It takes plenty of skill to lead a team to the conference championships round of the NFL playoffs, but only one quarterback can be the best left in the postseason.
Two weeks ago, 14 NFL teams and their quarterbacks entered the race for the Super Bowl 60 Lombardi Trophy at the end of the regular season. Already, only four remain. Which of the starting quarterbacks left in the NFL playoffs ranks as the best of the bunch?
At the front of the pack are a couple of MVP hopefuls who have made it within one win of the Super Bowl after strong performances in the regular season. Behind them is an NFL veteran fresh off his first playoff win and a seventh-year quarterback readying for his first career postseason start.
Here’s how all four NFL quarterbacks left in the NFL playoffs stack up:
NFL quarterback rankings: Conference championship weekend
1. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
Stafford finished the 2025 regular season as the betting favorite to win the NFL MVP award after leading the league with 4,707 passing yards and 46 touchdowns. If he does win the MVP award, it would be his first. Stafford is also the only quarterback still remaining in the playoffs to have won a Super Bowl before – he won his first Lombardi Trophy to end the 2021 season, his first year in L.A.
Through two playoff games, the Rams’ quarterback has a 52.4% completion rate, 562 passing yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Stafford also fumbled twice in the divisional round but did not lose either fumble.
2. Drake Maye, New England Patriots
Maye had the second-best odds to win the NFL MVP award by the end of the regular season. The second-year quarterback led the NFL with his 72% completion rate, 8.9 yards per attempt and 113.5 passer rating. Maye is the youngest gunslinger remaining in the NFL playoffs at 23 years old.
The Patriots’ quarterback currently leads all signal-callers to appear in these playoffs with four touchdown passes and 8.0 yards per pass attempt. However, Maye also leads postseason quarterbacks with 10 sacks taken and six fumbles. The second-year also threw one interception in each of his first two career playoff starts.
3. Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks
Darnold has played in only one playoff game this year, thanks to the Seahawks’ No. 1 seed and a bye through the wild-card round. Seattle’s win over the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round was also Darnold’s first playoff win.
The Seahawks’ quarterback earned a second consecutive Pro Bowl nod in 2025 after a second consecutive year with more than 4,000 passing yards and 14 wins. In his first playoff win, Darnold did not have to do much. Seattle leaned on running back Kenneth Walker with his 116 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries. The eighth-year quarterback did throw for 124 yards and a touchdown with only five incompletions on 17 pass attempts in the divisional round.
4. Jarrett Stidham, Denver Broncos
Stidham has not made an NFL start since 2023 and has never made a start or an appearance in the playoffs. The Broncos’ backup quarterback was thrust into the starting role in the AFC championship game after Denver’s starter, Bo Nix, broke his ankle in the final moments of the Broncos’ divisional round win over the Buffalo Bills.
Stidham played four snaps for Denver’s offense in 2025. He handed the ball off three times and kneeled once.
NFL playoffs schedule
All times Eastern.
NFL conference championship round
AFC championship
- Matchup: No. 1 Denver Broncos vs. No. 2 New England Patriots
- Date: Sunday, Jan. 25
- Time: 3 p.m.
- TV channel: CBS
- Streaming: Paramount+; Fubo; NFL+
NFC championship
- Matchup: No. 1 Seattle Seahawks vs. No. 5 Los Angeles Rams
- Date: Sunday, Jan. 25
- Time: 6:30 p.m.
- TV channel: Fox
- Streaming: Fubo; NFL+
Stream AFC, NFC championship games with Fubo
Super Bowl 60
- Date: Feb. 8, 2026
- Time: 6:30 p.m.
- TV: NBC
- Streaming: Peacock; NFL+
- Location: Levi’s Stadium (Santa Clara, California)