Warren Moon is more than 20,000 passing yards clear of Joe Namath. He has 97 more passing touchdowns than Ken Stabler, and has eight more regular-season wins than Troy Aikman.
And, yet, when the greats of the game are talked about, when the best quarterbacks of all time are discussed, it takes a while for Moon to be brought up. Moon, a Hall of Famer, never reached a conference title game, let alone a Super Bowl.
In most conversations, he never comes up, unfair as that may be. The why, though, is simple. What is his signature moment? What’s the touchstone that anchors his career in our minds? The historic meltdown in the first round of the 1993 playoffs when his Houston Oilers lost a 35–3 lead to the Buffalo Bills and eventually lost in OT?
When the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens meet in Sunday’s AFC divisional round, it will be about legacy for both Allen and Jackson. What it won’t be about his how both quarterbacks have dominated the regular season portion of the schedule. Allen is now a two-time second-team All-Pro while Jackson is a two-time NFL MVP, potentially lined up for a third in a few weeks.
Both Jackson and Allen have lengthy highlight reels. No quarterback in league history has ever stitched together more jaw-dropping runs than Jackson. Few signal-callers have produced more incredible off-script plays than Allen, who is lethal within the pocket and otherworldly beyond it.
But come Sunday night, either Allen or Jackson will be facing another missed opportunity, another year of what could have been.
From a historical perspective, the Super Bowl clock is beginning to tick louder.
Over the first 58 years of the Super Bowl era, 34 starting quarterbacks have won a title. Of those, only 10 won their first championship after the age of 30. When next season begins, Allen will be 29 years old, while Jackson is 28.
For Allen, the pressure is mounting. Buffalo will be hosting a divisional round game for the third consecutive year on Sunday. In 2022, the Bills lost 27–10 to Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals. Last year, they lost 27–24 to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. If Allen loses Sunday, that would be three consecutive losses at home each of the past three seasons to his three biggest contemporaries in Burrow, Mahomes and Jackson.
As for Jackson, there’s a reputation to shun. While he’s won three postseason games, he is 3–4 in the playoffs and has typically saved his worst football for January. Now, favored on the road against Buffalo surrounded by eight Pro Bowl teammates, Jackson must perform. If he doesn’t, the narrative on Monday morning will be that he failed once again.
In the post-Tom Brady era, it’s clear Mahomes is the generational great who took the torch. He’s won three Super Bowls, appeared in four, earned three Super Bowl MVPs and taken home two NFL MVP awards. He’s the standard all his peers are chasing.
Jackson and Allen aren’t realistically attempting to chase down Mahomes in the Lombardi Trophy department. They’re trying to be this era’s Peyton Manning, a fellow champion with accolades who can’t be ignored when the history of the game is told. Despite Brady’s greatness, Manning found an avenue to win two championships while reaching four Super Bowls. Ben Roethlisberger also took home a pair of rings in three appearances.
Philip Rivers? Great player, but no Super Bowl titles. The same can be said for Donovan McNabb. They’re both terrific players, with second-tier historical meaning.
The winner of this game gets a shot to have one of those signature moments. The following weekend, they will either be prohibitive favorites while hosting the Houston Texans, or they will have a chance to slay their generation’s dragon by facing Mahomes in his seventh consecutive AFC championship game, and sixth at Arrowhead Stadium.
But the loser will be saddled with another round of doubt and criticism. Sometimes, great talent doesn’t always translate into great accomplishment. And in the eyes of sports fans and media, there’s no greater sin than unfulfilled potential. We have myriad examples of those we deem to have exceeded their physical gifts, willing themselves to greater heights. Because of their considerable gifts, neither Jackson nor Allen will ever fit that category.
The NFL’s past is littered with great quarterbacks who never won it all. Dan Marino. Dan Fouts. Sonny Jurgensen. Fran Tarkenton. Moon.
All those men reached Canton, but left us longing for more. Longing for the proper closure to their careers that will never come.
Come Sunday evening, either Jackson or Allen will be a step closer to football immortality.
And the other will be one step closer to joining a group many would love to be part of.
A group these quarterbacks are desperate to avoid.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as For Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, the Super Bowl Clock Is Ticking Louder and Louder .
