GREEN BAY, Wis. -- You get the sense they could talk for hours about Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers.

After all, it's players like them who keep these three career football men -- who were asked this week to dissect these two quarterbacking heavyweights -- in front of the video screen, revisiting play after hypnotizing play.

On one side, there's Brady: the 37-year-old, 6-foot-4, 225-pound, three-time Super Bowl champion and two-time NFL MVP. On the other is Rodgers: 30 years old, 6-2 and 225 pounds, the winner of a Super Bowl title and a league MVP.

But just how similar or different are they?

That's where our trio comes in.

"There's a lot of differences; more differences than similarities," former NFL running back Merril Hoge, an ESPN NFL analyst, said this week. "Although the two similarities are probably most important to have: They're smart, and they're both accurate."

To better compare and contrast Brady and Rodgers in advance of their meeting Sunday at Lambeau Field, we asked three ESPN analysts who spent time in the NFL -- Hoge, former quarterback Tim Hasselbeck and former coach, scout and general manager Phil Savage -- to discuss the similarities and differences between them.

Similarities

Hasselbeck: "Peyton Manning is the one who gets the credit for being so good at the line of scrimmage before the ball is snapped. Both of those guys are outstanding in their own right. You look at what Brady does -- actually they both do this really well -- in terms of controlling the tempo of the game, whether it's in the no-huddle or slowing things down, using the double cadence to get a look at the defense. Aaron does the exact same thing. He'll speed up the tempo of the game or they'll be in a situation where you'll see him going through his cadence and they'll motion a tight end across the formation and he gets a good look at what the defense is doing, then he changes the route combination or changes the protection, and it really opens up a big play for that offense."

Hoge: "They're both quick decision-makers. There's different levels there. There's guys who put the ball where it needs to be, and it went where it should've gone but are not quite as fast at processing things. These guys process things fast. They know quickly where they need to go with the ball, and they're decisive. It's hard for fans to appreciate that, but that's really why the good ones are so good. They're quick decision-makers, not just good decision-makers."

Savage: "I think you have to go back at least to some extent to the history of the two players. Aaron was not that highly recruited and goes to Butte College, comes out of there and goes to Cal, has this very high carriage of the ball and people questioned his release. Then he got to Green Bay and flushed all of that out. In other words, as gifted as he is, he's really had to work for it. The same holds true with Brady. He kind of shared the position, was supposed to have lost it at Michigan to Drew Henson. He's a sixth-round pick, works his way to a place where he gets to start and the rest is history. Both of them had really had to earn it.

"The other thing is they both had some incubation time, Rodgers more so than Brady in terms of getting their feet wet at the NFL level. Being in a system that has not changed much during their careers I think that definitely has helped both. Then probably the most important trait is their accuracy. Both of them are extremely accurate. That's the biggest difference between them and most of the other quarterbacks out there."

Differences

Hasselbeck: "From the time Aaron's left hand leaves the ball to when the ball's out [compared] to when Tom's left hand leaves the ball to when the ball's out, I believe, is very different. And if you were to look earlier in Brady's career, there were probably moments where he was as good a deep-ball thrower as anybody in the NFL. I don't believe it's still the case. You look at Aaron, he's every bit as good a deep-ball thrower as there is right now.

"There was a throw against Chicago [in Week 10] when he's escaping on the run out to his right, where he just absolutely hoses this thing to Jordy [Nelson] in the end zone [for a 40-yard touchdown]. Brady can't do that. Brady can't throw on the move the way that Aaron can. It's not like Brady's got a slow delivery or release, but I don't think anybody gets it out as quick as Aaron."

Hoge: "Aaron is outstanding out of structure. He's got great movement and throws well on the run, whereas Brady just doesn't. You don't have to worry about a spy; you don't have to account for his mobility. Rodgers, you better. Aaron's more accurate. He's got a bigger arm, so he can make more of the outside-the-numbers throws than Brady can make. Where Rodgers separates himself with, not just Brady but a lot of guys, is his ability to snap it off long distances. It'll look like a warhead coming across the field."

Savage: "Rodgers, to me, seems like a looser personality. He said R-E-L-A-X earlier. I don't know if you'd hear something like that from Brady. I think he has fun with the guys behind the scenes, but he's really dialed in and focused, not to say that Rodgers isn't. But then the other thing is Rodgers is the better athlete. He's got natural mobility. He can do a lot of things with his legs that Tom really can't."