Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has already beaten out his Bills counterpart Josh Allen for All-Pro honors and is the favorite to do the same for the NFL Most Valuable Player Award. Now, they’ll meet on the field with much higher stakes.

On Sunday, Allen led second-seeded Buffalo to a 31-7 victory over the No. 7 seed Denver Broncos, setting up a blockbuster showdown between the star quarterbacks in a divisional round playoff game next weekend in Orchard Park, New York, with a trip to the AFC championship game on the line. The time and date has yet to be announced.

It will also be a rematch from earlier this season, when the Ravens blew out the Bills, 35-10, on Sept. 29 in Baltimore.

The third-seeded Ravens advanced by ousting their archnemesis, the Pittsburgh Steelers, 28-14, on Saturday night at M&T Bank Stadium. Baltimore ran for 299 yards, led by Derrick Henry’s 186 yards and two touchdowns, and Jackson threw for 175 yards and two scores while adding 81 yards on the ground.

“They got after us earlier this year, so we’ve got a lot film to watch,” Allen said of the Ravens in his postgame interview Sunday with Tracy Wolfson on CBS. “It’s a great team obviously with Lamar, what he’s able to do. He’s one of the most dynamic if not the most dynamic quarterbacks in the league. He’s so fun to watch, but I’ll be watching their defense this week. That’s our focus.”

Though Buffalo and Baltimore have met a dozen times, with the Ravens winning on seven occasions, their latest matchup will mark just the second time the teams have faced each other in the playoffs. Their last postseason meeting, also in the divisional round in Orchard Park in 2021, was one to forget for Ravens fans.

Jackson, who was the NFL MVP a season earlier, was sacked three teams and knocked out of the game with a concussion on the final play of the third quarter and did not return.

He was held to 14 of 24 passing for 162 yards and 34 rushing yards on nine carries as the Ravens averaged just 4.7 yards per play. He also threw a back-breaking interception, which cornerback Taron Johnson returned 101 yards for a touchdown with 41 seconds remaining in the third quarter to help seal a 17-3 victory.

Allen, meanwhile, was 23 for 37 for 206 yards with a touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs early in the third quarter that broke a halftime tie at 3.

That game was a stark contrast to the most recent meeting in Week 4 of this season.

Henry scored on an 87-yard run on Baltimore’s first play from scrimmage on his way to 199 yards, Jackson threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score and Allen was held to 180 yards and no touchdowns on 16 of 29 passing while being sacked three times. The Ravens scored on each of their first three possessions, led 21-10 at the half and held the Bills to 4.1 yards per play while averaging a whopping 7.9.

But that was early in the season and Buffalo was banged up. Five starters were missing on defense, including Johnson and inside linebacker Matt Milano.

After that loss, the Bills won seven of their next eight games, including a 30-21 victory at home over the two-time defending Super Bowl champion and top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs, who will host the No. 4 Houston Texans in the other AFC divisional round matchup. Buffalo got hot down the stretch and finished the regular season 13-4 — one game better than the Ravens — before improving to 15-3 all-time at home in the playoffs.

Allen has also put up numbers worthy of MVP consideration, passing for 3,731 yards and 28 touchdowns against just six interceptions while also rushing for 531 yards and 12 scores. He finished 20 of 26 for 272 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 46 yards on eight carries Sunday against the Broncos.

Jackson’s season was even better, though. He threw for 4,172 yards and 41 touchdowns with just four interceptions and led all quarterbacks with 915 rushing yards while adding four scores on the ground. In Saturday’s demolition of Pittsburgh, he went 16-for-21 for 175 yards and two touchdowns and added 81 rushing yards on 15 carries.

The 28-year-old led the league in passer rating (119.6) and yards per attempt (8.6) while also becoming the first player in league history to pass for at least 4,000 yards and run for at least 900 in the same season.

Of the 12 meetings between the Ravens and Bills, just four have taken place in Orchard Park (2007, 2013, 2019 and 2021). Baltimore’s lone victory in that span came during Jackson’s first MVP season in 2019, when he threw for 145 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another 40 yards in a 24-17 victory.

Buffalo is also unbeaten at home this season, while Baltimore last won a road playoff game in January 2021 against the Tennessee Titans in the wild-card round.

So far, Allen has outperformed Jackson in the postseason as well.

Th Ravens are just 3-4 in playoff games with Jackson at the helm, and he has thrown 11 touchdown passes to go with nine interceptions. The Bills, meanwhile, are 6-5 with Allen, who has thrown 29 touchdown passes with just six interceptions in that span. Allen also eclipsed Jackson on Sunday for the most rushing yards by a quarterback in postseason history.

However, Baltimore has also boasted the NFL’s best defense since Week 11, while Buffalo’s defense has given up several big runs this season.

Still, this one figures to come down to the quarterbacks. And while one of them will be named NFL MVP, how each fares in this game is what will ultimately matter.

Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1.