A lot has been made about the best quarterback performances in Super Bowl history. What Patrick Mahomes has done in helping his Kansas City Chiefs to two Lombardi trophies is a recent example of this. Joe Montana and Tom Brady, too.
But what about the worst QB performances in the history of the big game? What quarterbacks melted under the pressure of football’s grandest stage?
Leading up to Super Bowl LVIII between the Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers, we thought it made sense to look at this. Without further ado, here is a look at the five worst QB performances in the history of the big game.
Related: 5 best quarterback performances in Super Bowl history
5. Tony Eason, New England Patriots (Super Bowl XX)
Eason and his Patriots were clearly overmatched by the 15-1 Chicago Bears in this big game following the 1985 season. Chicago posted a 15-1 regular-season record and yielded an average of 12.4 points per game. Quarterbacks had thrown 16 touchdowns compared to 34 interceptions against this unit. Eason completed 0-of-6 passes while being sacked three times before ultimately finding himself benched for Steve Grogan in what ended up being a 46-10 loss. His negative 28 passing yards on nine drop backs is still Super Bowl futility nearly 40 years after the fact.
4. John Elway, Denver Broncos (Super Bowl XXIV)
Speaking of being overmatched, the 1989 49ers were a machine. They ranked first in the NFL in scoring at 27.6 points per game and yielded the third-fewest points (15.8). John Elway and the Broncos found themselves as 13-point dogs heading into this one. It played out that way with San Francisco winning by the score of 55-10. For his part, Elway completed 10-of-26 passes for 78 net yards. He threw two interceptions and lost a fumble in being vastly outplayed by eventual Super Bowl MVP Joe Montana. It was an atrocious performance from the future Hall of Famer.
3. Kerry Collins, New York Giants (Super Bowl XXXV)
How bad was Collins in Super Bowl XXXV against an historically dominant Baltimore Ravens defense? The former first-round pick from Penn State completed just 15-of-39 passes for 112 yards while throwing four interceptions. He was also sacked four times for 26 yards with three of Collins’ four turnovers accounting for 17 Ravens points. It was a disaster class of a performance from the then-franchise quarterback.
2. Rich Gannon, Oakland Raiders (Super Bowl XXXVII)
A journeyman before he landed with the Raiders ahead of the 1999 season, Gannon morphed into an NFL MVP in Northern California. Unfortunately, it did not translate to success in the big game. Gannon threw five interceptions, three of which were returned by Buccaneers defenders for touchdowns. That included interception returns of 44 and 50 yards within the final 78 seconds of the game. The end result was an embarrassing 48-21 loss.
1. Craig Morton, Denver Broncos (Super Bowl XII)
Morton had to be pretty bad in this big game in order for two Cowboys defenders in that of Harvey Martin and Randy White to share the MVP award. Narrator’s voice. He was that bad. The former Dallas starter completed 4-of-15 passes for 39 yards with four interceptions before being benched in favor of Norris Weese. No, we did not make up that name. Morton ended up tallying only 15 more net passing yards (19) than interceptions in the brutal 27-10 loss.