The ‘Rivers Index’

What SHOULD QB’s playoff records be?

Unbelievably enough, Philip Rivers is actually dead last here as well, merely reinforcing his status as the metric’s namesake. Much like his regular-season frustrations, he was a .429 playoff record despite playing like a .654 quarterback.

At the other end, Tom Brady’s recent losses still haven’t caused his deserved performance to catch up to his actual W-L. He was obviously due for a correction after winning his first 10 playoff games as a starter (this system considers it 9 straight, since Drew Bledsoe threw more passes in the 2001 AFC title game); during those 9 games, he played like a .625 QB. Since the 2004 Super Bowl, Brady has a .444 record and has played like a .532 QB, so his luck has actually swung the other way in recent seasons.

Meanwhile Ben Roethlisberger, #2 on the list, has a chance to pad his Rivers Index even more this weekend. His opponent, Mark Sanchez, is a budding Rivers Index phenom in his own right. Sanchez sports an .800 record as his team’s leading passer in the playoffs, despite playing like a .618 QB. Ironically, in that sense his career arc could very well follow that of a young Brady.

Manning is among the unluckiest, Brady among the luckiest.

Arrow to top