Report Card Grades for Every Starting QB in AFC, NFC Championship Games

With the conference championship games in the rearview mirror, let's go back and grade each of the four quarterbacks—Joe Flacco, Tom Brady, Alex Smith and Eli Manning—for their performances in the title games. 

JOE FLACCO, BALTIMORE RAVENS

You could certainly make the argument that Flacco outplayed Tom Brady. But for a quarterback who was starting his eighth road playoff game, Flacco looked a little unsure of himself early on. He finally started heating up around the Ravens' third offensive series.

Overall, you'd be hard-pressed to say Flacco was the reason the Ravens lost Sunday. He gave them a chance to win (Lee Evans dropped it) and a chance to tie (Billy Cundiff went wide left). And the stats were good: 22-of-36 for 306 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

Flacco would be a hero today had Evans held onto that final throw, which was perfectly thrown.

Grade: A- 

TOM BRADY, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

Brady admittedly played well below what most come to expect him, regardless of opponent or defense. He threw two picks—the second which went into double coverage to Matt Slater with the Patriots looking to put the game away—and had just 236 passing yards and one rushing touchdown.

It wasn't the kind of 60-minute performance that you'd imagine when thinking about the playoff cool of Brady. His rushing touchdown ended up being the game-winner, however.

Grade: C+ 

ALEX SMITH, SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

Smith made two beautiful throws for touchdowns to Vernon Davis that overshadowed what was a struggle overall. He targeted receivers nine times but completed just one for three yards.

Facing pressure that forced him out of the pocket almost every snap, Smith bounced throws at a rate that would make Donovan McNabb blush.

His two touchdowns and 42 yards rushing, however, saved what could have been a disastrous showing.

Grade: C 

ELI MANNING, NEW YORK GIANTS

Manning dropped back to pass 64 times Sunday, which opened him up to getting sacked six times and hit another 19. You don't even need to know those stats to understand how many times he got roughed up.

Despite that constant pounding, Manning was able to throw for 316 yards on 32 completions without a turnover. He made play-after-play under duress and hit eight different receivers.

It wasn't always pretty, but it's going to take you a long time to find a tougher showing from a quarterback in a postseason game than the one Manning put together Sunday on a sloppy Candlestick field. 

Grade: A-