Patrick Mahomes got his second Super Bowl. And at least for now, he’s the highest-rated playoff quarterback in league history. Using the league’s passer rating system, anyway.
Below see the chart showing the 35 quarterbacks who’ve started at least 10 playoff games. Mahomes is up there at No. 1, with a passer rating of 107.4.
Passer rating, of course, is number of debatable worth. The league created it way back when in hopes of having an all-encompassing statistic showing quarterback value. It involves of complex equation that includes completion percentage, touchdown percentage, interception percentage and yards per attempt (it does not include sacks, scrambles, intentional throwaways or win-loss percentage).
There’s also the reality of the game itself always changing. Note that the six active players on the list all rank in the third of the list. They’re all way ahead of Fran Tarkenton, Roger Staubach, Otto Graham, Terry Bradshaw, John Elway, Dan Marino and a bunch of others.
But Mahomes is No. 1 on the list for now. He’s got a 5-1 ratio of touchdowns to interceptions, trying Bart Starr for tops on the list. And he comes in 2nd in completion percentage (No. 2 behind Matt Ryan, again underscoring the evolving nature of the sport).
The numbers below are of the home-brewed variety. I have a list, and I update it each year after the postseason. But I think I’ve got the 35 who’ve started at least 10 playoff games.
| PASSER RATING IN THE POSTSEASON | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | W-L | Att | Comp | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | Rating |
| Patrick Mahomes | 11-3 | 523 | 352 | 67.3 | 4,084 | 35 | 7 | 107.4 |
| Bart Starr | 9-1 | 213 | 130 | 61.0 | 1,753 | 15 | 3 | 104.8 |
| Kurt Warner | 9-4 | 462 | 307 | 66.5 | 3,952 | 31 | 14 | 102.8 |
| • Matt Ryan | 4-6 | 351 | 237 | 67.5 | 2,672 | 20 | 7 | 100.8 |
| • Aaron Rodgers | 11-10 | 774 | 501 | 64.7 | 5,894 | 45 | 13 | 100.1 |
| Drew Brees | 9-9 | 721 | 481 | 66.7 | 5,366 | 37 | 15 | 97.1 |
| Joe Montana | 16-7 | 732 | 463 | 63.3 | 5,772 | 45 | 21 | 96.2 |
| • Russell Wilson | 9-7 | 451 | 275 | 61.0 | 3,786 | 25 | 12 | 95.3 |
| Troy Aikman | 11-4 | 486 | 319 | 65.6 | 3,735 | 24 | 16 | 91.5 |
| • Tom Brady | 35-13 | 1921 | 1200 | 62.5 | 13,400 | 88 | 40 | 89.8 |
| • Joe Flacco | 10-5 | 447 | 253 | 56.6 | 3,223 | 25 | 10 | 88.6 |
| Eli Manning | 8-4 | 400 | 242 | 60.5 | 2,815 | 18 | 9 | 87.4 |
| Peyton Manning | 14-13 | 1027 | 649 | 63.2 | 7,339 | 40 | 25 | 87.4 |
| Ben Roethlisberger | 13-10 | 788 | 498 | 63.2 | 5,972 | 36 | 28 | 86.7 |
| Brett Favre | 13-11 | 791 | 481 | 60.8 | 5,855 | 44 | 30 | 86.3 |
| Steve Young | 8-6 | 447 | 275 | 61.5 | 3,118 | 19 | 12 | 85.4 |
| Philip Rivers | 5-7 | 401 | 238 | 59.4 | 2,965 | 16 | 10 | 85.3 |
| Ken Stabler | 7-5 | 339 | 197 | 58.1 | 2,584 | 19 | 13 | 85.0 |
| Warren Moon | 3-7 | 403 | 259 | 64.3 | 2,834 | 17 | 14 | 84.5 |
| Matt Hasselbeck | 5-6 | 406 | 237 | 58.4 | 2,741 | 18 | 9 | 84.4 |
| Terry Bradshaw | 14-5 | 456 | 261 | 57.2 | 3,833 | 30 | 26 | 83.0 |
| Jim Plunkett | 8-2 | 272 | 162 | 59.6 | 2,293 | 10 | 12 | 80.7 |
| Donovan McNabb | 9-7 | 577 | 341 | 59.1 | 3,752 | 24 | 17 | 80.0 |
| John Elway | 14-7 | 650 | 355 | 54.6 | 4,964 | 27 | 21 | 79.8 |
| Dan Marino | 8-10 | 687 | 385 | 56.0 | 4,510 | 32 | 24 | 77.1 |
| Phil Simms | 6-4 | 279 | 157 | 56.3 | 1,679 | 10 | 6 | 77.0 |
| Randall Cunningham | 3-7 | 365 | 192 | 52.6 | 2,426 | 12 | 9 | 74.3 |
| Roger Staubach | 11-6 | 385 | 207 | 53.8 | 2,617 | 21 | 19 | 72.8 |
| Danny White | 5-5 | 337 | 195 | 57.9 | 2,157 | 14 | 15 | 72.3 |
| Jim Kelly | 9-8 | 545 | 322 | 59.1 | 3,863 | 20 | 28 | 71.7 |
| Mark Brunell | 5-5 | 296 | 153 | 51.7 | 1,808 | 11 | 11 | 67.5 |
| Otto Graham | 9-3 | 159 | 300 | 53.0 | 2,101 | 14 | 17 | 67.4 |
| Bob Griese | 6-5 | 203 | 109 | 53.7 | 1,397 | 10 | 12 | 67.3 |
| Steve McNair | 5-5 | 311 | 185 | 59.5 | 1,764 | 6 | 11 | 67.0 |
| Fran Tarkenton | 6-5 | 292 | 149 | 51.0 | 1,803 | 11 | 17 | 58.6 |
—Ian Allan