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The first official National Football League (NFL) playoff game was the 1933 NFL Championship Game between the Chicago Bears and New York Giants. A "playoff" game was played in 1932 between the Chicago Bears and Portsmouth Spartans to break a regular season tie, but is recorded in the team record books as a regular season game.[1] Since then there have been a total over 525 NFL playoff games including games from the AFL, but not the AAFC. The following list shows career postseason records for each starting quarterback in the NFL playoffs.
Wins or losses are credited to the quarterback who started the game for each team, even if he was injured or failed to complete the game.
Note: from 1933 to 1949 some offenses did not employ a quarterback in the modern sense of the position. Listed below are the "primary passers" for those games, the players that passed the ball most in those games. They may not have actually started the game at quarterback. This format allows Hall of Fame quarterbacks like Sid Luckman and Sammy Baugh to maintain credit for their team's playoff records since they were obviously the top passer for their team. The players involved in such games are marked with an asterisk (*).
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Champion starters
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Perspective
The following 57 quarterbacks have led their team to an NFL, All-America Football Conference (AAFC) or American Football League (AFL) title. Super Bowls before the 1970 AFL–NFL merger are not included in total championship count. On April 1, 2025 the NFL announced AAFC records and statistics will be recognized in its official records.[2] This adds four championships to Otto Graham's total which is now reflected in this list.
Tom Brady holds the NFL records for most playoff wins by a quarterback, 35, and for most playoff games started, 48.
Joe Flacco and Tom Brady are tied for the most road post-season wins (7), not including Super Bowls, which are played at a neutral site. For players with five or more playoff appearances, Bart Starr holds the record for the highest winning percentage, (.900) and is third for the record for most championships (five NFL titles plus two Super Bowl wins vs. AFL teams). As of April 2025, the All-America Football Conference records are recognized by the NFL.[2] This makes Otto Graham and Tom Brady tied for first with seven championships each. Seven quarterbacks are undefeated in post-season play but all of them have just a single appearance as a starter except for Frank Reich who had two starts. Hall of Fame quarterback Y. A. Tittle shares the record with Andy Dalton for the highest number of playoff starts without ever winning a game (4). John Elway holds the record for the highest number of playoff wins before eventually winning his first Super Bowl (10). Donovan McNabb and Jim Kelly hold the record for the highest number of playoff wins (9) without winning the Super Bowl.
This table lists all quarterbacks who have won a playoff game in the NFL, AAFC, or the AFL.
Sort chart by clicking on heading. Reload page to return to original form. Sorting 'Teams' in ascending order will list all champion quarterbacks for each team first and in the order they won the title game for their team.
From 1933 to 1969, NFL Champs are listed.
From 1946 to 1949, AAFC Champs are listed[2]
From 1960 to 1969, AFL Champs are listed.
Super Bowls listed after 1970 NFL-AFL merger.
