When the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals battle for AFC supremacy at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday night, it will be a battle of MVP candidates. Both Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow are unsurprisingly up for the Associated Press 2022 NFL Most Valuable Player award.

The two star signal-callers have led their teams to the AFC Championship game for the second straight season, after each putting together dazzling campaigns in 2022-23.

Mahomes, who was the NFL's 2018 MVP, helped Kansas City go 14-3 to earn the No. 1 seed in the AFC. The Chiefs will play in an incredible fifth straight AFC title game, largely thanks to the excellence of Mahomes; they have been to two of the last three Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl LIV against the San Francisco 49ers.

Mahomes led the NFL with 5,250 yards passing and 41 touchdowns this season, receiving 49 of 50 votes for AP first-team All-Pro.

Joe Burrow was no slouch in Cincinnati, leading the Bengals to a 12-4 record and an AFC North title in 2022. After defeating the Baltimore Ravens in the wild-card round, he threw for 242 yards and two touchdowns as Cincinnati rolled over fellow MVP candidate Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills in impressive fashion in the AFC divisional round on Sunday.

Sunday's matchup will be a rematch of last season's AFC Championship, a game in which Joe Burrow and the Bengals prevailed in a nail-biting, 27-24 victory. The Bengals ended up losing in heart-wrenching fashion to the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI.

Also nominated for the AP NFL MVP are superstar quarterbacks Allen and Jalen Hurts, as well as Minnesota Vikings' wide receiver Justin Jefferson. Patrick Mahomes, Hurts and Jefferson are also finalists for the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year awards.

RECOMMENDED (Article Continues Below)
Xavier Worthy in middle, one silhouetted Chiefs player on each side, Chiefs logo, football field in background

Ben Cooper ·

Hurts compiled 3,701 yards passing, 760 yards rushing and 35 touchdowns combined, leading the Philadelphia Eagles to a 14-3 regular season record and the No. 1 seed in the NFC. The Eagles will play for the NFC Championship against the 49ers on Sunday.

Jefferson led the NFL with 128 catches for 1,809 yards receiving in his third year with the Vikings, one of two unanimous choices for AP All-Pro along with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

The awards are voted on by a nationwide panel of 50 media members before the start of the postseason; the winners will be announced at NFL Honors on Feb. 9.