Hard to believe, but not only is the regular season over, but we are now down to the final 12 teams. The playoffs are where quarterbacks can really make a name for themselves. Let’s take a look back at the weekend that was and power rank every team’s signal caller.
Bye: Baltimore Ravens, Lamar Jackson
The Ravens will face the Texans and it will be a tough one for Lamar and his Baltimore teammates.
Bye: San Francisco 49ers, Brock Purdy
The niners are big time favorites over the Packers in San Fran. Brock Purdy should have it will pretty easy against the Pack. We will wait and see.
12. Miami Dolphins Tua Tagovailoa
Tua Tagovailoa’s performance on Wild Card weekend against the Chiefs left a lot to be desired. Granted, he wasn’t the only issue, as the rest of the offense struggled as well in the frigid conditions against a strong Kansas City defense, but the lefty quarterback really was a huge disappointment.
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Tua only managed to complete just over half of his passes and was held under 200 yards passing. As a result, the Dolphins offense was extremely stagnant all game. They converted just 13 first downs and went 1/12 on 3rd down with him leading the way.
Just a tough showing for a guy that was trying to prove his doubters wrong by getting some postseason success under his belt, but alas, he will have to wait another year to prove himself.
11. Philadelphia Eagles Jalen Hurts
There were a lot of questions coming into this one about the status of Jalen Hurts’s hand after the injury that he sustained in the Eagles deflating season finale against the New York Giants. Fortunately for the City of Brotherly Love, Jalen is a gamer and he managed to gut it out and get on the field for their Wild Card showdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Unfortunately, that was where the good times stopped for the dual threat quarterback. Hurts was unable to spark the offense and the team managed just 9 points in the shocking loss. A tough end to a super impressive season from Jalen.
10. Cleveland Browns Joe Flacco
Joe Flacco’s performance in the Wild Card game against the Houston Texans had major turning back into a pumpkin vibes. The Browns were very much in it for most of the game, as they were trailing by just ten points midway through the third quarter, which is a manageable deficit, but his two pick-sixes shifted the momentum and ultimately the game into the hands of the Texans.
Everyone knew that this was possible, considering he did have nine turnovers to this point in his five games with Cleveland, but it was still shocking to see it play out in the fashion that it did.
All things considered though, it was a heck of a run for Flacco. No one would’ve thought the 38-year-old would have even been starting for a playoff team!
9. Dallas Cowboys Dak Prescott
Who would’ve thought—the playoffs roll around and Dak Prescott immediately shrivels up. The moment was clearly too big for Dallas’s franchise quarterback. He looked absolutely lost out there.
Even the most staunch of Dak supporters can’t stand by him after this one… Even with his inflated 41 for 60, 403-yard, three-touchdown performance. The two interceptions he threw early in the game were bad enough to completely negate any and all of that garbage time productivity.
At this point, it is still extremely unlikely that Dallas can part ways with Prescott during the offseason, but they honestly might be better off if since it seems like this is how the Cowboys seasons will end for as long as he is their starting quarterback.
8. Pittsburgh Steelers Mason Rudolph
Against all odds, Mason Rudolph has somehow managed to reclaim the starting job in Pittsburgh—at least for the time being. Perhaps even more shocking was that he was able to lead the team to a backdoor playoff appearance and he actually played fairly well against Buffalo.
He had the one terrible red zone interception, but after that point, he was able to play extremely competent football and kept the Steelers in the game way longer than folks expected.
7. Detroit Lions Jared Goff
Well—that one had to feel good for Jared Goff! The Lions once-embattled quarterback got a nice taste of revenge by knocking out his former head coach, Sean McVay, and the Rams. Goff was careful with the football all game and performed admirably, completing 22 of 27 for 277 yards, and a touchdown with no interceptions.
The most impressive part of the night for Goff was the way he was able to put the game to bed late in the fourth quarter with a couple of crispy completions to keep the Lions drive going and running out the remainder of the game. We’ll have to see how he fares next week once the stakes are raised in the Divisional Round, but so far, so good for Goff in his attempt to get the Lions to the Super Bowl.
6. Los Angeles Rams Matthew Stafford
The Rams may have come up short on Sunday, but Matthew Stafford has every right to hold his head high with the way that he played. The veteran QB completed 25 of 36 attempts for 367 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.
It wasn’t just the counting numbers that were so impressive either. He was making throws that had an extreme degree of difficulty. Of course, it helped that Puka Nacua was able to run roughshod on the Lions secondary, as the two hooked up nine times for 181 yards and a touchdown!
Either way, it was an impressive showing from Stafford, especially when you factor in all of the injuries that he battled through.
5. Buffalo Bills Josh Allen
Josh Allen was everything that the Buffalo Bills needed and more on Monday Night, as the star quarterback played a pivotal role in elevating his teammates and ultimately snagging a W for the good people of Western New York.
The dual-threat QB was able to make plays both with his arms and his legs all night. The man threw for three touchdowns and ran for one as well. It is tough to get much better than that, especially in such an emphatic winning effort.
4. Houston Texans C.J. Stroud
C.J. Stroud played remarkably well in the Wild Card game against Cleveland as the rookie led the Houston Texans to a resounding 45-14 victory. Stroud was nearly flawless, as he completed 16 out of 21 passes, to amass 274 yards and tossed three touchdowns.
It is honestly astounding how efficient the rookie was, posting a 98.4 QBR, but what was even more impressive was his composure and leadership. He plays the position like a quarterback far more senior than him .
3. Kansas City Chiefs Patrick Mahomes
The postseason has arrived and as per usual, Patrick Mahomes managed to shine emphatically. Not only was he carving up the Dolphins defense all night in spite of the frigid conditions. Mahomes was calm, cool, and collected all night, seemingly utterly unphased by the -7 degree chill.
He completed 23 of his 41 passes, amassing 262 yards and scoring one touchdown—and really found some synergy with rookie receiver Rashee Rice, who snagged eight catches for 130 of those yards and a touchdown.
Who would’ve thought that once the playoffs came around Mahomes and the Chiefs would be firing on all cylinders?! All of the Mahomes and Chiefs haters are very quiet now following that dominant 26 – 7 win.
2. Green Bay Packers Jordan Love
What a performance from first-year starter, Jordan Love, in his first career playoff start. Dallas had absolutely nothing for Packers young QB1, Love carved them up at will, completing 16 of 21 attempts for 272 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions.
The crazy thing about it too—is that as impressive as the stat line is, he looked even better on the tape. He had the poise of a seasoned vet in the pocket. Love moved around well and made smooth, efficient decisions the entire game. It was a phenomenal showing across the board and it looks like Green Bay once again has a franchise quarterback that will draw jealousy from other fan bases for years to come.
1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Baker Mayfield
It has been one heck of a comeback campaign for Baker Mayfield this year, as he led the Buccaneers to an NFC South championship and subsequently a home playoff game. In his defense, he did end up with a tough draw in the visiting Eagles, who were one of the top teams in the league for the first few months of the season before a late-season stumble bumped them out of the division lead in the NFC East, but in miraculous fashion, he was able to pull off the upset
Baker was a monster on Monday Night, completing 22 of 36 for 337 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. What a turnaround for Baker.
