At the start of this year's NFL postseason, Joe Burrow and Matthew Stafford representing the AFC and NFC in the Super Bowl likely wasn't on the bingo card. Neither Burrow nor Stafford had a postseason victory on their resume.
Stafford was 0-3 in the postseason in 12 seasons with the Detroit Lions (who have just one playoff win since 1958), while Burrow was tasked with leading the Cincinnati Bengals to their first postseason win since 1991 (Cincinnati had lost seven straight postseason games entering the playoffs).
Burrow and Stafford each won three postseason games to advance to the Super Bowl, becoming the first pair of quarterbacks since Kurt Warner and Steve McNair in 2000 to reach the Super Bowl without having a postseason win prior to entering the playoffs. Warner and McNair led the St. Louis Rams and Tennessee Titans to Super Bowl XXXIV that postseason, resulting in one of the best Super Bowls over the last 25 years (Warner threw for a then-Super Bowl record 414 yards and was the game's MVP).
Prior to Warner and McNair matching up in Super Bowl XXXIV, Jim McMahon (Chicago Bears) and Tony Eason (New England Patriots) was the last pair of quarterbacks to reach the Super Bowl without having a playoff win entering the postseason (Super Bowl XX, 1985 season). Joe Theismann and David Woodley (Super Bowl XVII) and Kenny Anderson and Joe Montana (Super Bowl XVI) are the only other pair of quarterbacks since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to accomplish the feat.
Stafford will have the most passing yards (49,995) and passing touchdowns (323) before playing in his first Super Bowl while Burrow is the first quarterback selected No. 1 overall to make the Super Bowl within his first two seasons.
