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| - The emerging rivalry between Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson takes centre stage as the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens put their unbeaten records on the line in NFL week three. Monday's clash between Mahomes and Jackson -- winners of the 2018 and 2019 NFL MVP awards -- is the highlight of a round brimming with intriguing match-ups. Thus far, Mahomes-Jackson has shown all the signs of joining the ranks of some of the NFL's greatest quarterback rivalries, from Joe Montana and John Elway to Peyton Manning versus Tom Brady. Monday's game in Baltimore marks the third occasion that Mahomes and Jackson have gone head-to-head. Both previous encounters have been high-scoring games settled by one score, with Mahomes leading the Chiefs to a 27-24 overtime win in 2018 before steering the team to a 33-28 victory last season. With both Mahomes and Jackson already displaying flashes of the genius this season that propelled them to their MVP honours, Monday's game has all the makings of another thriller. "It's a very exciting game, the whole world's watching you -- time to put on a show," Jackson told reporters this week. Ravens coach John Harbaugh admitted his players are chomping at the bit to have another crack at last season's Super Bowl champions, in what could well be a sneak preview of the AFC Championship game. "Who wouldn't get excited for a game like this?" Harbaugh said. "When you're playing a team that is the defending champs, the favourites to win the whole thing again the type of players they have, the coaches they have? You're going to get excited about it. We try to embrace it and make the most of it." Mahomes meanwhile heads into the game fresh from engineering another Chiefs comeback last week against the Los Angeles Chargers, leading his side to a 23-20 overtime victory. Mahomes' 302-yard, two-touchdown performance included an incredible 54-yard strike to Tyreek Hill, the sort of improbable, off-balance pass that is rapidly becoming his calling card. It left Chiefs coach Andy Reid, part of the Green Bay coaching staff during Brett Favre's 1990s glory years, comparing Mahomes to the Packers icon. "When that football is in their hand, it's the same thought process," Reid said of Mahomes and Favre. "They both have phenomenal vision, just like fighter-pilot vision. They see everything, and then they're going to rip your heart out. Every throw they're going to try and gut you." While Mahomes v Jackson pits the NFL's young guns against each other, this weekend also sees two of the league's most celebrated veterans go head-to-head, with unbeaten Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers heading to Louisiana to face Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. Rodgers, who started the season under a cloud following the Packers' surprising decision to recruit his likely successor, Jordan Love, in the draft, has so far shown no sign of feeling unsettled. In two 40-point wins over Minnesota and Detroit, the 36-year-old Rodgers has averaged more than 300 passing yards per game. The 41-year-old Brees, however, the NFL's all-time passing leader, has shown signs of decline, notably in last Monday's surprising defeat to the Las Vegas Raiders in Nevada. Brees however has waved off evidence that his powers are waning, unfazed by his stats for yards per passing attempt that have slumped to their lowest level in more than a decade. "There are many statistics I do not pay one bit of attention to, and that would be one of them," Brees said this week. "At the end of the day, I am focused on putting us in position to succeed ... I feel good, borderline great." There is no doubt, though, about the form of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, who will look to extend his team's unbeaten start in a heavyweight showdown with the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. The 31-year-old Wilson has piled up a career-high 610 passing yards in two games, revelling in Seattle's decision to pivot towards a more aerial-oriented offensive game. The form of the Seahawks and their quarterback has made Wilson an early favourite for this year's MVP award. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Wilson is benefiting from better pass protection. "It's the best we've looked in some time, and I think that's why you see Russ off to such a good start," Carroll said. "Russell's always been able to kill you when he when he sits in the pocket and he has time and he has space." rcw/gph
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