NFL History Is On Tom Brady's Side Against Patrick Mahomes' Chiefs
BOSTON (CBS) -- It's championship Sunday in the NFL, and both games feature quarterback matchups with major age gaps in the starting quarterbacks. The young guns vs. the seasoned veterans..
History stands on the side of the old guys.
ESPN's Adam Schefter tweeted out an information nugget on Sunday morning, noting that the AFC and NFC Championship Games feature the largest gaps in age in conference championship history. Those matchups are, of course, the 41-year-old Tom Brady and the 23-year-old Patrick Mahomes in the AFC, and the 40-year-old Drew Brees against the 24-year-old Jared Goff in the NFC.
Schefter noted that in the past five games with the largest age disparity, the older quarterback has won all five times.
Youth versus experience at QB today as Patrick Mahomes (23) faces Tom Brady (41), and Jared Goff (24) opposes Drew Brees (40). These QB matchups are the two largest age gaps in Conference Championship history. The past five games with largest disparity were won by the older QB.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 20, 2019
NFL Films upped the ante a bit, noting that "Only seven times in postseason history has there been a difference of 13 years or more between starting quarterbacks. All seven times, the older quarterback came out on top."
It's the vets vs the young quarterbacks.
— NFL Films (@NFLFilms) January 20, 2019
Never before has there been a bigger age gap between QBs.
Championship Chase airs TODAY on @FoxTV at 12pm ET! pic.twitter.com/aU0PNGeMi8
This trend is not purely coincidental, of course, as playoff experience is as valuable a commodity as there is in the NFL. Certainly Brady and the Patriots will be hoping that history continues along this trend come Sunday night in Kansas City.