are closer than the résumés. Before then, Allen visits the Jets and Mahomes goes to Atlanta. Sportradar gives Buffalo a 77.3 percent chance Sunday and Kansas City 61.5. Both numbers depend a little on that elbow.