Image: Wiki Commons by Veronica Davison / Keith Allison / Ted Van Pelt
About This Quiz
NFL quarterbacks have to handle a delicate balancing act on the field. On the one hand, they have to encourage their players with vocal leadership and encouragement. But they also have to back up their talk with skilled play, processing what is happening on the field and making decisions about what to do with the ball in just a handful of seconds. All this happens while huge men from the opposing team rush towards them as fast as possible.
The challenge of playing QB is part of why we have so much respect for the great ones. Tom Brady, with six victories in nine Super Bowl appearances to go with three NFL MVP Awards, is widely considered to be the greatest ever to play the position. But he has steep competition even in his generation from Peyton Manning, who is nowhere close to Brady in championships but was named MVP a record five times.
Quarterbacks are so important that they define teams. If teams don't have a good QB, they search the draft, free agency and the trading block endlessly, looking for someone with the right blend of leadership and athleticism. If you think you know the NFL, take this quarterback quiz and see how many teams you can name correctly!
Seattle Seahawks
Russell Wilson has produced in spectacular fashion for the Seahawks since entering the league in 2012. He is the only QB to win 10 or more games in his first five seasons and has the highest passer rating in history through a QB's first five seasons.
Atlanta Falcons
Philadelphia Eagles
Buffalo Bills
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Atlanta Falcons
Washington Redskins
Philadelphia Eagles
Not only was Foles' run to a title stunning, but it was also record-setting. The mild-mannered backup QB holds the record for highest playoff passer rating, highest completion percentage in a playoff game, and he is tied for most touchdowns thrown in a single game (7).
Seattle Seahawks
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Washington Redskins
Minnesota Vikings
Tennessee Titans
Los Angeles Chargers
After spending 56 years in San Diego, the Chargers moved to Los Angeles after the 2016 season. Since the move to L.A., the team has struggled with attendance. An average home crowd for the Chargers contains just 32,768 fans, putting them far and away in last place in the NFL. The second-to-last Cincinnati Bengals bring in more than 50,000 fans per game.
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New York Jets
Pittsburgh Steelers
At age 37 and with 15 professional football seasons under his belt, Ben Roethlisberger is one of the longest-tenured quarterbacks in the league. Recently, however, his outspoken style has drawn criticism from former teammates Antonio Brown and LeVeon Bell, who both forced their way off the team.
Cleveland Browns
Jacksonville Jaguars
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Detroit Lions
Chicago Bears
The Bears are another franchise that has struggled to achieve playoff relevance in the modern era. In the 12 seasons since losing to the Colts in the 2006 Super Bowl, the Bears have won only one playoff game.
Cincinnati Bengals
Green Bay Packers
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New York Jets
Since 1999, the Jets have started 15 different quarterbacks, a record of inconsistency that is especially glaring when compared to their hometown rival Giants, who have started only six different QBs in that same period.
New England Patriots
Arizona Cardinals
Cincinnati Bengals
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Miami Dolphins
Pittsburgh Steelers
Cleveland Browns
Washington Redskins
Injuries made the 2018 season was particularly rough for the Washington Redskins. Both Alex Smith and Colt McCoy suffered broken legs, and the team ended up starting four different players at quarterback in the regular season for the first time since the Redskins were formed in 1932.
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Buffalo Bills
New York Jets
New England Patriots
How much of a fixture is Tom Brady in the postseason? After beating the Los Angeles Rams in 2019 to claim his record sixth title, Brady now has nine Super Bowl appearances, more than the Steelers, Cowboys, Broncos or 49ers. His nickname, TB12, is a combination of his initials and his jersey number.
San Diego Chargers
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Cleveland Browns
Detroit Lions
San Francisco 49ers
Denver Broncos
After winning two Super Bowls with the team as a player, John Elway took over as the Broncos' Executive VP of Football Operations in 2012. While he is credited for the Peyton Manning acquisition that eventually led to a Super Bowl title, in the three seasons since the Broncos' 2016 championship, the team has posted a subpar 20-28 overall record.
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Philadelphia Eagles
New Orleans Saints
Carolina Panthers
Cam Newton's rookie year was truly remarkable. Besides winning Rookie of the Year easily, he also became the first rookie to pass for more than 400 yards in his opening game and more than 4,000 yards in his first season.
New York Giants
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Indianapolis Colts
Dallas Cowboys
Dak Prescott's rookie year in 2016 was particularly significant. He set the record for highest rookie QB rating in a single season with 104.9 and broke Tom Brady's record of 162 passes without an interception to begin a career, throwing 176 before getting picked off.
New York Giants
Tennessee Titans
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New Orleans Saints
Besides helping the Saints win their first Super Bowl, Drew Brees set several records as a QB. He has thrown for the most passing yards in NFL history and also holds the record for most career completions and most completions in a single season.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Buffalo Bills
Atlanta Falcons
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Atlanta Falcons
Jacksonville Jaguars
Minnesota Vikings
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Despite taking home a championship in the early 2000s, the Bucs have struggled mightily of late. They haven't won a single playoff game since their Super Bowl title season in 2002. In the last five seasons, the team has a 27-53 regular-season record.
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Jacksonville Jaguars
Houston Texans
Minnesota Vikings
While Minnesota has had some big stars over the years – Randy Moss and Adrian Peterson among them – the team has been mostly futile in the playoffs. In the last 18 seasons, the Vikings have won just three playoff games, and the team hasn't appeared in a Super Bowl since 1976.
Carolina Panthers
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New York Jets
Cleveland Browns
New York Giants
Eli Manning achieved record-setting levels of consistency playing for the Giants in the 2000s. Between November 21, 2004, and November 23, 2017, Manning started every game for the Giants, a total of 210 regular-season appearances, the second-most in league history behind Brett Favre.
Carolina Panthers
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New England Patriots
New York Giants
Tennessee Titans
Los Angeles Rams
Believe it or not, the Rams have played in three different cities. The franchise started out in Cleveland between 1935 and 1945, then moved to Los Angeles for the 1946 season. In 1995, they left Los Angeles for St. Louis, returning to settle back in L.A. in 2016.
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San Francisco 49ers
Miami Dolphins
Dan Marino set many milestones during his career. He was the first quarterback to ever pass for 5,000 yards in a season, the first to reach 400 career touchdown passes and the first to throw 40 touchdown passes in a single season. However, he retired without ever having won a Super Bowl.
Arizona Cardinals
New York Jets
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Houston Oilers
Warren Moon faced an uphill battle to make it as a black quarterback. After college, he played six years in the Canadian Football League with the Edmonton Eskimos, until finally getting his shot with the Oilers. Playing for a team in the south as one of the first quarterbacks of color, Moon's path wasn't easy. Fans were so abusive during games that his son was often in tears at his father's locker after play had ended.
Detroit Bullets
Canton Bulldogs
Milwaukee Badgers
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New York Jets
Minnesota Vikings
Green Bay Packers
Before two futile back-to-back seasons in 2017 and 2018, the Packers had a remarkable run of success, making the playoffs eight straight seasons, including a Super Bowl win and two Conference championship appearances.
Philadelphia Eagles
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Dallas Cowboys
Tony Romo was often criticized during his time as a Cowboy for not being a clutch player, but his performance on the field was solid. He holds several Cowboys franchise records for passing and touchdowns. Romo is currently a noted commentator and golfer.
Philadelphia Eagles
New York Giants
Miami Dolphins
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Philadelphia Eagles
Dallas Cowboys
New York Giants
Buffalo Bills
Like some other unfortunate teams, the Bills have struggled at QB, particularly in 2018 when Josh Allen was injured and missed playing time. The Bills turned to Nathan Peterman, who threw 11 interceptions in fewer than 100 passing attempts. By comparison, Packers star Aaron Rodgers threw only 11 interceptions in his last 993 attempts.
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New York Jets
Detroit Lions
The Lions have been one of the worst franchises in recent years. In 2016, they became only the fourth team to win zero games in a season since the NFL merged with the AFL in 1966. The last time they won a playoff game was in 1991. Before that, you have to go back to 1957, when they won the NFL Championship (before it was the Super Bowl).
Cleveland Browns
Dallas Cowboys
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Philadelphia Eagles
Atlanta Falcons
Despite Matt Ryan becoming the first QB to sign a $30-million annual contract, the Falcons have had only moderate playoff success in his 11 seasons as a starter. Outside the Super Bowl season in 2017, the Falcons have only won two other playoff games.
San Francisco 49ers
Pittsburgh Steelers
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Miami Dolphins
Detroit Lions
Cleveland Browns
Just how bad were the Browns before Mayfield? Their 19-game losing streak was the fourth-worst in the modern era. Between Christmas Day 2016 and September 20, 2018, the Browns didn't win a single game, including the entire 2017 season.
New Orleans Saints
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Buffalo Bills
Cincinnati Bengals
While Andy Dalton has put up great numbers on the field for the Bengals (he's the only QB besides Peyton Manning to throw for 3,000 yards in his first five seasons) he lost four playoff games in a row from 2011 - 2014, leading to questions about his leadership.
Houston Texans
Kansas City Chiefs
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Houston Texans
Los Angeles Chargers
Seattle Seahawks
Indianapolis Colts
With a record five selections, former Colts QB Peyton Manning holds the record for most NFL MVP awards. He also holds the record for most career touchdowns with 539.
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Minnesota Vikings
Arizona Cardinals
Since moving to Arizona, the Cardinals haven't had much postseason success. A 1998 win over the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card round was the team's first playoff win since 1948, when they played as the Chicago Cardinals.
St. Louis Rams
New York Giants
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Tennessee Titans
For decades, the Titans were the Houston Oilers. But in 1997, owner Bud Adams got into a dispute with the city of Houston about a new stadium and moved the team to Nashville, Tennessee. A few seasons later, they officially changed their name to the Tennessee Titans. In 2002, Houston got a new team: the Texans.
Denver Broncos
Washington Redskins
New York Jets
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Jacksonville Jaguars
Despite some decent seasons and six playoff berths, the Jaguars have never made it to the game's biggest stage. They are one of four NFL franchises that have never played in a Super Bowl.
Miami Dolphins
New England Patriots
New York Jets
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Oakland Raiders
Houston Texans
Cleveland Browns
Baltimore Ravens
While there have been questions about Jackson's ability with the Ravens, no one has questioned his speed. Despite not starting until Week 11, Jackson set the single-season record for most runs by a QB with 147. He also became the youngest player to ever start a playoff game when he started for the Ravens in the 2018 Wild Card game the day before his 22nd birthday.
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Kansas City Chiefs
Patrick Mahomes' MVP year in 2018 was one for the books. He became only the second player in league history to throw for more than 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns in one season. After winning the award, he became the youngest league MVP since Dan Marino won the award in 1984.
Washington Redskins
Cleveland Browns
Cincinnati Bengals
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San Francisco 49ers
For most of the '80s and '90s, the 49ers were the model of QB consistency. With the exception of the strike-shortened, nine-game season in 1982 and Joe Montana's back injury in 1986, from 1981 through 1998 either Montana or Young started at least 10 games for the 49ers every year.
Denver Broncos
Oakland Raiders
New York Giants
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Oakland Raiders
In summer 2019, Oakland was the subject of a wild offseason that saw controversial star wide receiver Antonio Brown get cut after spending just six months with the team. During his brief tenure as a Raider he threatened to retire over helmet restrictions and got frostbite from cryotherapy in France.
New York Jets
Minnesota Vikings
New Orleans Saints
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New York Jets
It's particularly ironic that the Jets have struggled so much at QB when you consider how many of them the team has taken in the draft. From 2009 through 2018, the Jets have drafted seven quarterbacks from college teams. Many fans hope Sam Darnold will be the last one for a while.
Cincinnati Bengals
Dallas Cowboys
Houston Texans
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Baltimore Colts
Earl Morrall had a great year replacing Johnny Unitas as the starter in 1968. But it must have been immensely frustrating to fall just short of the ultimate goal and lose to the New York Jet in Super Bowl III. The Colts made it back to the title game two years later in Super Bowl V when Morrall again replaced Unitas after a second-quarter injury. This time, Morrall led the Colts to a 16-13 win over the Dallas Cowboys, earning redemption.
Cincinnati Reds
Cleveland Browns
San Diego Chargers
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Detroit Lions
Seattle Seahawks
Philadelphia Eagles
Before the dawn of the Carson Wentz era, the Eagles were another team with more questions than answers at QB. From 2009 through 2015, the year before Wentz was drafted, the Eagles started six different quarterbacks.
Oakland Raiders
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Boston Yanks
The reason behind the merger in 1945? The league had trouble fielding enough players for games due to WWII. Ironically, the Yanks played home games at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, which are heated rivals with the MLB's New York Yankees who are often nicknamed, "the Yanks."
Frankford Yellow Jackets
Providence Steamrollers
Houston Oilers
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Detroit Lions
Pittsburgh Steelers
Cleveland Browns
Atlanta Falcons
Since the Super Bowl became the championship game of the NFL, the Falcons are one of eight teams who have appeared in a Super Bowl but have never won. Falcons fans have especially painful memories of Super Bowl LI, where their team lost despite being up 28-3 in the third quarter.
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St. Louis Cardinals
Dallas Texans
Chicago Tigers
Cleveland Rams
Poor attendance and high costs from the city of Cleveland had owner Dan Reeves looking around for a new home. In 1946, the Rams became the first-ever major professional sports team located on the west coast. Reeves also became the first post-war owner to sign an African American player.
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Los Angeles Raiders
Baltimore Colts
Boston Redskins
Entrepreneur George Preston Marshall founded the Boston Redskins in 1932, but the team was plagued by poor attendance in early 1930s Boston, which was a town still dominated by baseball. The final straw was in 1936 when the Redskins won a division title and few people in Beantown cared. The team moved to Washington, D.C., in 1937 and has been there ever since. Shown here is the coin toss starting the 1936 NFL Championship between the Boston Redskins (left) and Green Bay Packers.
Memphis Oilers
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