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The NFL has never seen a playoff game like the one to come between Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Drew Brees’ New Orleans Saints.
A pair of quarterbacks in their forties still thriving on the playoff scene at an age when nearly every other great passer in NFL history was already enjoying their retirement.
Brees will be in the field for the Saints on Sunday two days after turning 42 as a young gun in that game against 43-year-old Brady, who shattered nearly every longevity record in the NFL.
Brees threw more yards than any regular season quarterback with 80,358 and ranks second in TD’s passes at 571. Brady holds the mark in touchdowns with 581 and only trails Brees in yards with 79,204.
This is only the second time since at least 1950 that the NFL’s two best career passing passing players will meet in the playoffs. Denver Broncos, second John Elway, beat then-leader Dan Marino and the Dolphins 38-3 in the divisional round after the 1998 season.
It will be the first time since at least 1950 that the two career leaders of TD assists will meet in the playoffs.
The combined age of quarterback starts will be an NFL record 85, surpassing 84 in their two regular season starts this season. The previous playoff record for the combined age of the starting QBs was 78 when Brady, 41, beat Philip Rivers, 37, two years ago in the division round.
Brady, looking for his record-breaking seventh Super Bowl title and 10th appearance, has already been around the field when it comes to playoff wins. He won his 31st playoff start last week and can double the career 16 total of second-placed Joe Montana this week. Brady’s 75 assists at TD in the playoffs are already 30 more than Montana’s.
THIRD TIME A CHARM: It turns out it’s easier to beat the same team three times in a season than it is to win the playoffs after being swept in the regular season.
The Saints-Bucs game marks the 23rd playoff game in the Super Bowl era after one team swept the season series like New Orleans did against Tampa Bay.
The team that swept the regular season series won 14 of the previous 22 games, which bodes well for the Saints this week.
The Saints were on the right side of one of those clashes the last time it happened, beating Carolina 31-26 in the wildcard round after sweeping the Panthers in the 2017 regular season.
The last time a team reversed a regular season playoff sweep came in the 2007 playoffs when the Giants did it against Dallas in a playoff run all too familiar to Brady. Eli Manning and New York went on to win the NFC title game in Green Bay and beat Brady and the Patriots in the Super Bowl, spoiling New England’s bid for a perfect 19-0 season.
YOUNG GUNS: As the alumni dominate the NFC playoffs, the AFC is highlighting the next generation of star quarterbacks.
When Buffalo hosts Baltimore on Saturday night, it will be a clash between two 24-year-old quarterbacks, Josh Allen of the Bills and Lamar Jackson of the Ravens.
The quarterbacks taking the field the next day in Kansas City are each a year older with Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes facing Cleveland’s Baker Mayfield.
This will be the first time that a conference has seen four quarterbacks aged 25 or under start on the same playoff weekend.
STREAKING: The Ravens had one impressive streak extended last week while another was snapped. JK Dobbins ran for a TD in his seventh straight game in Baltimore’s 20-13 win over Tennessee, tied for the second longest streak in history for a rookie. Only Maurice Jones-Drew of Jacksonville has a longer one, having played eight straight games in 2006.
Ravens kicker Justin Tucker missed a 52-yard field goal in the fourth quarter of the victory over the Titans, ending his streak of 48 straight goals in the fourth quarter and overtime in the regular season and playoffs.
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