The Most Clutch Quarterbacks in NFL Postseason History

Quarterbacks always receive praise for a game-winning drive, but succeeding in the playoffs—the NFL's biggest stage—is no easy task.

A handful of players have solidified themselves as the most clutch quarterbacks in postseason history.

In fairness, "clutch" is subjective. Some define it strictly as a game-winning drive. Others account for a go-ahead score in a pivotal moment, even if the opposing team manages a win anyway. We fall into the latter category, though neither definition is necessarily wrong or better.

While the top seven quarterbacks should be included by anyone's measure, there will likely be disagreement in the back end. But that's half of the fun, right?

10. Russell Wilson

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Yes, his goal-line interception in Super Bowl XLIX is one of the league's most memorable plays, but Russell Wilson still deserves credit for his excellence in late-game situations.

Entering the playoffs for the 2019 season, he ranks fifth in NFL history with four game-winning drives in the postseason.

Most importantly, two happened with a trip to the Super Bowl at stake. Wilson threw go-ahead touchdowns in the NFC Championship Games of the 2013 and 2014 seasons, and his Seattle Seahawks went on to hoist the Lombardi Trophy to cap the 2013 campaign.

9. Aaron Rodgers

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Aaron Rodgers only has two game-winning drives in the playoffs, but he's provided clutch plays in several other games.

The longtime Green Bay Packers quarterback has twice crushed the Dallas Cowboys with fourth-quarter scores. He executed two go-ahead drives during the divisional round of the 2016 season, complete with a memorable 3rd-and-20 conversion to Jared Cook to set up the game-winning field goal.

Despite a loss to Seattle in the 2014 NFC championship, he played a remarkable game. Limited by a hamstring injury, Rodgers had the Packers in position to win before a botched onside kick saved the Seahawks. He still led a game-tying field-goal drive to force overtime.

Rodgers also tossed a pivotal touchdown in Super Bowl XLV to extend Green Bay's lead and completed improbable Hail Mary throws in two playoff games.

8. Kurt Warner

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In the 1999 NFC Championship Game, Kurt Warner tossed three interceptions. But when it mattered most, he threw a game-winning touchdown to defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The following game—Super Bowl XXXIV—he engineered another fourth-quarter winner. Warner amassed 414 yards and two scores, the second one a 73-yard touchdown to Isaac Bruce that propelled the St. Louis Rams to a 23-16 triumph over the Tennessee Titans.

He also threw for 279 yards and four touchdowns while leading a fourth-quarter comeback in the 2008 NFC title game.

Warner had two near-misses on the biggest stage too.

He guided a 14-point comeback in Super Bowl XXXVI before the New England Patriots' Adam Vinatieri kicked a winning field goal. And in Super Bowl XLIII with the Arizona Cardinals, Warner tossed two fourth-quarter scores before Ben Roethlisberger's memorable pass to Santonio Holmes gave the Pittsburgh Steelers a dramatic win.

7. Ben Roethlisberger

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Ben Roethlisberger has a few stinkers on his playoff resume, but that's inevitable with 21 career postseason games.

In the 2005 playoffs, he accounted for nine touchdowns while leading the Pittsburgh Steelers to a Super Bowl XL victory over the Seattle Seahawks. Three years later, he guided Pittsburgh back to the NFL's biggest stage and provided a legendary pass.

Trailing the Arizona Cardinals 23-20, Roethlisberger somehow found Santonio Holmes in the back corner of the end zone for a six-yard touchdown with 35 seconds remaining.

"Perfect pass, perfect catch," said Cardinals cornerback Ralph Brown, who missed deflecting the pass by mere inches.

Highlighted by that Super Bowl XLIII victory, Roethlisberger has four game-winning drives in the postseason.

6. Johnny Unitas

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Leading a comeback in a championship game is the stuff of legends. Johnny Unitas has the unique honor of doing it twice, helping the Baltimore Colts win consecutive NFL titles in 1958 and 1959.

To end the 1958 season, Unitas led a game-tying drive in the fourth quarter and game-winning drive in overtime against the New York Giants. The championship, nicknamed "The Greatest Game Ever Played," was the first overtime playoff game in NFL history.

The next year, Unitas accounted for three touchdowns to help Baltimore pull off another fourth-quarter comeback. The Colts dominated the final period 24-7 to defeat the Giants 31-16.

5. Terry Bradshaw

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While outstanding defense helped the Steelers win four Super Bowls with Terry Bradshaw under center, he provided key moments in three of those postseason trips.

Pittsburgh scored 21 fourth-quarter points to defeat the Oakland Raiders in the 1974 AFC Championship Game. Bradshaw threw a game-sealing touchdown the next season in Super Bowl X and the game-winning score in Super Bowl XIV.

Only Tom Brady has more career Super Bowl victories among quarterbacks than Bradshaw, who's also tied for third with 14 career playoff wins. He finished his career with a 14-5 postseason record.

4. Eli Manning

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Players are most harshly judged by their performances on the biggest stage. Eli Manning—for all his faults—played the hero role in two Super Bowl runs for the Giants, recording all five of his game-winning drives in those two postseasons.

Manning guided fourth-quarter and/or overtime scoring drives in both the NFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl in the 2007 and 2011 seasons, as well as the 2007 divisional round.

In both of the Super Bowl victories, he threw a memorable pass—first to David Tyree (XLII) and then to Mario Manningham (XLVI)—to upend the New England Patriots.

3. John Elway

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When someone orchestrates a possession known simply as "The Drive," he's bound to receive consideration.

Throw in Super Bowl victories—yeah, just toss 'em in—during his final two NFL seasons, and John Elway was all sorts of clutch.

"It was the best drive I've ever seen," former Broncos QB Craig Morton said of Elway in the 1986 AFC Championship Game, per Rick Telander of Sports Illustrated. "He's the only quarterback I've ever seen who could have pulled that off."

Elway recorded six game-winning drives in his postseason career, the second-most in NFL history. The six included two AFC Championship Games and Super Bowl XXXII.

2. Joe Montana

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"Joe Cool" is remembered for his poise under pressure, and no story better describes better it than Super Bowl XXIII.

With 3:20 left in regulation, the San Francisco 49ers trailed the Cincinnati Bengals 16-13. Although 92 yards separated the Niners from the end zone, the situation didn't faze Joe Montana.

"Look, isn't that John Candy?" Montana told his teammates in the huddle. Eleven plays, eight completions and a 10-yard touchdown pass to John Taylor later, the 49ers had won a Super Bowl.

That possession marked the third of five game-winning drives—the third-most ever—in Montana's postseason career, which featured four Super Bowl victories.

1. Tom Brady

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As mentioned earlier, Elway ranks second in NFL history with six game-winning drives in the playoffs. Tom Brady, on the other hand, has six game-winning drives in the Super Bowl alone—and could've had a seventh, if not for Manning and Tyree.

Of his 13 winning drives in the postseason, three more happened in the AFC Championship Game. Brady most recently did so against the Kansas City Chiefs during the 2018 season.

After that victory, Elway said, "Brady proved to be what he is, and that's the greatest quarterback to play the game."

And there's simply more evidence that throughout his career, Brady is undeniably the most clutch, too.

Follow Bleacher Report writer David Kenyon on Twitter @Kenyon19_BR.