A potential Super Bowl rehearsal and game-of-the-year contender awaits on Sunday as the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions, led by their MVP-contending quarterbacks, collide as an early teaser into how January’s playoffs could shape up.

There is both mutual admiration and mutual pain between two of just 12 teams to have never won a Super Bowl, the Bills famously losing four straight from 1990-1993 and the Lions having never reached the NFL’s showpiece finale.

Buffalo are 10-3 after Josh Allen’s six-touchdown game went unrewarded in defeat to the Los Angeles Rams in the highest-scoring game of the season last week, while the Lions are riding a franchise-record 11-game winning streak at 12-1 as the class of the NFC after ousting the Green Bay Packers last time out.

Were you to pitch the NFL to somebody who had just touched down on earth, a match-up between the Bills and Lions would make for the perfect advert.

“I feel like it’s going to be a special Josh Allen game,” said Sky Sports NFL presenter Neil Reynolds.

Allen somehow heightened his case as MVP favourite in a losing scenario last weekend when he threw for three touchdowns and rushed for three touchdowns as the Bills were beaten 44-42 by a Puka Nacua and Matthew Stafford-inspired Rams.

No quarterback in the league persists to elevate their team in the same manner as Allen, who has thrown for 3,033 yards and 23 touchdowns to just five interceptions while rushing for 416 yards and nine scores as the ultimate cheat code game-wrecker under center.

“He’s big, he’s strong, he’s fast, he’s pretty explosive and he’s competitive,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said of Allen. “He’s got all of these attributes, physical attributes, but then, it’s what he’s got inside of him, man, he’s the ultimate competitor.

“That’s what separates him from a lot of guys. He’s fearless and it’s why those guys, they play the way they do for him because he just won’t give it up.”

His story has been one of meteoric improvement from a rookie year marred by turnovers and accuracy issues, Allen this year cutting down significantly on interceptions while entering Sunday with the second-highest passer rating of his career, all with the same aggression.

“He’s a freak,” said Lions linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard this week. “Josh Allen is a freak.”

Goff has, meanwhile, revived his career in Detroit to thrust himself into this year’s MVP conversation while ranking second in the league in completion percentage behind Tua Tagovailoa, having thrown for 3,265 yards and 25 touchdowns to 10 interceptions.

He has been a largely unshakeable pilot to Ben Johnson’s all singing and dancing offense, shrugging off a rare five-interception game against the Houston Texans in November to toss nine touchdowns and just one pick in the last four outings.

His performances have earned him the MVP backing from Lions team-mates, among them being cornerback Carlton Davis and Jameson Williams, the latter of whom said he would favour Goff to win the award over Allen.

“I just like my quarterback better,” said Williams. “Just look at the stats. It’s there. 12-1 team. I don’t know how many yards he got, 25-plus touchdowns in three [consecutive years], I just think he’s a great player. He’s more the reason why we’re winning games, because he just takes control of the game.”

While Goff has starred, the running back tandem of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs continues to prove a defining cog to Johnson’s offense.

The pair, who assumed the nickname ‘Sonic and Knuckles’ this season, have combined for 2,409 yards and 24 total touchdowns from scrimmage as they prepare to face a middle-of-the-road Bills run defense allowing almost five yards per carry.

“The Bills’ defense have only twice let teams score over 28 points and you’re looking at the Lions, my base concern for Buffalo is they have one of the worst run defenses and you are going against two of the best running backs in the league,” said Sky Sports NFL’s Phoebe Schecter.

“I do think they’ll try and force Goff to throw the ball, we want to see this Goff and Josh Allen shoot-out like we did with Matthew Stafford which was so much fun.

“Because of the play-action they build off of that, the running backs attack you in different ways. If you need six yards they will get you that, not many teams have that ability to give you that freedom and it’s why they go for it on fourth down so much.

“If you force Goff into strictly no play-action and into dropback, now you can play that game very differently.”

Detroit arrive as the No 1-ranked scoring offense in the NFL, averaging 32.1 points per game, followed closely by the Bills with 30.5 points per game.

Amon-Ra St Brown leads the Lions with 81 catches for 863 yards and nine touchdowns, backed up by Williams’ 39 catches for 710 yards and four scores at 18.2 yards per catch. Khalil Shakir has, meanwhile, asserted himself as Allen’s most trusted target with 65 receptions for 735 yards and three scores, with James Cook continuing to shine out of the backfield with 157 carries for 723 yards and 11 scores.

The Bills are expected to be boosted by the return of rookie wide receiver Keon Coleman, and could yet also see tight end Dalton Kincaid feature following a knee injury that has kept him out since November 10.

It has all the traits to be another unrelenting shoot-out and perhaps a chance to inflict the first jab in a fight that may well resume in New Orleans come February 9.

“There’s no place you’d rather be than playing this type of football, this type of team, in December,” said Lions head coach Campbell.

Watch the Miami Dolphins take on the Houston Texans at 6pm Sunday, live on Sky Sports NFL, followed by the Buffalo Bills against the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers vs Seattle Seahawks in Sunday Night Football. Stream with NOW.