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Power Ranking Remaining Playoff Quarterbacks

If you look at the last 11 Super Bowl champions, they all pretty much have one thing in common. Their quarterbacks, while potentially not the best in the league, were playing the best football at that position when the team lifted the Lombardi Trophy.

From Joe Flacco and Eli Manning to Russell Wilson last season, good quarterback play has proven to be the difference when we reach the crunch time. And while they might not be the best signal callers in the game, they were playing at an elite level.

Looking at this year’s NFL Playoff field, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the best quarterbacks in the NFL are still standing. The eight remaining quarterbacks have combined for seven Super Bowl championships and eight NFL MVP awards.

As the saying goes, it’s all about the quarterback position in today’s NFL.

In keeping with that theme, we decided to power rank the eight remaining playoff quarterbacks. Utilizing a combination of recent success and career playoff performance, here is the list.

1. Tom Brady, New England Patriots

Courtesy of Huffington Post: Brady is the most accomplished playoff QB since Joe Montana.

With three Super Bowl rings and a record 18 career playoff wins to his name, there is little doubt that Brady enters the weekend as the most accomplished quarterback remaining in the postseason. This year alone, the future Hall of Famer threw for over 4,100 yards with 33 touchdowns and just nine interceptions. It was the seventh time in his career that Brady has thrown for over 4,000 yards and the sixth time he has racked up 30-plus touchdowns.

Now with home-field advantage for the remainder of the playoffs, Brady looks to be on a collision course with a record sixth Super Bowl appearance. He’s 12-3 with 28 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in his postseason career at home.

2. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

Interesting fact. Outside of the Packers run to the Lombardi back in 2010, Rodgers has won a total of one career postseason game. In fact, he’s lost two playoff games a Lambeau Field, the most recent coming last season against the San Francisco 49ers in the wild card game. However, Rodgers has thrown 19 touchdowns compared to five interceptions in 10 career playoff games (nine starts).

In the “what have you done lately” category, Rodgers is coming off a likely MVP season that saw him post nearly 4,400 yards with 39 scores and just five touchdowns. It was the sixth consecutive season that saw Rodgers put up a triple-digit quarterback rating. To make matters more ridiculous, Rodgers has tallied 36 touchdowns compared to zero interceptions in his last 13 regular season home starts. Good luck with that, Dallas.

3. Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos

Courtesy of USA Today: As of right now, Manning's legacy will include postseason failure.

In terms of career accomplishments, Manning would normally find himself No. 2 on this list. However, his lack of postseason success has to be taken into account here. The future Hall of Famer has put up an 11-12 career playoff record. In those 23 games, Manning has thrown 24 interceptions and is just 2-5 on the road.

It’s also important to note that Manning struggled to an extent down the stretch this season. He threw three touchdowns compared to six interceptions for a substandard 76.8 quarterback rating in Denver’s final four regular season games. In fact, he went two full games without throwing a touchdown during that span. Considering Manning has a history of struggling in the postseason and isn’t playing his best football right now, there has to be cause for alarm in Denver heading into the divisional playoffs.

4. Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys

Romo is playing the best football of his career as he continues to prove skeptics wrong. Coming off a fourth quarter comeback against the Detroit Lions in the wild card round, Romo has now tallied 14 touchdowns compared to one interception for a ridiculous 128.5 rating in his last five starts.

Some will say that the quarterbacks below Romo have had more postseason success. And that’s hard to argue against. After all, both Wilson and Flacco have Super Bowl trophies to their name. However, it’s important to note that this much-maligned signal caller threw 22 touchdowns compared to two interceptions en-route to an undefeated record on the road this season. That should give fans in Dallas confidence that he can go up against the Packers and come out on top.

5. Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks

Courtesy of USA Today: A second straight Super Bowl could start a dynasty in Seattle.

Wilson is a Super Bowl-winning quarterback. He’s playing near elite-level football right now. He is THE best young quarterback in the National Football League. But no, he doesn’t deserve to be higher on this list. As I continue to mention stats in this article, it important to remember just how much football is a team sport. And by every definition of the term, Wilson has the best team in football playing alongside him.

This isn’t a criticism of the dynamic young signal caller. Rather, it’s the reality of the situation.

With that said, there is little doubt that Wilson is in fact playing the best football of his career. In his last seven regular season outings, the third-year quarterback tallied 11 total touchdowns compared to two interceptions. During that span, Seattle went 6-1 and put up a +91 point differential. Combining great defense with a quarterback that doesn’t turn the ball over should be a formula for success as Seattle attempts to repeat as Super Bowl champions. And if Wilson continues to manage the game like we have seen over the past two months, there is no other team in the playoffs that can beat the Seahawks. It’s that simple.

6. Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens

Flacco ahead of Luck and Newton? I must be preparing myself for a reservation in a rubber room. Well as I said before, this article takes into account both recent success and playoff success. Following yet another outstanding postseason performance last week against Pittsburgh, Flacco is now 10-4 in his career during the playoffs. More than that, he has thrown 13 touchdowns compared to zero interceptions for an absurd 116.3 rating in his last five postseason games (all wins).

It’s not like Flacco played horrible football during the regular season either. In fact, he did have the best statistical season of his career. Baltimore will definitely need this type of performance on the road against a rested New England Patriots team that rarely loses at Gillette Stadium with Tom Brady under center.

7. Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts

Courtesy of USA Today: Luck could start his own legacy in Indianapolis this weekend.

Luck needs to cut down on turnovers if he’s going to be mentioned among the elite quarterbacks in the NFL. Sure a lot of that has to do with the Colts reliance on the passing game, but Luck did throw just six touchdowns compared to five interceptions in the team’s final four regular season games before playing error-free football last week against Cincinnati.

The numbers might have been elite during the regular year. Luck led the NFL with 40 touchdown passes, threw for over 4,700 yards and headlined the sixth-ranked scoring offense in the league. He was also just 4-5 against teams with a winning record during the regular season. Because the Colts rely so much on Luck to perform at a high level, their success this upcoming weekend is going to rest on his throwing shoulder. If he does not perform better against good competition, Indianapolis will see a premature exit from the playoffs.

8. Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers

Newton earned his first career playoff win last week against the Arizona Cardinals. But let’s be honest here for a second. It wasn’t exactly a great performance from Newton and the Panthers. Going up against an injury-riddled Cardinals team that was starting a third-string quarterback, the Panthers were actually down a point at halftime before taking the lead for good in the third quarter.

Newton’s game also regressed to an extent this past regular season. Due to a combination of different factors, including a lackluster offensive line and weak receiving group, he struggled to put up points on a consistent basis. Carolina finished with the 19th-ranked scoring offense. That’s going to need to change if the Panthers have a chance of beating the defending champions in Seattle this upcoming weekend.

Photo: USA Today

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