Nope, it wasn’t on the September 15th. The week 2 Chiefs vs Bengals game at the Arrowhead proved to be a thriller. 26-25, was the final score in favor of the home team. But in all honesty, both fandoms witnessed the battle of 2 QBs at the peak of their performance. Neither Joe Burrow nor Patrick Mahomes deserved to walk away with an ‘L’. But hey, that’s football. So, if not this time, then when was it that Burrow bettered Mahomes’ Chiefs?

The answer lies in Burrow’s record against his counterpart. Coming into the game, the Bengals’ star had a 3-1 advantage over the Chiefs’ QB. However, the Chiefs came through, rallying behind their signal-caller to close the gap. As a result, Burrow’s record is now 3-2 overall against Mahomes (playoffs included). Amidst it all, the Bengals’ last victory with Burrow under center against Mahomes and the Chiefs came in a nail-biting 2022 regular-season showdown, ending in a 27-24 win.

The table below from The Sporting News gives a better outline of the 5 matchups between the two.

A little rundown at this rivalry and you’d know that it has been nothing short of epic. Back in the 2021 season, Joe Burrow bested Patrick Mahomes twice—once in Week 17 and again in the AFC Championship, sending the Bengals to Super Bowl LVI. That AFC Championship win? It rubber-stamped JB9 as the only active QB, and as the second overall, besides Tom Brady, to take down Mahomes in the playoffs. That’s the kind of benchmark the Chiefs’ Showtime has set for himself.

Fast forward to 2022, and the Bengals snatched another win over Patrick Mahomes in the regular season. And that was the last of Joe Burrow’s merrier moments against KC.

Since then, it has been Chiefs’ number 15 with a fire in his belly. They got their sweet revenge when it counted most—in the AFC Championship Game. It’s been a back-and-forth battle, with both of them trading punches and embodying the spirit of “whatever you can do, I can do better.” At the end of the day, win or lose, they are both world-class at what they do, and the most recent match was a prime example of that.

Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes ran a lesson in quarterbacking!

“Good game.” That’s what Patrick Mahomes could be heard saying in a clip where he hugs Joe Burrow post a slender one-point win. Indeed, it was a spectacle to behold. More so, it was a lesson in how to do quarterbacking perfectly. Whether you were tracking Mahomes or Burrow, there was a whole playbook’s worth of lessons in quarterbacking on display.

Mahomes wrapped up with 151 passing yards, completing 18-of-25 throws with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Before this Week 2 clash, he had faced Burrow four times, boasting a 72.3% completion rate with 270.7 yards per game, eight touchdowns, and just two interceptions.

Now, shifting our focus to Burrow, he threw for 258 yards on 23-of-36 passing, adding two touchdowns without any interceptions. Entering this game, Burrow had a 69.8% completion rate against the Chiefs and averaged 313 yards per game, with nine touchdowns and three interceptions. While he managed to score twice, his yardage average took a hit.

Numbers only portray part of their gridiron magic. But everyone who bore witness to it was mesmerized. And we’d end on high spirits with the NFL’s official X handle caption, “See y’all again.”