W said:
you know it is kind of hard to believe that Rodgers and Brees have only played in 1 Super Bowl...while spending almost of all of their careers in the NFC.
i.e. they did not have to compete against Peyton or Brady in the postseason (until this year).
however since they won their Super Bowl they have done better than Dan Marino...and of course better than the likes of Warren Moon and Dan Fouts as well -- that never reached the Super Bowl.
but the single appearance is a significant negative on their resume when compared to the all-time greats...Brady, Peyton, Elway, Montana, Bradshaw, et al
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Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees have played in just one Super Bowl each partly because there is more parity in the NFC than in the AFC. Before Tom Brady joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this past offseason, 12 different NFC teams made at least one super Bowl appearance. 6 of those 12 NFC teams made two or more Super Bowl appearances in that span. 6 other teams had one super bowl appearance each: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2002), Chicago Bears (2006), Arizona Cardinals (2008), New Orleans Saints (2009), Green Bay Packers (2010), and Atlanta Falcons (2016).
Los Angeles Rams (2001 and 2018)
Carolina Panthers (2003 and 2015)
Philadelphia Eagles (2004 and 2017)
Seattle Seahawks (2005, 2013, and 2014)
New York Giants (2007 and 2011)
San Francisco 49ers (2012 and 2019)
Kurt Warner (2001 and 2008), Eli Manning (2007 and 2011), and Russell Wilson (2013 and 2014) were the only NFC quarterbacks to start in multiple Super Bowls between 2001 and 2019.
By contrast, the Patriots (9 appearances), Steelers (3 appearances), Colts (2 appearances), and Broncos (2 appearances) represented the AFC a combined 16 of 18 Super Bowls from 2001 to 2018. Either Tom Brady (9 times), Peyton Manning (4 times), or Ben Roethlisberger (3 times) was the starting quarterback for the AFC Champion in those 16 Super Bowls. The only exceptions occurred when Rich Gannon led the Oakland Raiders to the Super Bowl in 2002 (48-21 Super Bowl loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), and Joe Flacco led the Baltimore Ravens to the Super Bowl in 2012 (34-31 win over the San Francisco 49ers).
Of course, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees had their opportunities for additional Super Bowl appearances. Aaron Rodgers is 1-4 in NFC Championship games. Since a 31-25 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV on 2/6/11, the Packers have lost 4 consecutive NFC Championship games (2014, 2016, 2019, and 2020). The first 3 losses were on the road, but the last loss was at home.
From 2017 to 2020, the New Orleans Saints won the most regular season games in the entire NFL (49), one more than the two-time AFC Champion Kansas City Chiefs (48). That blistering 49-15 regular season record led to a measly 3-4 playoffs record (3-3 in home playoff games), and the Saints have only one NFC Championship Game appearance to show for it. With a 30-20 loss to the Buccaneers in the divisional round, the Saints lost on their home field in the playoffs for the 3rd consecutive year: a 26-20 overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings in a 2019 wild card game and a 26-23 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the 2018 NFC Championship Game.
