By Artur Galocha
Artur Galocha Graphics reporter focusing on Sports Bio Follow Roman Stubbs Roman Stubbs Sports reporter Bio Follow When the Green Bay Packers host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Sunday’s NFC championship game, two of the best quarterbacks in NFL history will meet for the first time in the playoffs.
Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady, 43, has more playoff victories than any other quarterback with 32 — double the wins of runner-up Joe Montana — and has won six Super Bowls. Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, 37, who is the front-runner to win his third MVP award, also has a decorated playoff résumé, standing 10th all-time in playoff wins with 11. But Rodgers is looking to get to the Super Bowl for just the second time — he won in his only appearance in Super Bowl XLV, earning MVP honors after a victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Brady 43 Playoff games 19 Rodgers
11 won
8 lost
32 won
11 lost
13 Conference championship games 4
1
3
9
4
9 Super Bowls 1
1
2010
6
2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016, 2018
3
Tom Brady 43 Playoff games 19 Aaron Rodgers
11 won
8 lost
32 won
11 lost
13 Conference championship games 4
1
3
9
4
9 Super Bowls 1
1
2010
6
2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016, 2018
3
Tom Brady 43 Playoff games 19 Aaron Rodgers
11
lost
32
won
11
won
8
lost
13 Conference championship games 4
4
9
1
3
9 Super Bowls 1
6
1
3
2001
2003
2004
2014
2016
2018
2010
Tom Brady 43 Playoff games 19 Aaron Rodgers
11
lost
32
won
11
won
8
lost
13 Conference championship games 4
4
9
1
3
9 Super Bowls 1
3
6
1
2001
2003
2004
2014
2016
2018
2010
Tom Brady 43 Playoff games 19 Aaron Rodgers
11
lost
32
won
11
won
8
lost
13 Conference championship games 4
4
9
1
3
9 Super Bowls 1
3
6
1
2001
2003
2004
2014
2016
2018
2010
After 20 seasons and nine AFC championship game wins with the New England Patriots, Brady has led the Buccaneers to their first postseason appearance in 13 years — and with a win over Green Bay, he can clinch the franchise’s second Super Bowl berth. Should Tampa Bay win its first NFC championship since the 2002 season, the Buccaneers would become the first team to play in their home stadium during the Super Bowl.
This will mark Rodgers’s fifth appearance in the NFC championship game. After his 2010 Super Bowl win, Rodgers also took the Packers to the conference title game in the 2014, 2016 and 2019 seasons — the last of which ended in an ugly 37-20 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
Top 100 quarterbacks by passing yards in playoffs
Passing yards
Top 100 QBs in postseason since 1950
12K
Brady
11,968 - 62.7%
10K
8K
Active
6K
Rodgers
5,323 - 64.3%
4K
2K
0
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75%
Completion percentage
Passing yards
Top 100 QBs in postseason since 1950
12K
Brady
The Tampa Bay QB has by far the most passing yards in postseason history (11,968) but ranks 18th in completion percentage (62.7%).
10K
8K
The Packers’ QB ranks seventh in passing yards (5,323) and eighth in completion percentage (64.3%).
Active
6K
Rodgers
4K
2K
0
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75%
Completion percentage
Passing yards
Top 100 QBs in postseason since 1950
12,000
Brady
Brady has by far the most passing yards in postseason history (11,968) but ranks 18th in completion percentage (62.7%).
10,000
8,000
P. Manning
Still active
Favre
Roethlisberger
6,000
Brees
Montana
Rodgers
Wilson
Rodgers ranks seventh in passing yards (5,323) and eighth in completion percentage (64.3%).
4,000
Rivers
2,000
Mahomes
Goff
Jackson
Allen
0
35%
40%
45%
50%
55%
60%
65%
70%
75%
Completion percentage
Passing yards
Top 100 QBs in postseason since 1950
12,000
Brady
Brady has by far the most passing yards in postseason history (11,968) but ranks 18th in completion percentage (62.7%).
10,000
8,000
P. Manning
Still active
Favre
Roethlisberger
6,000
Brees
Montana
Rodgers
Rodgers ranks seventh in passing yards (5,323) and eighth in completion percentage (64.3%).
Wilson
4,000
Rivers
2,000
Mahomes
Goff
Jackson
Allen
0
35%
40%
45%
50%
55%
60%
65%
70%
75%
Completion percentage
Passing yards
Top 100 QBs in postseason since 1950
12,000
Brady
Brady has by far the most passing yards in postseason history (11,968) but ranks 18th in completion percentage (62.7%).
10,000
8,000
P. Manning
Still active
6,000
Roethlisberger
Favre
Montana
Brees
Rodgers
Rodgers ranks seventh in passing yards (5,323) and eighth in completion percentage (64.3%).
4,000
Wilson
Rivers
2,000
Mahomes
Goff
Jackson
Allen
0
35%
40%
45%
50%
55%
60%
65%
70%
75%
Completion percentage
Brady has amassed an impressive collection of all-time marks during his 21-year career — he is first in starts (299), touchdown passes (581) and pass attempts (10,598) — and he holds a slew of postseason records. While Rodgers doesn’t have the same all-time stat line, he has followed in Brady’s footsteps as a former backup during his first years in the league who established himself as a surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer.
The two Californians also stand out among the 100 quarterbacks since 1950 with the most yards thrown in the playoffs, and they are among the 10 active players who belong to the select club. Brady is first all-time with 11,968 passing yards, while Rodgers sits at seventh with 5,323.
Completion percentage in the postseason
Season by season
Rodgers debuted as a starter in the playoffs in 2009
100%
90
Brady didn’t play
in the postseason
80
66.7
Rodgers
70
61.9
63.9
60
54.8
50
Brady
Brady debuted with the Patriots in the 2001 season
40
30
Brady's completion percentage this postseason is the lowest of his career
20
10
0
2001
2005
2010
2015
2020
Super
Bowls
Average
100
20
40
60
80
0%
62.7
Brady
Rodgers
64.3
Season by season
100%
Rodgers debuted as a starter in the playoffs in 2009
90
Brady didn’t play
in the postseason
80
66.7
70
Rodgers
61.9
63.9
60
54.8
50
Brady
Brady debuted with the Patriots in the 2001 season
40
Brady's completion percentage this postseason is the lowest of his career
30
20
10
0
2001
2005
2010
2015
2020
Super
Bowls
Average
100
20
40
60
80
0%
62.7
Brady
Rodgers
64.3
Season by season
Average
100%
100%
Rodgers debuted as a starter in the playoffs in 2009
90
90
80
80
Brady didn’t play
in the postseason
Rodgers
70
70
64.3
66.7
62.7
63.9
61.9
60
60
54.8
50
50
Brady
Brady debuted with the Patriots in the 2001 season
40
40
Brady's completion percentage this postseason is the lowest of his career
30
30
20
20
10
10
0
0
Brady
Rodgers
2001
2005
2010
2015
2020
Super
Bowls
Season by season
Average
100%
100%
90
90
Rodgers debuted as a starter in the playoffs in 2009
80
80
Brady didn’t play
in the postseason
Rodgers
70
70
64.3
66.7
62.7
63.9
61.9
60
60
54.8
50
50
Brady
Brady debuted with the Patriots in the 2001 season
40
40
Brady's completion percentage this postseason is the lowest of his career
30
30
20
20
10
10
0
0
Brady
Rodgers
2001
2005
2010
2015
2020
Super
Bowls
Season by season
Average
100%
100%
Rodgers debuted as a starter in the playoffs in 2009
90
90
80
80
Brady didn’t play
in the postseason
Rodgers
70
70
64.3
66.7
62.7
63.9
61.9
60
60
54.8
50
50
Brady
Brady debuted with the Patriots in the 2001 season
40
40
Brady's completion percentage this postseason is the lowest of his career
30
30
20
20
10
10
0
0
Brady
Rodgers
2001
2005
2010
2015
2020
Super Bowls
Brady has more than double the career postseason starts (43) as Rodgers (19). Rodgers holds a slight edge over Brady in career postseason completion percentage, sitting sixth all-time at 64.3. Brady’s 62.7 career completion percentage is good for 13th all-time, one spot behind Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
Passing yards in the postseason
Each portion of the chart indicates a season.
Brady
11,968
580
2020
(Brady played
one more
game than
Rodgers)
Rodgers
5,323
296
2020
Rodgers's highest passing yardage total was 1,094 in 2010, when the Packers won the Super Bowl
Brady’s highest total was in 2016, with 1,137 yards
Average passing yards per postseason
Brady
664.9
Rodgers
532.3
Each portion of the chart indicates a season.
Brady
11,968
580
2020
(Brady played
one more
game than
Rodgers)
Rodgers
5,323
296
2020
Rodgers's highest passing yardage total was 1,094 in 2010, when the Packers won the Super Bowl
Brady’s highest total was in 2016, with 1,137 yards
Average passing yards per postseason
Brady
664.9
Rodgers
532.3
Brady’s highest total was in 2016, with 1,137 yards
Each portion of the chart indicates a season.
Brady
11,968
580
2020
(Brady played
one more
game than
Rodgers)
Rodgers
5,323
296
2020
Rodgers's highest passing yardage total was 1,094 in 2010, when the Packers won the Super Bowl
Average passing yards per postseason
Brady
664.9
Rodgers
532.3
Brady’s highest total was in 2016, with 1,137 yards
Each portion of the chart indicates a season.
Brady
11,968
580
2020
(Brady played
one more
game than
Rodgers)
Rodgers
5,323
296
2020
Rodgers's highest passing yardage total was 1,094 in 2010, when the Packers won the Super Bowl
Average passing yards per postseason
Brady
664.9
Rodgers
532.3
Brady is first all-time in postseason touchdown passes with 77, 32 more than No. 2 Montana threw. Rodgers sits in fourth place with 42 postseason passing touchdowns, and he needs just four more to move past Brett Favre (44) and Montana (45) into second place behind Brady.
Passing touchdowns in the postseason
Brady's highest total (10) was in 2014
10 touchdown passes
Rodgers’s best record (9) was in 2010, when he won the Super Bowl
8
6
4
4
2
2
0
2001
2005
2010
2015
2020
Brady's highest total (10) was in 2014
10 touchdown passes
8
Rodgers’s highest total (nine) was in 2010, when he won the Super Bowl
6
4
4
2
2
0
2001
2005
2010
2015
2020
Brady's highest total (10) was in 2014
10 touchdown passes
8
Rodgers’s highest total (nine) was in 2010, when he won the Super Bowl
6
4
4
2
2
0
2001
2005
2010
2015
2020
Brady's highest total (10) was in 2014
10 touchdown passes
8
Rodgers’s highest total (nine) was in 2010, when he won the Super Bowl
6
4
4
2
2
0
2001
2005
2010
2015
2020
While Sunday marks the first postseason meeting of the players, Brady and Rodgers have met three times in the regular season — the last of which came in October, when Tampa Bay throttled Green Bay, 38-10. It was arguably Rodgers’s worst performance in what has otherwise been one of the best seasons of his career — he threw for 4,299 yards and 48 touchdowns against just five interceptions, with a league-leading 70.7 completion percentage. After Green Bay finished 13-3 and earned the NFC’s top seed and a first-round bye, Rodgers finished 23 for 36 for 296 yards and two touchdowns in a win over the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round.
Brady has looked sharp in his first two postseason games with Tampa Bay. In a 31-23 first-round win over Washington, he completed 22 of 40 passes for 381 yards and two touchdowns. He followed that performance by completing 18 of 33 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns in a 30-20 win over the New Orleans Saints in the divisional round.
After he spent years dominating the AFC and establishing himself as the most prolific quarterback in postseason history, Brady’s move to the NFC presents a roadblock for Rodgers to reach another Super Bowl.
“I’ve been a fan of his for a long time and enjoyed the few times we got to play,” Rodgers told NFL.com. “I remember, when I heard the news about him coming to the NFC, I thought this was a real possibility. I’m excited about the opportunity to play against him.”
Tampa Bay at Green Bay | 3:05 p.m. EST (Fox)
Photos in photo illustration by Brett Duke (AP) and Jeffrey Phelps (AP).
Data from NFL and Stathead.
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