The quarterback spotlight in the NFL never really turns off, but it gets hotter when January arrives. Regular-season numbers can buy patience.
Playoff performances can erase it in a hurry. And heading into 2026, a few passers are carrying postseason baggage that still needs to be unpacked.
Three names stand out most: Drake Maye, Justin Herbert, and Josh Allen. Each has a different kind of problem attached to his playoff story, and each has a chance to change the conversation next season.
Drake Maye’s issue is simple enough to say and ugly enough to stick. After the 2025 regular season, it looked like he was going to carry the Patriots deep into the postseason without much trouble. Instead, the playoff run exposed a much harsher picture, and the criticism has only grown since New England was blown out and dominated by Seattle in the Super Bowl.
The numbers from that run are rough. Maye completed 58.3 percent of his passes in the playoffs.
He was sacked 21 times in four games. He threw four interceptions.
And after fumbling the ball 8 times in the regular season, he added 7 more fumbles in the playoffs.
The bigger problem around Maye is the way that run fed the broader conversation about New England. The Patriots played the easiest schedule in the entire NFL last season before limping through the playoffs, and that has become part of the story attached to him now. He’ll need a real redemption arc to change it.
Herbert’s case is different, but just as stubborn. For years, he’s been spoken about like one of the league’s elite quarterbacks, and there’s no real mystery why.
His physical tools are obvious, and he’s had plenty of standout moments. But since being drafted in 2020, he’s also picked up a label that follows him around: “If Man”.
That shorthand comes from all the excuses that tend to get attached to his career. If the offensive line had stayed healthy.
If the supporting cast were better. If the receivers held onto more passes.
If the Chargers had a stronger answer at tight end. The list goes on.
Still, the playoff results haven’t helped his case. Warren Sharp’s data labels Herbert the worst quarterback in the playoffs since 2000.
In three career playoff games, Herbert and the Chargers are 0-3. He has completed under 55 percent of his passes, and his playoff debut remains the one that people keep circling back to, when the Chargers blew a 27-7 halftime lead against the Jaguars.
There’s also the larger team drought hanging over him. In Herbert’s NFL career, the Chargers have not won the AFC West a single time.
They are 0-for-3 in playoff opportunities. At some point, the “if” explanations stop sounding like context and start sounding like the whole story.
Then there’s Josh Allen, who sits at the top of this list because the expectations are bigger than the excuses now. The Bills have had him in the postseason plenty of times, but the deep run that would settle the whole debate still hasn’t arrived.
This past season ended with Buffalo losing to the Denver Broncos in the Divisional Round, which left Allen at an ugly 0-5 against the AFC West in the Divisional Round and beyond in his playoff career. That’s the kind of stat that follows a quarterback around, especially one who already carries the burden of being seen as a player who can’t get it done in the biggest moments.
And that’s the heart of Allen’s narrative heading into 2026. He’s good enough to be mentioned with the all-time greats at the position.
Now he has to prove it when the games matter most. Nothing in the NFL is promised, but at some point, the expectation is that Allen should be playing for a Super Bowl.
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