The most important position in professional sports becomes even more important in the postseason.
That much was clear on wild-card weekend, where the team with the best quarterback wound up advancing to this week’s final eight in just about every instance.
Four were gigantic mismatches — Tampa Bay and Tom Brady against Philadelphia and Jalen Hurts; Josh Allen and Buffalo against Mac Jones of New England, Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City against Ben Roethlisberger and Pittsburgh, and the Rams and Matthew Stafford against Kyler Murray and Arizona.
Yes, their supporting casts were all superior, but Brady, Allen and Mahomes all looked like quarterbacks who had been there and done that in mid-January. Stafford got off to a big lead and won his first playoff game, but we’ll wait and see. Hurts and Jones showed their lack of experience, and Roethlisberger was simply hanging on in terms of being a downfield passer.
Where Murray is concerned, it gets more complicated based on the Cardinals’ late-season fade and the possibility that he’s more of a gimmick than a championship-level quarterback. His panicked pick-six and basically a no-show from the Cardinals offense did little to enhance his status.
In Cincinnati, meanwhile, the margin wasn’t as big, but Joe Burrow clearly outplayed the Raiders’ Derek Carr. Burrow was in his first postseason game, as was Carr after 127 regular-season starts.
Burrow looked as if he’d done it all before in the playoffs, completing 24 of 34 passes for 244 yards, a pair of touchdowns and no interceptions. Carr (29 of 54, 310 yards, one touchdown, one interception) had moments of brilliance, but in the end, threw an interception short of the goal line with the game on the line.
Just as hurtful to the Raiders was their 1-for-5 performance in the red zone, an area which has dogged Carr pretty much through his entire Raiders career. The red zone failures were more impactful than an inadvertent whistle on a 10-yard touchdown to Tyler Boyd in which Burrow somehow flipped a scoring pass a fraction before running out of bounds
The outlier was in Dallas, where 49ers’ quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo had a poor second half but was backed up by a defense that stopped Dak Prescott and Co. from a second-half comeback. Prescott didn’t exactly cover himself in glory either, especially after he let time run out on a questionable scramble and endorsed Dallas fans throwing trash at officials.
Garoppolo is looked at as a caretaker who gives way to Trey Lance. Beating the Packers and Aaron Rodgers would enhance his own value and change perceptions.
So what happens to the wild-card weekend losers? Prescott and Murray are safe due to money paid out and draft status, even if Murray had one of the most panic-ridden pick-six plays you’ll ever see. We’re going to assume Jones’ fade in his rookie season will be chalked up to lack of experience. But he’ll need to show he can take command of the offense in the offseason or Bill Belichick will be looking elsewhere.
The Eagles’ Hurts should expect competition for the starter’s job.
As for Carr, we’ll find out in the coming weeks whether he’ll get an extension. If not, the Raiders run the risk of getting nothing for him after he completes his contract instead of draft picks or picks for 2022. It’s conceivable a new regime (G.M. Mike Mayock was fired Monday) may have other ideas as to their quarterback of the future.
The key for the Raiders is identifying who they want and moving decisively rather than cutting ties and not being sure who will be the quarterback in 2022.
You’d think such a plan would be in place. But it’s the Raiders, so you never know.
Here’s how they rank going into the divisional round:
1. Tom Brady, Tampa Bay (35-11) vs. L.A. Rams
Brady has 10 postseason wins against NFC teams. Same as Aaron Rodgers. Brady has only been a starter in the NFC for two seasons and Rodgers has been for a decade. With seven Super Bowl rings, Brady is on top until someone knocks him off his perch.
2. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay (12-9) vs. 49ers
Rodgers is now saying his toe is as good as ever and he’s got a great relationship with coach Matt LaFleur. Who knows what he’ll say later? Rodgers is going to the Hall of Fame, but without another Super Bowl win, he’ll be a Jeopardy topic: “Quarterback who had the most impressive regular-season stats in NFL history but won just one Super Bowl” Answer: Who is Aaron Rodgers?
3. Patrick Mahomes Kansas City (7-2) vs. Buffalo
Mahomes has still got the quick-strike magic. Not that the Pittsburgh Steelers put up much of a fight after T.J. Watt’s strip sack and touchdown, but who else throws five touchdown passes in 11:31 of elapsed game time in a playoff game? No one. It’s never happened before.
4. Josh Allen, Buffalo (3-2) at Kansas City
Was seriously considering Allen ahead of Mahomes after his dismantling of New England. He was 21 of 25 for 308 yards and five touchdowns. Plus six carries for 66 yards on the ground. A weapon Bill Belichick probably has never even envisioned and he coached Tom Brady.
.@JoeyB's Awareness = 100
Watch on NBC pic.twitter.com/VqDsHh3hgb
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) January 15, 2022
5. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati (1-0) at Tennessee
No sign of playoff jitters. Only a measured, winning performance as the Bengals won in the postseason for the first time in 31 years against the Raiders. Had a 29-yard strike to C.J. Uzomah that would have impressed Rodgers or Brady. Ken Anderson, Boomer Esiason, Carson Palmer . . . Burrow may end up being better than all of them.
6. Matthew Stafford (1-3) at Tampa Bay
As a pure thrower of the football, only Rodgers compares. And Stafford looked pretty good against Arizona after getting off to a good start, although he only had to throw 17 passes (completing 13 for 202 yards and two scores). But he’ll never be considered anything special until leading a team from behind in the postseason. Beating Brady would add a lot to his reputation.
7. Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee (2-2) vs. Cincinnati
All year long Tennessee has won games without their quarterback seizing the moment or taking control in the fourth quarter. Can it work in the postseason? History says no, but maybe Tannehill has a surprise in store.
8. Jimmy Garoppolo, 49ers (3-1) at Green Bay
As clutch as could be to get the 49ers into the postseason in Week 18 against the Rams. And pretty darned good in the first half against Dallas in the wild card round. Then it fell apart. Garoppolo was listed with a right shoulder sprain Monday, so maybe that was part of the problem.
