In the AFC, the New England Patriots will host the Houston Texans on the 14th at 8:15 p.m. ET. The second game will be played at 1:05 on Sunday, January 15. It will feature the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Kansas City Chiefs.
Our categories for evaluating quarterbacks includes:
- Pass Completion Percentage
- Touchdown to Interception Ratio
- Rushing
- Sack and Fumble Totals
- Clutch Play and Leadership
- Health & Experience
- Rating
Each category is worth up to 10 points and final grades are a result of the sum of those points divided by the seven categories.
Brock Osweiler vs. Tom Brady
Brock Osweiler
Pass Completion Percentage: 5
Touchdown to Interception Ratio: 4
Rushing: 5
Sack and Fumble Totals: 6
Clutch Play and Leadership: 4
Health & Experience: 5
Rating: 4
Total: = 33/7 = 4.7
Pass Completion Percentage: 8
Touchdown to Interception Ratio: 10
Rushing: 7
Sack and Fumble Totals: 8
Clutch Play and Leadership: 10
Health & Experience: 10
Rating: 9
Total = 60/7 = 8.5
Although we have made a comparison between Brock Osweiler and Tom Brady, there is no comparison. In playoff experience alone and leadership, Brady not only dominated Osweiler, but almost all of the QBs in the playoffs. The only two that come close are Rodgers and Roethlisberger. Brady has 32 playoff games behind him. That’s four full seasons of games.
Ben Roethlisberger vs. Alex Smith
Pass Completion Percentage: 7
Touchdown to Interception Ratio: 7
Rushing: 4
Sack and Fumble Totals: 8
Clutch Play and Leadership: 9
Health & Experience: 9
Rating: 8
Total = 52/7 = 7.4
Pass Completion Percentage: 8
Touchdown to Interception Ratio: 7
Rushing: 8
Sack and Fumble Totals: 6
Clutch Play and Leadership: 7
Health & Experience: 7
Rating: 8
Total = 51/7 = 7.3
Although Alex Smith should be more mobile than Ben Roethlisberger, the Steeler quarterback gets strong marks for Clutch Play and Leadership and Health & Experience. He still gets good grades for Health & Experience despite the fact that Roethlisberger will be playing injured. That’s because the injury is not that serious and should not affect the Pittsburgh quarterback’s play very much. We think that Roethlisberger has a decent edge in this game.
Final Word: 2017 AFC Playoff Quarterbacks
Of the 2017 AFC playoff quarterbacks, Tom Brady is the best of the best. He’s the one guy you want throwing the ball when the chips are on the line. Osweiler can be seen as a liability more than as asset. It will be interesting to see in the Steelers/Chiefs game how Roethlisberger and Smith will perform and which will have the better game. Also, see our report on NFC quarterbacks for information on NFC Divisional games.
