As each round of the NFL playoffs approaches, we’ll be re-ranking the remaining post-season teams vying for the Super Bowl differently. This week: clutch quarterbacks.
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In order to have any real success in the NFL playoffs, you’ve got to have a capable quarterback. Just ask the Arizona Cardinals.
Unlike in the wild card round, the 2014 divisional playoffs feature a handful of quarterbacks with plenty of post-season experience; six of the eight passers still competing have started at least five playoff games and five of them own a Super Bowl ring. But, as you’ll see below, all eight have vastly different post-season experiences – some great, some not so much.
So without further ado, the remaining NFL playoff teams ranked by how clutch their quarterbacks are when it matters most:
1) Tom Brady
18-8, 6,423 yards, 62.11 CMP%, 43 TDs, 22 INTs, 87.5 rating
Putting Brady at the top of these rankings is a no-brainer.
Not only does Brady have more Super Bowl rings (three) than any of the remaining quarterbacks in the playoffs, he’s tied with John Elway for most Super Bowl appearances (five), has started more playoff games than anyone else (26) and earned the most post-season victories (18) in NFL history.
Granted, he hasn’t led the Patriots to the ultimate prize in almost a decade and is 4-5 in January since 2009, but Brady’s play in the post-season is why he’ll be remembered as one of the greatest.
2) Joe Flacco
10-4, 2,931 yards, 55.97 CMP%, 21 TDs, 8 INTs, 88.2 rating
Joe Flacco’s regular season numbers are anything but spectacular. The seven-year pro has never thrown for 4,000 yards in a season, never surpassed 27 touchdown passes and boasts an incredibly average 84.9 career passer rating. But stop him in the playoffs, I dare you.
Flacco is tied with Brady for the best post-season start in a career (10-4) and has more playoff road wins than any other quarterback in history with seven. In the Ravens playoff run in 2012 — en route to winning Super Bowl XLVII — Flacco threw 11 touchdowns, no interceptions and was named Super Bowl MVP. The Flacco we saw last Saturday looked eerily similar to the Flacco of 2012.
3) Aaron Rodgers
6-4, 2,489 yards, 66.04 CMP%, 19 TDs, 5 INTs, 103.1 rating
In case you don’t remember, Rodgers kicked off his playoff career by leading an incredible comeback against the Arizona Cardinals in Jan. 2010, only to lose on a fumble in what is still the high-scoring playoff game of all-time, one of the game’s many post-season records.
Sure, Rodgers’ overall playoff record isn’t ideal but he owns the second-best post-season quarterback rating in history (103.1) — trailing only the great Bart Starr – and owns the top completion percentage in these rankings. Plus, the 31-year-old’s TD-to-INT ratio is the best on this list for players with at least 10 playoff starts, having thrown multiple picks in just one playoff game – the 2010 NFC title game (which the Packers won).
4) Russell Wilson
4-1, 1,096 yards, 63.08 CMP%, 6 TDs, 1 INT, 102.0 rating
Had Pete Carroll not “iced” Atlanta Falcons kicker Matt Bryant in the 2012 divisional round, who knows what Russell Wilson’s playoff record would look like heading into this weekend. Regardless, the defending Super Bowl champion has had a short but sweet post-season career.
Wilson has thrown just one interception in the playoffs, and laid a golden egg in that category during last season’s run to the Vince Lombardi trophy. In addition, the 26-year-old has a quarterback rating of 104.6 or better in three of his five post-season starts.
One knock on Wilson’s playoffs is he has yet to complete more than 24 passes in a game and has thrown for more than 215 yards just once. With more of the weight falling on Wilson’s shoulders this time around, we’ll get a better idea of what he can do in the clutch. If the regular season was any indication, we already know.
5) Peyton Manning
11-12, 6,589 yards, 64.34 CMP%, 37 TDs, 24 INTs, 89.2 rating
There is no doubt; Peyton Manning is the best regular-season quarterback the NFL has ever seen. Manning owns more than a dozen of the league’s passing records, including most career touchdown passes (530), most touchdowns in a season (55) and most yards in a season (5,477). But Manning has been infamously mediocre in the playoffs.
Let’s get right to the point: Manning has the most post-season losses (12) in NFL history. Twelve quarterbacks have started more than 15 playoff games; only Dan Marino (.444) has a worse winning percentage than Manning (.478). Manning is ranked fourth in all-time post-season interceptions with 24 (two more than Tom Brady despite playing three less games), and only further damaged his playoff legacy after being on the wrong end of the third-biggest blowout in Super Bowl history last February.
6) Andrew Luck
2-2, 1,438 yards, 58.70 CMP%, 7 TDs, 8 INTs, 78.1 rating
In last weekend’s wild-card victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, Andrew Luck carved out his own little piece of playoff history, as he has now thrown for more passing yards than any other quarterback in their first four post-season games. But while Luck’s numbers in the yards column shine, his overall numbers early in his playoff career aren’t great.
Luck has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns in the post-season — including a whopping seven in two games last January — while his playoff completion percentage is the lowest of the eight quarterbacks playing in the divisional round.
However, Luck’s placement among clutch playoff quarterbacks is bound to improve. At just 25, the young phenom seems destined to have years of post-season success.
7) Tony Romo
2-3, 1,125 yards, 59.64 CMP%, 6 TDs, 2 TDs, 87.0 rating
A quick look at the numbers and Romo’s playoff career doesn’t look to be as bad as people make it out to be. In all fairness, the majority of the embattled quarterback’s struggles have come in the final month of the regular season, usually causing the Cowboys to miss the playoffs. But some serious post-season gaffes have Romo near the bottom of these rankings.
How can anyone forget Romo’s botched snap in Seattle in his playoff debut?
The next season, Romo led the Cowboys to the NFC’s top seed only to lose to Eli Manning and the Giants in the divisional round on a game-ending interception in the end zone, marking the first time in 20 years the NFC’s top seed lost in the divisional round.
Then there was a 34-3 beat down in Jan. 2010 at the hands of Brett Favre and the Vikings, in which Romo was sacked six times and accounted for four turnovers.
8) Cam Newton
1-1, 465 yards, 59.65 CMP%, 3 TDs, 3 INTs, 81.4 rating
Cam Newton’s playoff inexperience and average outputs in his two post-season games anchor him at the bottom of these rankings. Throughout his four-year career, the former Auburn standout has shown flashes of what made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, but has yet to turn it on in a pair of January appearances.
