While many kids his age grew up wanting to “be like Mike,” Travis Kelce apparently had someone else in mind. Kelce, the Kansas City Chiefs‘ future Hall of Fame tight end, apparently aspired to be like a star quarterback who will try to end Kelce’s season on Sunday night. 

That quarterback is Josh Allen, the Buffalo Bills‘ MVP candidate who plays the position with a style that Kelce clearly appreciates. 

“Josh is who I used to dream about being like in the NFL,” Kelce said, via ESPN. “I just never had the arm talent.” 

It’s easy to see why Kelce is a fan of Allen’s game. While he is one of the NFL’s best passers, Allen is also an accomplished runner. This season, he became the first quarterback in NFL history to record multiple seasons with at least 25 touchdown passes and 12 touchdown runs. Allen’s ability to impact the game on the air and in the ground has led to him and the Bills having considerable success over the past six years. 

Over that span, the Bills have made the playoffs six straight years, won five consecutive AFC East division crowns and have recorded seven victories in the playoffs. But that stretch also includes five disappointing playoff losses, with four of those coming at the hands of the Chiefs. 

While nothing can erase those prior losses, a Bills win Sunday night would certainly exorcise some demons. It would end the Bills’ 31-year drought without a Super Bowl appearance. A win would also get the Bills one step closer towards winning the franchise’s first Super Bowl while preventing the Chiefs from becoming the first team to win three straight Super Bowls. 

As you can see, there’s a lot on the line for both teams on Sunday night, especially for Allen, who is two wins away from erasing the narrative that he is not capable of leading a team to a title. That is the main reason why Peyton Manning, a Hall of Fame quarterback and two-time Super Bowl champion, is pulling for Allen and the Bills this postseason. 

“Josh, kind of like Lamar (Jackson), I hate it because both of them can’t make it to the Super Bowl this year and I feel like both of them deserve to go,” Manning recently said. “And people are going to say about one of them, ‘Eh, they can’t do it.’ I mean I lived that world, right? My first eight years, that’s what I lived, right? I know Josh hears that from time to time. ‘He does these great things, but…’ I’d love for him to get rid of the but and I’d love for him to get down to New Orleans… Both he and Lamar deserve that chance to play in the Super Bowl.”

While Kelce dreamed of growing up to become an athletic NFL quarterback, Allen likely dreamed of standing at the podium hoisting a Vince Lombardi Trophy during his adolescence. He’s two wins away from making that dream a reality.