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By Peyton Schultze

With so many striking similarities between the two, young Jared Goff seems to be a pure reflection of the great Tom Brady.

It’s been a long while now since 2002. Back then, George W. Bush was president. Michael Jordan was still roaming the basketball court with the Washington Wizards. Movies such as Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Spider-Man were just debuting in theaters. And remarkably, iPhones were not a part of everyday life as they are now. But one thing from 2002 to now still remains as relevant as ever in the culture of the United States: the New England Patriots are still winning.

On February 3rd, it will mark exactly 17 years since the last time the Patriots and Rams met in the NFL’s biggest game of all: the Super Bowl. Back then, a 24-year-old Tom Brady led the underdog New England Patriots to a glorious upset win over Kurt Warner and the then-St. Louis Rams to begin the Patriots’ almost two-decade-long run of football glory. Then, current Rams’ quarterback, Jared Goff, was just a 7-year-old California kid with probably little interest in the big game. Now, Goff is about to take place in the biggest game of his life, against none other than the infamous Brady. The quarterbacks are currently two of the best in the game, and even though Brady is seventeen years older, Goff has shown many similarities to a young Brady that many around the league did not quite expect when he was drafted. But with Brady’s stature as the greatest quarterback ever, does Goff have any chance at de-throning the five-time champion and starting the Rams’ own dynasty?

In Super Bowl XXXVI, the Patriots were able to upset the heavily-favored Rams and collect their first title in franchise history.

If the Rams do wind up upsetting the Patriots on Sunday, there were certainly be a wave of comparisons beginning on Monday morning made about the trajectory of Goff’s career to Brady’s early-career success. After all, that is what happens when you win your first ring as a ripe 24-year-old at sport’s most challenging position. And yes, Goff is currently 24, just as Brady was in Super Bowl XXXVI. But despite the differences in both teams’ approach throughout the course of a season, there remains several other noticeable similarities between both Goff and Brady that could possibly shape up for Sunday’s matchup to truly be a battle of old vs. new.

Although Goff was selected #1 overall compared to Brady’s #199th overall in the 2000 NFL Draft, both quarterbacks had solid college careers at their alma maters. Yet what happened once arriving on the NFL scene was much more than expected. In his first appearance at the beginning of his pro career, Brady replaced Drew Bledsoe, a formerly great Patriot quarterback, after Bledsoe went down with a concussion, then leading the Patriots all the way to the Super Bowl in his first stint ever as a starter. Flash forward to this season, and Goff has accomplished the same feat, leading the Rams to the Super Bowl at the age of 24 and in only his second full season as a starter after a 0-7 record in his rookie year in which many though he could become a bust. Like Brady with Coach Belichick, Goff has been assisted in his career push forward with the help of an outstanding head coach that has turned around the entire franchise. Since head coach Sean McVay’s arrival in 2017, the Rams have been an outstanding 26-8, forcing the Rams to vault towards contention and even bringing about major changes around the league to find the “next McVay”, similar to the past when teams strived to find the “next Belichick”.

Goff and Brady had their fair share of ups and downs in college at the University of California, Berkeley (Goff) and the University of Michigan (Brady).

Yet, both quarterbacks also possess similar football traits that bring about other such comparisons. Sure, both quarterbacks certainly look the part and act like the face of a franchise in front of the camera, but both have eerily similar quarterbacking tools at their disposal as well. The two signal callers are not known as ones that prefer to move around and scramble (especially Brady, although he reached 1,000 career rushing yards this season largely based on QB sneaks), which makes them pocket passers that do not like to improvise and instead deliver crisp throws from the pocket. In addition, Goff and Brady both have simple, yet effective throwing mechanics that get the ball out quickly. Over Brady’s storied NFL career, he has continuously been known as the game’s elite thrower in short to medium yardage, which has made it difficult for teams to hit or rattle him unless with pressure in his face. Goff is similar, yet still takes some tough sacks by hanging onto the ball for too long. In a league with elite pass rushers like Von Miller and Khalil Mack, the ability to get the ball out and not take unnecessary hits that could affect durability are as crucial to great quarterbacking as anything. This has been crucial to Brady’s longevity throughout his 17 NFL seasons as a full-time starter, somehow only missing one whole season due to a devastating, fluke ACL tear (injury) and four games due to a suspension handed down from the somewhat bogus Deflategate controversy.

But what has really drove the Brady-Goff comparisons is Goff’s strikingly similar in-game poise to that of Brady. Media and coaches around the LA Rams call it Goff’s “California Cool”; a type of poise that is able to handle pressure and give the team the belief that they can still win in all sorts of scenarios. Yet he is not the only player who also possesses this. Born and raised in San Mateo, CA, this is also a key and signature attribute of Brady throughout his NFL career, as his 12 game-winning drives in the postseason are the most in NFL history and double the next closest candidate (Joe Montana with five). With that being said, both quarterbacks were able to capture their own game-tying and game-winning drives in the conference championship rounds, willing their teams to victory and setting up the intriguing matchup in Super Bowl LIII.

Will Jared Goff and the Rams be able to capture their second Super Bowl in franchise history over Tom Brady and the mighty Patriots?

On Sunday, fans and people around the league will finally be able to see if the Rams are the team to at last resemble the makings of another Patriot-like dynasty and deliver the Patriots their second consecutive Super Bowl loss. One year after a crushing loss to the Philadelphia Eagles due to the outstanding play and mystical ways of Nick Foles, New England will surely be fired up to get their sixth ring in franchise history. No player in the history of the National Football League has ever won six Super Bowls, which would then put Brady in a class of his own. But Jared Goff may have other reservations. There’s plenty of intrigue and crucial matchups all over the field in Super Bowl LIII, but the play of both quarterbacks will be among the most interesting to watch for as fans will either see Tom Brady raise another Lombardi Trophy or Jared Goff pull off the upset and begin to follow the career path of the quarterback from New England. So who exactly will win? We will all find out come Sunday, where we’ll witness the oldest and one of the youngest quarterbacks go head-to-head in a potential battle for the ages in the fight for NFL supremacy.