Tom Brady vs Jalen Hurts: wild card appearances, stats and records
Still going strong at 44, it remains to be seen if Tom Brady has another Super Bowl in the tank. On Sunday, he came up against Jalen Hurts.
Defending Super Bowl champions Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Philadelphia Eagles in Sunday's playoff matchup. The game ended in a 31-15 win to a Bucs side with Tom Brady coming up against 23-year-old Jalen Hurts. The 21-year age difference was the biggest difference ever between playoff quarterbacks.
At 44, Brady is old enough to be Hurts' father. Still going strong in the twilight of an extraordinary career, it remains to be seen if Brady has another Super Bowl in the tank.
Hurts finished the regular season as the Eagles' leading rusher, racking up 784 yards and 10 touchdowns. The youngster has had a taste of playoff-like games in the regular season and has quarterbacked the Eagles to three consecutive wins after the bye week to punch their ticket into the postseason.
Hurts the youngest QB to start playoff game for Eagles
When Hurts took to the field on Sunday, he became the youngest quarterback in Eagles history to start a playoff game. Hurts is also just one of four QBs with 700 rushing yards, at least 3,000 passing yards, and 10 or more passing and rushing touchdowns in a single season since 2000, following Kyler Murray (2020), Cam Newton (2011), and Daunte Culpepper (2002).
Eagles can't defeat Brady
The Eagles would have been only the second team after the Giants to beat Brady in consecutive playoff games if they had won Sunday's crucial contest. The Giants did it in Super Bowls after the 2007 and 2011 seasons.
The Bucs beat the Eagles 28-22 in October, with Brady going 34-for-42 for 297 yards, two touchdowns and one interception by Anthony Harris. The Eagles made the score more respectable after a difficult start with a couple of long TD drives capped by Jalen Hurts touchdown runs.
The Wild Card game against Philadelphia was Brady's 46th and 46th start in the playoffs, both all-time NFL records. Before Sunday's action, Brady was 34-11 in his career in the playoffs with 83 touchdowns, 38 interceptions, 12,449 passing yards. The 44-year-old joined Drew Brees as only the second quarterback to make three postseason appearances against the Eagles.