Sunday’s AFC championship game between the heavily favored New England Patriots and the San Diego Chargers, winners of eight in a row, features three of the game’s premier players at their position.

The trio includes the NFL’s last two MVPs. Only five times in the last 50 years has a playoff game involved the two most recent award winners. It last happened during the 1995 playoffs, when league MVP Brett Favre and the Packers defeated Steve Young’s 49ers in a first-round matchup.

It happens again Sunday. Patriots QB Tom Brady, recently chosen as the league’s top player by the AP, will be on the sideline opposite Chargers RB LaDainian Tomlinson, who just won his second straight rushing title a year after winning MVP honors.

The third elite player is Brady’s No. 1 target. WR Randy Moss collected 1,493 receiving yards this season, courtesy of Brady, and it was the seventh time in 10 seasons that Moss has accumulated at least 1,300. Among active players, Moss ranks in the top four in touchdown catches, receiving yards and receiving yards per game.

In the regular-season finale on Dec. 29, Brady threw a 65-yard TD pass to Moss to put the Pats up for good in a 38-35 win over the New York Giants. The score not only preserved a perfect regular season, it broke two of the most high-profile single-season marks in the NFL record book.

The fourth-quarter touchdown was Brady’s 50th TD pass and Moss’ 23rd TD catch of the season, overtaking, respectively, the 49 by Peyton Manning in 2004 and 22 by Hall of Famer Jerry Rice 20 years ago.

In his MVP season, Brady also set personal highs in passing yards (4,806), completion percentage (68.9), passer rating (117.2) and TD-Int ratio (6.25), and he led his NFL peers in all four categories.

With Moss and Tomlinson on the field, Sunday’s game will match the two touchdown leaders of the regular season. And both rank near the top in career TDs among active players.

Most Touchdowns among Active Players, 2007 & Career

Player. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2007. . . . . . . . Player. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Career*
Randy Moss, NE. . . . . . . . . . 23. . . . . . . . . .Terrell Owens. . . . . . . . . . . . . .136
LaDainian Tomlinson, SD. . . . .18. . . . . . . . . .Randy Moss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Braylon Edwards, Cle . . . . . . 16. . . . . . . . . .LaDainian Tomlinson. . . . . . . . . 132
Joseph Addai, Ind. . . . . . . . .15. . . . . . . . . .Marvin Harrison. . . . . . . . . . . . .125
Terrell Owens, Dal. . . . . . . . 15. . . . . . . . . .Shaun Alexander. . . . . . . . . . . .120

*regular season and playoffs

Tomlinson will be playing with a knee injury that forced him out of last weekend’s 28-24 win in Indianapolis. He missed the rest of the game and was diagnosed with a hyperextended left knee. Let’s see if Tomlinson will be “close to 100 percent” Sunday, as he says he will.

While Brady and Moss look to work their aerial magic once again, the Chargers may be without starting QB Philip Rivers, who is a game-time decision with a strained knee ligament suffered against the Colts.

Rivers sat out the entire fourth quarter last weekend, and in stepped backup Billy Volek. The 31-year-old veteran appeared in five games and attempted just 10 passes all season, but he led the game-winning fourth-quarter drive by completing three of four passes and pushing into the end zone from a yard out for the score.

Volek hasn’t started a game since October 23, 2005, and may become just the fourth quarterback since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger to start a postseason game during a season in which he did not start a single regular-season contest.

QBs With 0 Reg-Season Starts Starting in Postseason, Since 1970

Quarterback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Playoff Results

Roger Staubach, 1972 Dal. . . . . . .Won Div Playoff in SF
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lost NFC Title Game to Wash

Gary Danielson, 1983 Det. . . . .. . Lost Div Playoff in SF

Frank Reich, 1992 Buf. . . . . . . . .Won Wild Card & Div Playoff
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lost Super Bowl to Dallas

With Frank Reich as his inspiration, Volek will try to sustain the momentum of a red-hot club that hasn’t lost in two months. He won’t be alone out there, especially if Tomlinson is productive.

If the NFL rushing leader isn't able to perform, the Chargers can turn to Michael Turner, who has made significant contributions in the postseason. It was Turner who ran for nine and four yards in the red zone during San Diego's winning drive, setting up Volek’s one-yard plunge.

Whether Rivers or Volek is under center, the Chargers defense will be the difference-maker if San Diego wins Sunday. The potent Patriots offense faces a much improved defensive unit than the one that allowed 38 points to New England during San Diego’s 1-3 start.

"This defense will challenge us more than any defense we've faced all year," said Brady.

During their eight-game winning streak, the Chargers have allowed just 13.1 points per game. The defense has recorded 26 turnovers and 26 sacks.

San Diego has consistently found ways to win of late, but how do the Chargers overcome having their starting quarterback and one of the NFL’s premier running backs at less than their best? With two of the league’s impact players lining up against the Chargers, their defense faces the ultimate test.