Quarterbackery: Round 1, Heat 10
 

Today we pit an original AFL team that has never beaten the Chiefs in a playoff game, versus an NFC team that has never beaten the Chiefs in a championship game. I present the New England Patriots versus the New Orleans Saints.

New Orleans has only existed for 49 years if you're doing the math, but that's close enough.

Patriots


Tom Brady - 14 seasons (and current starter)
Steve Grogan - 11
Drew Bledsoe - 8
Jim Plunkett - 4
Tony Eason - 3
Hugh Millen - 2
Babe Parilli - 2 (led team for 6 seasons, but only 2 since 1966)
Matt Cassel - 1
Marc Wilson - 1
Doug Flutie - 1
Joe Kapp - 1
Mike Taliafarro - 1
Tom Sherman - 1

They've produced 16 pro bowls, led by Tom Brady with 11.

Saints


Drew Brees - 10 seasons
Archie Manning - 9
Aaron Brooks - 5
Bobby Hebert - 5
Jim Everett - 3
Billy Kilmer - 3
Billy Joe Tolliver - 2
Dave Wilson - 2
Ken Stabler - 2
Jeff Blake - 1
Heath Shuler - 1
Wade Wilson - 1
Steve Walsh - 1
Richard Todd - 1
Bobby Douglass - 1
Ed Hargett -1
Gary Cuozzo - 1

They produced 10 pro bowls, led by Drew Brees with 8.

My thoughts:

I don't know why the Patriots stayed with Grogan so long and don't quite know how to process that. He was stable but not impressive. But at the top end they have Tom Brady, who is pretty good, and Drew Bledsoe, who is really good. Overall, they've had a top-notch QB for about half of the last 50 years, which I would rate as somewhat strong. Maybe it's even very strong, but I can't quite go there. I could believe it, though.

On the Saints side, Brees is obviously good. I really don't know enough about Archie Manning. I know he whines a lot about being drafted by a weak team and implies that he'd've been more famous if his teammates weren't such losers, but I don't know if that's true. I'm an Hebert fan and think he was very good. So they had Brees as a big star and then Manning and Hebert on the next tier down. I would rate them about average, but could see them being rated somewhat strong. New England beats them, though.

"I'm an Hebert fan".
I've never known how to approach the issue of a silent consonant with the word "a" as a predecessor. "I'm a Hebert fan".

I can handle the silent consonant. It's the silent vowel in opossum that confounds me.

Only red necks call them "Possums". The elite of society call them "Opossums" pronouncing the leading vowel..

LMAO

Every hates the Pats.

I don't know, man. I'm pretty elite and I call them "possums"

Worst pairing ever...

New England and New Orleans, or opossums and Hebert? I could see opossums and Hebert being a good match.