Every NFL Playoff Quarterback’s Postseason History

It’s the calm before the storm. Eighteen weeks of football have unfolded to unveil this year’s 14-team field, presently pristine, unaltered by the impending chaos, drama, and pursuit of the highest prize the sport has to offer.

It’s only a matter of time before the teams start bashing one another and the unblemished bracket is a wasteland of broken dreams and what-could-have-beens. Fourteen teams will enter, and only one will prevail. This is when players, coaches, and organizations make their lasting impressions.

There are many more positions on a football field than quarterback, but none have the same impact or attention as the player under center. There is no legacy a quarterback can concoct with more umph than a Super Bowl ring.

More than a dozen quarterbacks are preparing right now for their opportunity to embrace that immortality. Their experience in such a spot varies, and their playoff resumes reflect who needs this, who might get this, and who is poised to make their mark.

Let’s review the playoff histories of each of the 14 starting QBs who have a path to the Super Bowl laid out before them. Who knows, maybe we could even learn something?

Lamar Jackson

Playoff record: 1-3 (4 games in 3 appearances) 

Playoff stats: 76-136 (55.9 percent), 900 passing yards, 367 rushing yards, 3 passing touchdowns, 1 rushing touchdown, 5 interceptions, 68.3 rating

What they’ve done: it hasn’t been an especially pleasant time in the playoffs for Lamar Jackson up to this point of his career. His best playoff game came in the 2020 Wild Card Round at the Titans, and the rest have been disappointing. Even when Jackson was named NFL MVP and his team had the AFC’s No. 1 seed in 2019, the Ravens couldn’t reach beyond the Divisional Round. Jackson didn’t get his shot in 2022 as a knee injury kept him from competing with Baltimore in those playoffs.

What’s at stake: the Ravens are again the No. 1 seed in the AFC. Jackson only needs to win one game to reach a conference championship game for the first time in his career, and it will be played at home. A defeat in the Divisional Round, particularly if Jackson plays poorly, would cement him as a playoff choker in the minds of many. But with how good this Ravens team is, this winter could be the one that catapults the quarterback to Disneyland. Jackson’s sights should be set on the Super Bowl. 

Josh Allen

Playoff record: 4-4 (8 games in 4 appearances)

Playoff stats: 197-309 (63.8 percent), 2,334 passing yards, 417 rushing yards, 17 passing touchdowns, 4 interceptions, 99.6 rating

What they’ve done: Josh Allen has had the Bills in the playoffs now five years running and has brought Buffalo the closest it’s been to the Super Bowl since the early 1990s. He was brilliant in the team’s runs in 2021 and 2022, but 2023 was a different story. The 2020 AFC Championship Game is the closest that Allen has come to climbing the mountaintop.

What’s at stake: it’s been a weird, up-and-down season in Buffalo, but a hot end to the campaign propelled the team to its fourth-straight AFC East title and the No. 2 seed. As originally expected, the Bills are in contention for the Super Bowl. If Allen wants to be viewed as one of the best to ever do it, he will have to lead his team to the holy grail eventually, let alone win one. With how the Bills are playing as of late, this could be the year. If his turnovers hold the team back, though, his reputation will take an opposite swing.

Patrick Mahomes

Playoff record: 11-3 (14 games in 6 appearances)

Playoff stats: 352-523 (67.3 percent), 4,084 passing yards, 383 rushing yards, 35 passing touchdowns, 7 interceptions, 107.4 rating

What they’ve done: two Super Bowl championships in three trips isn’t shabby, especially for someone under 30. Patrick Mahomes has been one of the best playoff performers in this league for years at this point. Nobody is perfect, but you couldn’t reasonably ask for more.

What’s at stake: this season was more of a struggle for Kansas City and Mahomes compared to campaigns past. This was the quarterback’s worst season since 2019; what does that mean for when the light shines brightest? If Mahomes can navigate these Chiefs through this AFC, his massive legacy balloons to immortal status.

C.J. Stroud

Playoff record: 0-0 (0 games in 0 appearances)

Playoff stats: none

What they’ve done: tough to have done anything when it’s your first year in the pros. This is C.J. Stroud’s debut in the NFL Playoffs.

What’s at stake: considering where the Texans and Stroud were each one year ago, anything more than just showing up is gravy. There will presumably be plenty of opportunities in the future for Stroud to make a deep playoff run if it isn’t now. The pressure is off, at least as much as it can be.

Joe Flacco

Playoff record: 10-5 (15 games in 7 appearances)

Playoff stats: 253-447 (56.6 percent), 3,223 passing yards, 25 passing touchdowns, 10 interceptions, 88.6 rating

What they’ve done: lest we forget 2012, when Joe Flacco harnessed the full power of defensive pass interference to help the Ravens achieve their second Super Bowl title in franchise history. That year accounted for one of the two conference championship games Flacco has played in, and his 15 playoff games is the most among the 14 expected starters of these playoffs.

What’s at stake: Flacco hasn’t featured in the playoffs since January 2015. Quite a bit is different from this NFL and that one. Now 38 years old, this is his last opportunity to make history, not only for himself but for a franchise and city long starved of success. The Browns have a defense akin to the one Flacco enjoyed in Baltimore more than a decade ago. Maybe that’s his winning formula.

Tua Tagovailoa

Playoff record: 0-0 (0 games in 0 appearances)

Playoff stats: none

What they’ve done: a concussion forced Tua Tagovailoa inactive for Miami’s playoff contest against Buffalo last year, which would have been his first crack at pro playoff football. The No. 5 overall pick in 2020 will be inducted into the postseason this Saturday.

What’s at stake: a regular season that once looked like it could be exchanged for one of the best seeds in the AFC closed with two duds to contenders for the conference.  Now, the Dolphins have a tough road ahead, and the 9-3 start will have been for nothing if Tagovailoa and his team don’t show up. How Tagovailoa plays will greatly help or hurt the pretender narrative.

Mason Rudolph

Playoff record: 0-0 (0 games in 0 appearances)

Playoff stats: none

What they’ve done: the Steelers drafted Mason Rudolph almost six years ago, but if he starts for them against Buffalo this Sunday, it will be his first playoff opportunity. The quarterback has played sporadically since 2019, but he piloted Pittsburgh to three-straight victories to end the regular season and punch the team’s playoff ticket. He probably gets the nod over Kenny Pickett.

What’s at stake: Rudolph may never get a second shot at this. The Steelers have reportedly backed Pickett as their quarterback of the future, so there’s no knowing what that means for Rudolph in the Steel City. If he wants a chance like this again, in Pittsburgh or elsewhere, he better grab this one while he can.

Brock Purdy 

Playoff record: 2-1 (3 games in 1 appearance)

Playoff stats: 41-63 (65.1 percent), 569 passing yards, 3 passing touchdowns, 0 interceptions, 109.8 rating 

What they’ve done: Brock Purdy was San Francisco’s third-string quarterback at the start of the 2022-23 season. By December, accidents above him on the depth chart put the ball in his hands, and he ran with it to the NFC Championship Game until an injury of his own knocked him out early on in the contest. 

What’s at stake: Purdy completed his first full season as starter this year. His team is the No. 1 seed in the NFC and the odds-on favorite to lift the Lombardi Trophy. There will be no sneaking up on anyone. The naysayers won’t stop unless he can do it again, or even better this time. The name of the quarterback who puts the famous 49ers back on the pedestal for the first time since 1994 will never be forgotten - that name could be Brock Purdy. 

Dak Prescott 

Playoff record: 2-4 (6 games in 4 appearances)

Playoff stats: 137-216 (63.4 percent), 1,559 passing yards, 11 passing touchdowns, 4 rushing touchdowns, 5 interceptions, 92.3 rating

What they’ve done: sunshine and roses haven’t describe Dak Prescott in the playoffs, keeping with a Cowboys tradition that spans back nearly three decades now. Dallas has not participated in the NFC Championship Game dating back to 1995, and Prescott has had a piece in four of the unsuccessful stints since. The QB has had some great moments, like his 305-yard, four-touchdown showing against the Bucs in last year’s Wild Card Round. But the letdown came next with the worst playoff performance of his career. It’s been the same story for some time now.

What’s at stake: if Prescott ever wants to shake off the stink of being good-not-great, then it begins and ends in the postseason. His Cowboys are the No. 2 seed, and they are yet again in a position to make a run. This is the third-straight season in which Dallas has won 12 games. That’s nice and all, but eventually, you need something to show for it.

Jared Goff

Playoff record: 3-3 (6 games in 3 appearances)

Playoff stats: 113-197 (57.4 percent), 1,300 passing yards, 4 passing touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 79.9 rating

What they’ve done: Jared Goff is one of the five quarterbacks in these playoffs to have played in a Super Bowl. He has also never thrown for 300 or more yards in a playoff game, and his overall rating from his six playoff outings is the second-worst of the QBs on this list who have thrown a postseason pass. It has been a few years since Goff played this late into the campaign - all of his playoff experience is from 2020-21 and before - but he completed nearly 78 percent of his passes and had a rating of 105.9 in a loss to the Packers.

What’s at stake: the storylines for the Rams at Lions matchup in the Wild Card Game write themselves. Two quarterbacks against their former teams, with differing success since, playing in the place where one spent many fruitless years before hitting the pinnacle with the visitor. The stakes for Goff in that game alone are massive, but in a larger sense, these playoffs are an opportunity for him to rewrite his own legacy and that of a once-great franchise now back on its feet for the first time in 30 years. This could be the redemption tour, or it could be a sore subject for the foreseeable future.

Baker Mayfield

Playoff record: 1-1 (2 games in 1 appearance)

Playoff stats: 44-71 (62.0 percent), 467 passing yards, 4 passing touchdowns, 1 interception, 94.0 rating

What they’ve done: this is just the second time Baker Mayfield has been in this position since he went No. 1 overall in the 2018 draft. In his inaugural postseason, Mayfield had an excellent debut against the Steelers back when he was with the Browns, finishing that day with three touchdowns, zero turnovers, a 115.2 rating, and most importantly the W. But he couldn’t do it again against the Chiefs, and Mayfield hasn’t had another shot since - until now.

What’s at stake: 2023-24 has been a rehabilitation tour for Mayfield. Rightly or wrongly, the quarterback’s reputation has ridden a roller coaster his whole career. Such a fairytale won’t continue without a happy ending, which doesn’t have to mean the Super Bowl to say something. There is no better way for Mayfield to prove himself as the elite NFL quarterback he was drafted to be than by getting it done in the playoffs.

Jalen Hurts

Playoff record: 2-2 (4 games in 2 appearances)

Playoff stats: 81-130 (62.3 percent), 837 passing yards, 182 rushing yards, 4 passing touchdowns, 5 rushing touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 84.7 rating

What they’ve done: the Eagles have now qualified for the playoffs in all three of Jalen Hurts’s seasons as their starter, and he’s taken them to the Super Bowl at a 50 percent rate so far. His introduction to the playoffs in 2021-22 wasn’t pretty, but Hurts was outstanding last winter as he brought Philadelphia within three points of a championship. He is one of five playoff starters to have Super Bowl experience. 

What’s at stake: Hurts was so close one year ago. That was with the advantages that come with being 14-3 and the No. 1 seed. This time, he won’t have the luxury of home games. The opposing starting quarterback probably won’t have to leave the game in the first quarter of the NFC Championship. Is he ready to take the next step and enter hallowed ground this February, or will that have to wait another sun cycle, if it ever comes?

Matthew Stafford 

Playoff record: 4-3 (7 games in 4 appearances)

Playoff stats: 172-257 (66.9 percent), 2,096 passing yards, 13 passing touchdowns, 3 rushing touchdowns, 6 interceptions, 99.0 rating

What they’ve done: Matthew Stafford spent 12 seasons in Detroit. As a Lion, he played in three playoff games and lost every one. In one season with the Rams, Stafford featured in four and became a Super Bowl champion. Considering how long Stafford has been in the NFL and the more than 56,000 yards that he’s thrown for, you’d think he would have more exposure to the playoffs. But hey, a ring in one try out of four isn’t bad - Stafford is one of the only three in this thing who has ever won it before.

What’s at stake: in sports, and especially in football, you never know how long you have. Stafford secured his crown a few years back, but you know what’s better than one? Two, and at 35 years old, the chances to double up are thinning. Add in a juicy reunion in Detroit to open things up, and there’s plenty at stake, even if his legacy isn’t.

Jordan Love

Playoff record: 0-0 (0 games in 0 appearances)

Playoff stats: none

What they’ve done: this is Jordan Love’s third year in the league, but it’s his first year as the main man. Love will now play in the biggest game - or games, perhaps - of his life.

What’s at stake: welcome to the playoffs, Jordan Love. It’s one thing to lead a team in the regular season; the playoffs are another beast. And this isn’t Washington or Cleveland - Green Bay knows its quarterbacks. You have some big shoes to fill in Wisconsin. Sure, you snuck into the playoffs with a late-season run, and you won’t be a favorite this winter. It doesn’t matter. You want to impress Packers fans? Win anyway.