As we’ve seen in many post-seasons past, a dominant quarterback performance with the ability to manufacture a clutch game-winning drive is often the most important ingredient of a Super Bowl championship.
We’ve seen a handful of quarterbacks enjoy excellent regular seasons – some records were broken while others came close – but who could’ve predicted at the beginning of the 2022 campaign that the four highest-paid pivots wouldn’t qualify for the post-season? Or, that we’d have two seventh-round rookies starting in elimination games?
Football fans will get to see a dozen of the 14 remaining starting QBs in action on Super Wild Card Weekend. There are a couple of Super Bowl champs, a few former MVPs and a pair of first-overall picks among a group that includes seven quarterbacks making their playoff debuts this weekend.
With all this talent vying for a trip to the Super Bowl, we asked one simple question: If you could pick one quarterback to earn a victory in a must-win scenario, who would you most want under centre on your team right now? While experience and past wins certainly count for something, we’re basing our ranking on this season’s performances. And the more momentum, the better.
So, with a handful of injuries to keep in mind, here is our ranking of this year’s playoff passers as it stands heading into Wild Card Weekend.
(**Denotes player is making his playoff debut)
1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
There were a few different versions of the top five of this ranking, and Patrick Mahomes was atop each one of them. The NFL’s regular-season leader in passing yards and touchdowns is a proven winner in the playoffs and will be at full health (with a week’s rest, too) heading into this post-season.
No matter how you grade him – efficiency, accuracy, clutch gene, watchability – and whatever the play – from the pocket, on the run, rolling-out-of-a-ring-around-the-Rosie-huddle – he’s the guy I want leading my team into the playoffs, period. The only downside of the Chiefs’ clinching of the No. 1 seed is that we don’t get to watch him this weekend. (ES)
2. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
With Burrow’s already-proven clutch gene, he belongs at or near the top of this list. He had a career-high 35 touchdown passes to only 12 interceptions, four of which occurred way back in a Week 1 loss, plus he can be just as effective regardless of who’s on the field. When Ja’Marr Chase missed four games in the middle of the season, Burrow’s numbers didn’t suffer and the Bengals went 3-1 with two of those wins featuring Burrow-led game-winning drives. (MJ)
3. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
Whether he’s airing it out or getting serious air as he hurdles over a defender, not a game goes by without at least one utterance of “He did what?!” And while yes, he’s been known to make the risky play and has paid in the form of some big-moment picks in the red zone, his leadership and drive to risk it all for one more yard is unparalleled. The scariest thing about him is that he just keeps getting better – and in the playoffs, he’s at his best. (ES)
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4. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
For a good chunk of the season, especially prior to his injury, Hurts was the MVP frontrunner and for good reason. His ability to keep defences honest and off balance thanks to the threat of the run should be a huge advantage in the playoffs. He only threw six interceptions yet half of them were in his final two appearances. Not the best way to close out the season but I view it more like a good thing he got those subpar passing performances out of his system before the must-win games begin. (MJ)
5. **Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
Thanks to Chargers defensive end Breiden Fehoko, we now have the perfect way to describe football’s favourite introvert:
“He’s a humble, silent killer with great hair,” Fehoko told ESPN’s Tim Keown.
Three years into his NFL career, Herbert is now poised to shine in the post-season spotlight. His game is built for it, even if he himself doesn’t crave the attention – he’s at his best under pressure, and while he didn’t quite put up the MVP numbers many of us anticipated, he still finishes the campaign setting a new all-time record for the most passing yards, touchdown passes, and completions by a QB in his first three years in the NFL. (ES)
6. Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Is it insulting to have the GOAT outside the top five? On one hand, he threw seven interceptions in December and had his worst season from a win/loss perspective. On the other hand, how can you count out Brady in the post-season when he can still sling it – he led the league in attempts and completions – and come up clutch like he did against Carolina in Week 17 with a division title on the line? He had four fourth-quarter comebacks and game-winning drives in the second half of the season. (MJ)
7. **Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
This placement may be contentious considering the veterans below but there was plenty to love about the 2021 first-overall pick’s play down the stretch, particularly that 15:2 TD:INT ratio. Joe Burrow, the 2020 draft’s top pick, led his team on an improbable run to the Super Bowl his sophomore season. Could Lawrence pull off the same feat? (MJ)
8. Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings
Kirk Cousins is one of the NFL’s most curious cases. On paper, he’s an elite passer, consistently racking up some of the league’s highest yardage counts – and this season, he’s proven on more than one occasion he can win the close games and even put together the biggest second-half comeback in NFL history just a few weeks ago.
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And yet, there’s a trust factor he has yet to shake thanks to some breakdowns when playing in prime time. This Wild Card game against the Giants feels like a referendum on both QBs involved. (ES)
9. **Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
How do you separate the man from the momentum? In the case of Brock Purdy, you don’t. It’s impossible. The third-stringer-turned-starter, undefeated since taking the reins six weeks ago, is basically the NFL’s version of Elle Woods when she runs into her incredulous ex-boyfriend who questions her acceptance to Harvard Law:
“What, like it’s hard?” (Iconic.)
Indeed, Purdy is making pro football look easy and while the sample size is small and his surrounding cast the most complete in the league, we’ve got to give credit where it’s due. He’s made an already great team even better. In all five of his starts, Purdy has tallied at least two touchdown passes and has been intercepted just twice. He’s calm in the pocket, has proven himself a savvy scrambler when he needs to be, and has made enough clutch plays now to suggest he’s more than just a great storyline.
And momentum? Well, that counts for something, too. (ES)
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10. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys starter has thrown at least one interception in seven consecutive outings – 11 in total during that stretch. He is typically much better at home than on the road and more effective when not playing in an outdoor stadium. He’s 2-6 in January games in his career (1-3 in regular season and 1-3 in playoffs) and confidence that he can be the difference for his team heading into the weekend is middling at best. (MJ)
11. **Daniel Jones, New York Giants
I’ll admit, I’m stuck in 2021 mode when it comes to Daniel Jones, and I know that’s unfair considering the quarterback himself is not. This year’s Danny Dimes has put last year’s mistakes in the past – he’s put away his penchant for fumbles and thrown just five interceptions all year (which is fewer than every other full-season starter on this list) while boasting an underrated run game.
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His head coach, Brian Daboll, has made it clear that experience doesn’t matter. But as Jones prepares for his playoff debut, it’s hard to know where to grade him among his peers. He’s got everything to gain from a strong showing against the Vikings. Can we trust him in the biggest must-win moments? We’re about to find out. (ES)
12. **Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks
Smith’s Pro Bowl season with the Seahawks has been one of the feel-good stories of the past 18 weeks yet having that same success against playoff-calibre defences will be an entirely different task. He mounted a clutch game-winning drive against the Rams in Week 18 to clinch a playoff berth for his team but the downside is that he has 10 turnovers and is 3-5 since Week 10 with only five career games posting more than two TD passes. (MJ)
13. **Tyler Huntley, Baltimore Ravens
This was the toughest to rank because, well, we don’t actually know for certain which quarterback we’ll see suit up for the Ravens on Sunday. But as we get nearer to gameday, it feels clearer that it won’t be Lamar Jackson, who’s still dealing with the PCL injury he suffered on Dec. 4 against Denver and has yet to practise.
While Huntley is a much better option than third-string rookie Anthony Brown, it’s hard to see him being able to make much noise in the playoffs this year. (ES)
14. **Skylar Thompson, Miami Dolphins
Circumstantially, Thompson is ranked last by default but there wasn’t much we saw from the seventh-round rookie third-stringer in the regular season, including his Week 18 start against the Jets, that would indicate he’s about to shock the football world and upset the mighty Bills in the playoffs. (MJ)
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