Tom Brady, left, has been to 10 Super Bowls and has won six of them. Patrick Mahomes is 1 for 1 in the big game. The two will face off Sunday, trying to expand on their legacies. Associated Press photos

Behold, the gridiron gods have given us a quarterback matchup in Super Bowl LV that represents not just the purest passing of the ball, but of the torch.

It’s Tom Brady versus Patrick Mahomes. The GOAT and The Kid. The greatest quarterback of all time and the greatest quarterback of present time.

Brady, 43, in his 21st season, plays in his 10th Super Bowl on Sunday and has won six. Mahomes, 25, in his fourth season, was the Most Valuable Player of last year’s Super Bowl and is trying to lead the Chiefs to back-to-back NFL titles, a feat last accomplished when Brady’s Patriots did it in the 2003-04 seasons.

If not for losing an overtime coin flip to Brady in the AFC Championship Game for the 2018 season, Mahomes could be trying to win his third Lombardi Trophy, leaving Brady with five.

This isn’t exactly Tiger Woods, with 15 major wins, chasing Jack Nicklaus and his 18. Golf is an individual sport, and team success is vital to collecting Super Bowl rings.

“There’s 21 other (starters) on your team,” Bucs Coach Bruce Arians said. “If it was a throwing contest, hell yeah, (Mahomes) is going to get it. But there are a lot of things that happen in different seasons, and what Tom has done is historic. There’s no doubt, if there was a player who could (top Brady), it would be Patrick.”

There is a significant age difference between Brady and Mahomes, the biggest disparity for Super Bowl quarterbacks: 18 years, one month, 14 days.

Mahomes was asked when he first became conscious of Brady.

“Probably Sept. 17, 1995, when I was born,” Mahomes said. “He’s been around for a while.”

Both quarterbacks were 24 years old when winning their first Super Bowl, although Mahomes was about six weeks younger. During Brady’s first Super Bowl season, he became the Patriots starting quarterback following an injury to Drew Bledsoe. Brady was seen more as a game manager than the glorified playmaker Mahomes was at the same age.

Mahomes passed for 5,095 yards and 50 touchdowns in his first season as a starter. Brady’s 50-touchdown season didn’t come until his seventh as a starter.

If the Chiefs win on Sunday, Mahomes will be the youngest quarterback in NFL history to win two Super Bowls. The problem for Mahomes’ pursuit is that Brady shows no signs of slowing.

In his first season with the Bucs – having to learn a new offense, new teammates and new coaches during a pandemic with no offseason or preseason games – Brady put together a rather spectacular season. His 40 touchdown passes in the regular season are a franchise record, and he totaled 4,633 yards passing, third most in club history.

“To switch teams, that takes a lot,” Brady said. “And to move my family and to go to a different conference, and to keep building and develop a rapport with the guys we have here … there’s so much about football that’s about the relationships you get with your teammates and your coaches. It’s certainly the fact that we’re still playing feels really good for me, and … we put a lot into it.”

But for Mahomes to catch Brady one day, Super Bowl LV becomes paramount in his pursuit.

For starters, Mahomes is playing in a salary cap era, and the bill for him is coming due.

In July, Mahomes signed a 10-year contract extension worth $503 million. But he counted only $5.347 million against the Chiefs’ cap in 2020 because the back-loaded deal accounts for what they hope is a rising cap over the next 10 years.

Mahomes’ salary jumps to about $12 million in 2021, $29.45 million in 2022 and $40.45 million in 2023.

“I don’t think that (Brady-Mahomes) storyline is farfetched except for the salary cap era, and they’re getting away with that this year,” said Ravens Super Bowl-winning quarterback Trent Dilfer, the Bucs’ first-round draft pick in 1994. “But it depends on how much of (the Chiefs are) going to be left over after this game.”

There’s also a question of staying healthy. Because of Mahomes’ style of play – he extends plays with his feet and is known to run the ball on occasion – he is subject to more injuries.

A season ago, Mahomes missed games because of a knee injury, and this season he had to leave the Chiefs’ division playoff game because of a concussion.

“Although he’s very Gumby-ish – a new term I’m using that means he’s bendy, he never really gets hit — he’s athletic,” Dilfer said. “It’s like (Brett) Favre. But how long can he do it like this?”

Compare that with Brady’s stick-to-the-pocket method of playing quarterback. He missed one season with a torn ACL, but Brady otherwise unloads the ball to minimize contact. Brady also is obsessed with nutrition and pliability, and he believes his TB12 approach to health and wellness could extend his career into his mid-40s.

“Brady’s formula was sustainable,” Dilfer said. “He’s not asked his body to do things that are uncommon repeated times.”

If Brady wins Sunday, it will be the greatest achievement of his career. He also won’t be done. The Bucs are in a good position to make another run in 2021 with him in the final year of a two-year deal.

That’s why CBS analyst and former Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo believes Super Bowl LV represents the last chance for Mahomes to close the gap on Brady.

“This game could push (Mahomes) over the top when it’s all said and done,” Romo said. “To say you beat (Brady) in the Super Bowl head-to-head … Brady, I promise you, shuts the door if he wins this game.

“This game is a legacy game. If Patrick Mahomes wins, he keeps that door open. If he loses, I don’t know how you climb it.”

In the end, you should simply value arguably the greatest quarterback pairing in Super Bowl history.

“Who’s to say (Mahomes is) going to do this very long?” Dilfer said. “There’s so many unknowns. I think it’s more unique just to say, ‘Who cares what it looks like 10 years from now? Let’s just appreciate what it looks like now.'”