josh-allen.jpg

For the past 18 months, there's been a lot of debate about who has the strongest arm in the NFL, and most of that debate has revolved around Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. If you ask the game-makers at EA Sports, they believe the answer to that question is Allen, and we know that because the Bills quarterback was the only player given a throwing power of 99 in the latest Madden game (Mahomes was given a 97 while one other QB had a score above 95). 

Obviously, the only way to settle this argument is to hold a distance-throwing competition between the two quarterbacks, and surprisingly, we might actually be getting one.  

During an interview with "Good Morning Football" this week, Allen was asked if he would be open to a throwing competition with Mahomes, and not only did he say he would, but he said they were already in the process of planning one before things got derailed by the pandemic. 

"Yes, I'm game," Allen said of competing against Mahomes. "We're working on it. We had something in place actually, supposed to be going this summer, but obviously some COVID restrictions had that kind of shot down, but yes, I'm game."

The good news is that it sounds like this competition is actually going to happen at some point. On the other hand, it probably won't be happening until next offseason at the earliest due to the pandemic. When it does eventually happen, Allen said he's hoping that the two quarterbacks can end up raising a lot of money for charity. 

"Pat has one of the strongest arms in the league, he's -- if not the best quarterback in the league right now, just the things that he can do on the football field, it's pretty unbelievable to watch," Allen said. "I'm a big fan of his game and his playing style. I'd love to finally settle this and figure it out, but we'll have to make sure that whatever the case may be, it's going to a good cause and there's some charity involved with it."

Raising money should be easy: All they need to do is find a title sponsor who would be willing to pay $1,000 per yard. At that rate, the two quarterbacks could end up raising more than $160,000 for charity if they can both throw the ball at least 80 yards, and based on what Mahomes has said in the past, that seems completely possible. 

"I mean [Josh] does have a strong arm, but if I put it out there like 80-85 yards ... If he beats that he beats it," Mahomes said in July, via Syracuse.com. 

Mahomes actually challenged Allen to a throwing contest back in July after the Madden ratings came out, which is probably part of the reason why Allen felt compelled to respond this week. Although Mahomes' throwing power is lower in the game, he thinks that's only because the game-makers at EA Sports got the rating wrong. 

"Obviously Josh has an extremely strong arm, but I've yet to see someone have a stronger arm than me," Mahomes said. "Maybe we can line up ... I know we talked about maybe having a throw-off and then we can prove who really has the strongest arm."

If the two guys are smart, they'll hold their throw-off in either Denver or Mexico City. The reason Mexico City should be considered is because it sits at an elevation of 7,200 feet and Mahomes has said that he could throw a football 100 yards down there. ONE HUNDRED YARDS. If Mexico's not possible, the mile-high air of Denver would be the next logical choice as a location for their throwing contest. The ball flies farther in Denver, which means one of the two quarterbacks might be able to hit 90 yards in a contest. 

Even though we probably won't be getting a throwing contest this year, we will get to see Mahomes and Allen duking it out on the field in 2020. The Bills are scheduled to host the Chiefs in a Thursday night game that's currently set to be played in Week 6.