By John Sapochetti

NEFJ Contributor

We have all seen the Spider-Man meme where two Spider-Men point at each other essentially saying, “He is me and I am him”.

Such will be the case Sunday night when quarterbacks Drake Maye and Justin Herbert square off when the Patriots host the Chargers in an AFC Wild Card game.

Maye, in his 2nd season, has often been compared to the six year pro Herbert, who is making his third career playoff start.

Both check many of the boxes you need to be considered a franchise quarterback. Size, arm strength, accuracy, toughness, smarts and leadshirp.

Maye at 6’4” and 225 pounds, survived growing up with three older, bigger, athletic brothers.

The 6’6” 237 pound Herbert, played the final few weeks of the season with a broken bone in his left, non throwing, hand.

He also survived playing without his All-Pro Offensive Tackles Rashawn slater and Joe Alt, who missed the entire season and most of the season respectively with injuries.

Maye and Herbert excel from the pocket as well as throwing on the move.

Both can also beat you with their legs. This season Maye ran for 450 yards on 103 carries and four touchdowns.

Herbert, gained 498 yards on 83 carries and two touchdowns.

However, the passing stats between these two pro bowl quarterbacks aren’t necessarily close.

Maye holds the edge in touchdowns passes (31 to 26) and fewer interceptions (8 to 13). Maye also led in passing yards 4,394 to 3,727. Maye’s 113.5 passer rating dwarfs Herbert’s 94.1 passer rating.

In two previous playoff games, both losses, Herbert has thrown 2 touchdown passes and 4 interceptions while producing an abysmal 60.7 passer rating.

Maye, making his playoff debut, led the league this season with a team record 72% completion percentage while averaging a spectacular 8.9 yards per attempt. Former Raiders owner Al Davis would be proud. Maye should be league MVP while Herbert is a questionable pro-bowl selection.

Maye navigates and manipulates the pocket better than Herbert. Maye is also better at looking beyond the pass rush and is a more accurate deep ball thrower than his Charger counterpart.

The AFC is loaded with tremendous quarterbacks. Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Herbert are all in their prime. Meanwhile, Maye leads a group of young studs such as: Trevor Lawrence, C. J. Stroud, Cam Ward and Bo Nix who give their respective teams excellent quarterback play.

The Patriots and Chargers have their franchise quarterbacks for the foreseeable future considering Maye is only 23 years old and Herbert 27.

As a great man once said, “With great power comes great responsibility.”Maye and Herbert will both be plenty responsible for the result Sunday night in Foxboro with a berth in the AFC Divisional Round at stake.