Alessandro Pautasso
Elway-Montana. Aikman-Favre. Brady-Manning.
Seemingly every generation of the N.F.L. is defined by classic matchups between the league’s best quarterbacks. Their teams are often in contention for championships, but their styles of play are also indicative of the strategies in vogue at the time, from gunslinging pocket passers to game managers in love with the audible.
On Monday night, fans will get to watch the latest installment of the league’s most compelling quarterback rivalry when Patrick Mahomes, 25, and the Kansas City Chiefs visit Baltimore to take on Lamar Jackson, 23, and the Ravens. It won’t look anything like those rivalries of the past, as these young quarterbacks are the archetype of athletic, run-and-gun improvisational stars who have supplanted the old pocket passers.