That would be the New England Patriots' Tom Brady, and the Green Bay Packers' Brett Favre. First Tom Brady. Jacksonville's defense took away anything long, and anything to star wideout Randy Moss, and forced Brady to throw short under the defense, and to backs out of the backfield. These were shorter throws, and he was accurate on them. Very accurate.
Brady completed 92.6 percent of his passes, breaking Phil Simms record of 88 percent (22-of-25) set in the Super Bowl after the 1986 season in which he led the New York Giants to a 39-20 win over the Denver Broncos.
And Brady did it mostly without Randy Moss, who had only one catch.
He hit all the other receivers -- throwing for three touchdowns and 262 yards.
Brady was 26 for 28, but both of the incompletions were essentially drops. One hit a wide-open Wes Welker in the hands just as he turned to look for the defense, and was a clear drop. The other was a little high and wide to tight end Ben Watson. With a reach Watson got both hands on the ball, but couldn't pull it in.
The Patriots move on at 17-0 on the season by beating the Jaguars 31-20, and will meet the San Diego - Indianapolis winner in the AFC championship game. Jacksonville played very well, and clearly has their quarterback of the future in David Garrard.
Then there was ageless Brett Favre, who saw his team down 14-0 in the first five minutes of the game. he didn't panic, calmly driving Green Bay to a touchdown after the next kickoff, and the Packers eventually got rolling, taking out the Seahawks by 42-20 in a near white-out snowstorm.
"I've been hoping for that for 17 years," Favre said. "I was watching the weather all day and it's a shame, I'm like, 'Just give us one of those big snow games.'
"I wanted to play where you couldn't see the field, and the snowplow comes out. It keeps getting worse and worse," he said.
Favre was 18 for 23 for 173 yards, but for three touchdowns. He had a lot of help on the ground from Ryan Grant, who atoned for two early fumbles by rumbling for over 200 yards, repeatedly slashing through the Seahawks defense for large chunks of snow covered Lambeau turf. Go get yourself a Leinie, boys. You've earned it. The Pack faces the Giants - Cowboys winner next week in the NFC title game.
