NFL Playoffs: Divisional round quarterback rankings
As the Divisional round starts, here’s how each remaining NFL playoff team’s starting quarterback ranks.
The quarterback is the most important starting position in the NFL. Ergo, in order to win a Super Bowl, you either need a historically good defense or you need a very good quarterback. At the very least, Super Bowl winning quarterbacks don’t turn the ball over. Sometimes they just get hot.
Since football is such a quarterback driven league, here’s how each of the eight quarterbacks who are playing in the divisional round rank up against each other. All stats, unless otherwise noted, are courtesy of NFL.com
Brock Osweiler
Quarterback, Houston Texans
Brock Osweiler is coming off a mediocre performance against the Oakland Raiders. He completed 14 of his 25 passes, good for a 56 percent completion percentage. Osweiler threw for 168 passing yards and a touchdown against a secondary that ranked 24th in the league in terms of passing yards.
While he didn’t need to do much against Oakland, he’s going to face a very tough test this weekend when the Houston Texans face the New England Patriots. Matt Patricia’s defense allowed 237.9 passing yards per game, 12th in the NFL. Though it is worth noting their offense often got early leads, forcing teams to throw the ball more. Quarterbacks had an 84.4 passer rating against the Patriots during the regular season, which is the eighth lowest.
Things don’t look good for Osweiler. He will have to lead the Texans offense against a very good Patriots team. Not only that, Osweiler is going to have to match scores with likely MVP Tom Brady. However, Houston has a very good defense, so maybe he can outperform the four-time Super Bowl champion. Though if Osweiler does, it will be largely due to how good his defense did against him.