Brock Purdy and Jalen Hurts go head-to-head today, and it’s the youngest-ever matchup of quarterbacks in a conference championship game. They’re both under 25.
Purdy turned 23 last month. He’s the 3rd-youngest, older than only Shaun King (Tampa Bay, 1999) and Ben Roethlisberger (Steelers, 2004). Hurts is only just over a year older.
They’ve been playing conference championships since 1970, and only 23 other quarterbacks younger than 25 have started in conference championship games.
Typically, younger hasn’t been better in these kind of games. Quarterbacks under 25 have gone only 7-16 in these games. (In the chart below, I’ve got the winners tagged with black dots.)
QUARTERBACKS UNDER 25 IN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Age | Opp | Result | Com | Att | Pct | Yds | TD | Int |
1999 | Shaun King, T.B. | 22-239 | at St.L. | L 6-11 | 13 | 29 | 44.8 | 163 | 0 | 2 |
2004 | Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 22-327 | N.E. | L 27-41 | 14 | 24 | 58.3 | 226 | 2 | 3 |
2022 | Brock Purdy, S.F. | 23-033 | at Phil. | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
1986 | Bernie Kosar, Cle. | 23-047 | Den. | L 20-23 | 18 | 32 | 56.3 | 259 | 2 | 2 |
2009 | Mark Sanchez, NYJ | 23-074 | at Ind. | L 17-30 | 17 | 30 | 56.7 | 257 | 2 | 1 |
1984 | • Dan Marino, Mia. | 23-113 | Pitt. | W 45-28 | 21 | 32 | 65.6 | 421 | 4 | 1 |
2018 | Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 23-125 | N.E. | L 31-37 | 16 | 31 | 51.6 | 295 | 3 | 0 |
2005 | • Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 23-326 | at Den. | W 34-17 | 21 | 29 | 72.4 | 275 | 2 | 0 |
1975 | Pat Haden, Rams | 23-338 | at Min. | L 13-24 | 9 | 22 | 40.9 | 161 | 1 | 2 |
2000 | Daunte Culpepper, Min. | 23-352 | at NYG | L 0-41 | 13 | 28 | 46.4 | 78 | 0 | 3 |
2008 | Joe Flacco, Balt. | 24-002 | at Pitt. | L 14-23 | 13 | 30 | 43.3 | 141 | 0 | 3 |
1996 | Kerry Collins, Car. | 24-013 | at G.B. | L 13-30 | 19 | 37 | 51.4 | 215 | 1 | 2 |
1987 | Bernie Kosar, Cle. | 24-053 | at Den. | L 33-38 | 26 | 41 | 63.4 | 356 | 3 | 1 |
2010 | Mark Sanchez, NYJ | 24-073 | at Pitt. | L 19-24 | 20 | 33 | 60.6 | 233 | 2 | 0 |
1982 | • David Woodley, Mia. | 24-090 | NYJ | W 14-0 | 9 | 21 | 42.9 | 87 | 0 | 3 |
2018 | • Jared Goff, LAR | 24-098 | at N.O. | W 26-23 | 25 | 40 | 62.5 | 297 | 1 | 1 |
1985 | Dan Marino, Mia. | 24-119 | N.E. | L 14-31 | 20 | 48 | 41.7 | 248 | 2 | 2 |
1971 | Terry Bradshaw, Pitt. | 24-120 | Mia. | L 17-21 | 5 | 10 | 50.0 | 80 | 1 | 2 |
2019 | • Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 24-124 | Ten. | W 35-24 | 23 | 35 | 65.7 | 294 | 3 | 0 |
1979 | Doug Williams, T.B. | 24-150 | Rams | L 0-9 | 2 | 13 | 15.4 | 12 | 0 | 1 |
2022 | Jalen Hurts, Phil. | 24-175 | S.F. | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
2001 | • Tom Brady, N.E. | 24-177 | at Pitt. | W 24-17 | 12 | 18 | 66.7 | 115 | 0 | 0 |
2004 | Michael Vick, Atl. | 24-211 | at Phil. | L 10-27 | 11 | 24 | 45.8 | 136 | 0 | 1 |
2020 | Josh Allen, Buff. | 24-248 | at K.C. | L 24-38 | 28 | 48 | 58.3 | 287 | 2 | 1 |
1996 | • Drew Bledsoe, N.E. | 24-333 | Jac. | W 20-6 | 20 | 33 | 60.6 | 178 | 0 | 1 |
Statistics compiled using search tools at Pro-Football-Reference.com
—Ian Allan