Divisional Playoff Quarterback Rankings

The Buffalo Bills’ wild-card victory in Jacksonville was their first road playoff win in 33 years, and Allen essentially willed it to happen. The reigning NFL MVP will have to do that again, and with a rag-tag receiving corps. While James Cook led the NFL in rushing this season, it might be Allen’s running ability that will be the key. Allen has seven rushing touchdowns in his last six career playoff games. In last year’s wild-card win over these Denver Broncos, Allen had 36 rushing yards to go along with his 272 passing yards and two TDs.

2. Matthew Stafford

Stafford passed for 304 yards and three touchdowns last week, including the 19-yard game-winner with 38 seconds left. If there were any doubts Stafford is a Hall of Famer, he’s surely erased them. Stafford has 3,300 passing yards and 22 touchdown passes in 11 career postseason starts — and that includes two games with the overmatches Detroit Lions back in the day. Stafford is the only Super Bowl champion quarterback left in the field, having led the Los Angeles Rams to victory in Super Bowl LVI. Yes, he’s got a pair of elite wide receivers in Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, but he’s also had big connections all season with a quartet of tight ends and running back Kyren Williams..

3. Drake Maye

In his first career playoff start last week, Maye completed 17 of 29 passes for 268 yards, one touchdown and one interception. And on a New England Patriots team that features two very capable running backs, Maye was also the team’s leading rusher — he had 10 carries for 66 yards. As we noted last week, Maye had the rare double this season of leading the NFL in both completion percentage and yards per attempt. He’s made a pedestrian wide receiver corps look sharp.

4. Brock Purdy

If the San Francisco 49ers can pull off the win Saturday, Purdy would become the fourth quarterback in NFL history with at least six postseason wins in their first four seasons. The three QBs who have accomplished that feat are Tom Brady, Russell Wilson and Patrick Mahomes, each of whom has at least one Super Bowl victory to their credit. Since entering the NFL in 2022, Purdy ranks fourth with 1,605 passing yards and is tied for sixth with eight touchdown passes in seven career postseason starts.

5. Caleb Williams

Williams’ playoff debut was a smashing success, as he passed for 381 yards and two touchdowns in the Chicago Bears’ come-from-behind win over the Green Bay Packers. On the down side, Williams only completed 50% of his passes (24-for-48) and threw two picks, but Williams has had a knack all season for making big plays when needed and bringing his team back from the brink. It’s not luck; his ability to extend plays with his feet while keeping his eyes focused downfield has been impressive. The best example of that was the huge fourth-down completion in last week’s victory.

6. C.J. Stroud

Stroud had a turnover-filled game Monday night as the Houston Texans rolled against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild-card round, but his overall numbers in the postseason are solid. Stroud has already played in five playoff games, completing 66.0% of his passes for an average of 245 yards per game, with five total touchdown passes and two interceptions. Stroud has certainly benefitted from a dominant Texans defense, but he’s also managed to succeed without a ton of star power around him on offense. And with Nico Collins likely out this week in concussion protocol, he’ll have to do it again.  

7. Bo Nix

Nix’s lone career playoff appearance came last year as a rookie, losing 31-7 to the same Bills team he’s facing Saturday. In last year’s game, Nix completed 13 of 22 passes for 144 yards and one touchdown (a 43-yard pass to Troy Franklin on the game’s opening drive). Unspectacular, yes, but he didn’t throw any interceptions. This season, Nix completed 63.4% of his passes for 3,931 yards, 25 touchdowns and 11 picks. Nix had a habit this season of going through the motions for three quarters and turning it on in the fourth. If he gives Buffalo too many possessions Saturday, the fourth quarter may be too late to start scoring points. His 87.8 passer rating this season is the lowest among the eight divisional playoff quarterbacks.

8. Sam Darnold

After two solid seasons, you can’t call Sam Darnold a draft bust anymore. He’s done a fabulous job rewriting his narrative. Unfortunately for Darnold, a loss this weekend to the San Francisco 49ers would cast him as a quarterback that’s “good, but not good enough.” When he broke out with the Minnesota Vikings last season, he had his worst outings in his most important games — a loss in the regular-season finale that cost Minnesota the No. 1 seed, and a first-round playoff loss to the Rams. The Seattle Seahawks won their regular-season finale and clinched the NFC’s No. 1 seed — but that was thanks to the defense. Darnold did post solid numbers this season. His 8.5 yards per attempt were second-best in the NFL; he completed 67.7%of his passes, third among the remaining quarterbacks behind Maye and Allen. But until Darnold makes the difference in a big game, the jury’s out.