NFL Power Rankings Week 16: Josh Allen is the Terminator sent back in time to destroy Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs

As many of you are likely well aware, the 1984 science fiction classic The Terminator features an imposing Arnold Schwarzenegger going back in time as a malevolent killing robot. His mission? To assassinate Sarah Connor, the mother of John Connor, a.k.a. the eventual savior of the human race, who wins mankind a gut-churning, bloody future war between people and machines. 

At the risk of spoilers for a 40-year-old movie, Schwarzenegger’s “Terminator” is a calculated, relentless demon in cybernetic form. It stops at nothing to hunt Sarah down. It is beyond intimidating. It ultimately fails its goal through mere cosmic happenstance (it gets crushed in a hydraulic press). 

I’ve long thought this, but after his recent scorching-hot play, the closest thing I’ve ever seen to the Terminator in the NFL is Josh Allen. He is inevitable. He is unbelievably persistent. And after successfully hunting down the juggernaut Detroit Lions in their own building, the likely NFL MVP looks like he’s at the peak of his powers. I mean, the guy had Dan Campbell, the NFL’s most confident coach, positively spooked with an extremely early onside kick.

Allen’s next mission?

Destroying Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs before they try to complete a successful Super Bowl three-peat. I know there’s an air of black magic concerning the Chiefs’ winning ways this year. I know they’ve always beaten Allen’s Bills in the playoffs. But if there’s anyone tailor-made to prevent the NFL’s Big Red Machine from achieving football nirvana, it’s the 6-foot-5, 237-pound cyborg playing quarterback for Western New York’s pride and joy football team. Allen has proven he’s above all potential concerns in this rivalry.

Quite frankly, if I’m the Chiefs or really any other NFL heavyweight, Allen is the concern.

Something tells me this specific Terminator’s story will end very differently than the one that traveled in time to mid-1980s Los Angeles. Because the moment you underestimate him is the moment he finally achieves his mission.  

Allen’s dominance while leading a Super Bowl-worthy Bills team is a big focus of For The Win’s NFL Power Rankings in Week 16. Let’s see where Buffalo and the rest of the NFL stands as we get closer and closer to the 2025 playoffs.