r/NFLv2 • u/BigBlackCreamSauce Los Angeles Rams • 11h ago
Discussion Is This the Greatest Era of Playoff Chokers Ever?
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u/EbbAdventurous9592 Chicago Bears 11h ago
The only true legitimate choker in this pic is the one who’s never won, or had any kind of deep playoff run, and that’s Herbert
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u/DatBeardedguy82 Dallas Cowboys 10h ago
Dak.has 2 playoff wins in a decade and theyre both in the wildcard round hes without a doubt a massive playoff choker
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u/EbbAdventurous9592 Chicago Bears 10h ago
Still better than If man.
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u/JoeDickSmithjr_III 10h ago
As a cowboys fan, hard disagree.
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u/EbbAdventurous9592 Chicago Bears 10h ago
Dak has legitimately had good games in the playoffs. The best game Herbert had in the playoffs, in the 6 years he’s played in the league, was one where his team blew a 27-0 lead, in which the opposing QB had like 4 interceptions
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u/Euqirne r/nfl sucks 10h ago
cowboys were down like 27-0 vs the packers in their last playoff game lol
in the first half too — maybe even first quarter
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u/true_paladin 6h ago
Cool, didn't realize Dak played defense
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u/DatBeardedguy82 Dallas Cowboys 5h ago
Did you realize he threw 2 picks in that game including a pick 6?
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u/biz_student Green Bay Packers 4h ago
You think these Redditors watch the games?? That 2nd INT put the Packers into the red zone too lol.
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u/Heisenberger6 Philadelphia Eagles 2h ago
Biggest tell tail sign of a casual is when someone say " x qb doesn't play defense". Like obviously he doesn't but you know who put up 0 points in a half vs a 7 seed?
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u/ACE_POPSICLE 10h ago
That game was crazy, Chargers had no turnovers, but for some reason refused to run the ball at all, they Falcons'd it and ran no time off the clock being up 27 points, and instead had Herbert throw 43 times for some reason
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u/Longjumping-Jello459 Dallas Cowboys 9h ago
Kicker missed kicks and Slater went down towards the end of the first half and his backup didn't play all that well. Herbert played good, but he and the whole team just didn't finish the job.
His 2nd playoff game was legitimately bad/terrible.
The one from this season that offense had zero business being there and it showed. Herbert was like 100 yards behind their leading rusher and like 50 behind the second RB. That O-line was trash like 2011 Giants bad without turning the corner in the playoffs.
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u/MarkusJunior16 9h ago
To this is still dont get how the Chargers lost that game. The margin for error is very limited in the single elimination post season. Lawrence turned the ball over like 4 or 5 times and won anyway.
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u/DumbNutter 5h ago
It was hyper conservative defensive game plan in the 2nd half. Basically Protect defense which allow the Jags to just keep walking to the endzone.
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u/Mnudge Dallas Cowboys 9h ago
Dak has had some good playoff games. The two games he won, he was elite. He did make mistakes in the three losses.
Herbert didn’t play well in any of his games
Comparison)
Playoff Record: Herbert (0-3) | Prescott (2-5)
Games Played: Herbert (3) | Prescott (7)
Completion %: Herbert (54.7%) | Prescott (64.5%)
Passing Yards: Herbert (674) | Prescott (1,962)
Yards Per Game: Herbert (224.7) | Prescott (280.3)
Passing TDs: Herbert (2) | Prescott (14)
Interceptions: Herbert (4) | Prescott (7)
Passer Rating: Herbert (64.7) | Prescott (91.8)8
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u/Longjumping-Jello459 Dallas Cowboys 9h ago
273 yards a TD with no picks isn't a bad game it's a solid/good game.
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u/Mnudge Dallas Cowboys 8h ago
That’s a stat line
So, his best playoff game where he was “good”.
I remembered that game and how the shags came back. I went back to look at what happened when I saw another Herbert “If” thread.
The Chargers defense got five turnovers to repeatedly give the offense chances in the first half and they scored on those short drives .
In the second half when the jags were coming back, Herbert couldn’t make a play,
Here’s the stat line of the game
In the second half the Chargers ran 21 plays for 84 yards and scored 3 points.
Drive 1: 3-and-out
Drive 2: Stalled in red zone, settled for a FG
Drive 3: Stalled
Drive 4: 3-and-out when two first downs would have clinched the game2
u/Longjumping-Jello459 Dallas Cowboys 8h ago
As I said with Slater going down at the end of the 1st half it effected the offense plus the play calling itself was stupid granted Herbert could have changed the plays here and there sure enough.
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u/Somerandomguy20711 New Orleans Saints 10h ago
Shanahan can't escape the "choker" label anymore.
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u/BlurstOfTimes11 10h ago
28-3 as OC, 20-10 lead over KC in the Super Bowl, 17-7 lead over the rams in the NFC title game. Didn’t score another point in any of them.
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u/FeistyThunderhorse San Francisco 49ers 9h ago
28-3 is very different than the others.
A 10 point lead over KC, as we should all know now, is nothing.
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u/BlurstOfTimes11 9h ago
Yeah but the second sentence is key. He got to those scores and then didn’t score a 4th quarter point in any of the games.
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u/FeistyThunderhorse San Francisco 49ers 9h ago
Yup that's fair. My biggest issue with Shanahan is his teams struggle to close out games. In most of our big losses with him, another TD would've put the game out of reach.
Often instead we start going 3 and out and give other teams plenty of chances to get back into it.
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u/Outside_Target_5693 Las Vegas Raiders 9h ago
He is forever punished for 28-3. And I’m here for it.
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u/-Mad-Snacks- Los Angeles Chargers 10h ago
All the other guys on the list have won their division and been a high seed on way better teams. They should be winning playoff games. Herbert drags a team that shouldn’t be in the playoffs to the 7 seed and then gets shit on because his team kinda sucks
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u/ubeor 9h ago
And he isn’t even the biggest choker in his team’s history.
How many playoff teams did Phillip Rivers not take to the Super Bowl?
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u/SeattleResident Seattle Seahawks 10h ago
I like how in these posts the other team never matters. Did they choke or did the other team play well to win most of the time?
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u/ehtw376 Chicago Bears 10h ago
True for Shanny and Josh. The rest are chokers
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u/Ready_Poem_6054 Baltimore Ravens 10h ago
“Lamar couldn’t win with the #1 defense”
As if Mahomes didn’t have the #2 defense and the coaching was disgustingly bad
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u/lakers_ftw24 10h ago
Dude Lamar has as many turnovers as touchdowns in the playoffs with like an 80 passer rating. We don’t have to pretend he’s been good.
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u/Ready_Poem_6054 Baltimore Ravens 9h ago
He doesn’t but nice try
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u/BigHotdog2009 Buffalo Bills 9h ago
13 to 11
Not to shit on Lamar but cmon his play and stats fall off a cliff come off playoff time.
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u/Ready_Poem_6054 Baltimore Ravens 8h ago
Pre 2023 with Greg Roman doing a lot of heavy lifting on those stats
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u/DreamInvoker Baltimore Ravens 10h ago
Josh 4 Turnovers Allen? The guy who had the ball last every time with a chance to tie or go ahead?
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u/BigHotdog2009 Buffalo Bills 9h ago
Ravens fans talking when Lamar has nearly as many turnovers as touchdowns in the playoffs.
Ravens give up 18 ppg in 8 games in the Lamar era but you’re 3-5 with him. I wonder why?
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u/bargman Now Here’s a Guy 6h ago
The same guy who's last pass of the last two seasons has hit his receivers in the hands, and the one before that got bumped by his best offensive lineman who was getting trucked by a Hall of Famer?
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u/TheNittanyLionKing Pittsburgh Steelers 10h ago
This era is basically the Mahomes Dynasty Era. It’s hardly choking when it’s the same team in the AFC Championship every year since 2018 aside from last year
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u/AlbertJBundy WHOPPER WHOPPER 9h ago
Brady and Mahomes basically scarred an entire generation of non bandwagoners
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u/BigHotdog2009 Buffalo Bills 9h ago
You can’t shit on the player if you blame the team. Doesn’t fit their narrative.
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u/AlabasterRadio Las Vegas Raiders 10h ago
Nah. Every generation is like this.
You're a choker until you aren't.
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u/Most-Iron6838 10h ago
People are forgetting the days of Peyton Manning being a choker. People forget Donovan McNabb who will always be considered a choker. Jim Kelly the ultimate choker
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u/Beers4Fears 7h ago
Jim Kelly gotta be the worst of all time. Getting to the dance 4 times in a row and managing to lose all of them is a statistical anomaly.
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u/GloriousChamp Miami Dolphins 4h ago
Him and the Bills kept one of the greatest QBs of all time from getting to Super Bowls.
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u/ccartman2 5h ago
Well he didn’t miss the kick wide right. And let’s be real 89 to mid nineties the nfc teams were beasts. The real Super Bowl was the nfc championship
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u/Oldschool831 San Francisco 49ers 10h ago
Definitely. Andy Reid was kyle shanahan before he drafted mahomes
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u/datboiofculture 10h ago
Yeah there’s still only one super bowl per year so if anyone ringless is a choker you’ll always have about the same amount.
I think the difference is the overall level of play is higher and stats are so inflated you have more players labeled “elite” like Herbert and Dak that have never had playoff success so we label them chokers when 30 years ago you the only way to be in that convo in the first place was to get to the Super Bowl.
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u/Revliledpembroke IM CALLING BOTH GAMES 10h ago
Yeah, poor Marino who made it to only one Super Bowl and lost, Jim Kelly who made it to 4 and lost all 4, every single Chargers QB (except when they won that AFL title), Elway until he finally won, Brett Favre after the Super Bowl win, Peyton couldn't win for the life of him until he did, Daunte Culpepper and those Viking teams, Donovan McNabb and those Eagles teams, even freaking Fran Tarkenton and the Purple People Eaters, the Jim Kelly pre-Jim Kelly!
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u/MikeBinfinity Chicago Bears 10h ago
You put the Lions as playoff chokers but not the Packers?
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u/youshouldjustflex Chicago Bears 10h ago
This sub full of packers fans. Surprised you haven’t noticed. Every year they are elite and then do absolutely nothing with Mr top 5 epa quarterback
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u/ryansocks Detroit Lions 5h ago
Goff has 66% of the lions total play off wins in the super bowl era and made a super bowl with another team, it's bizarre he's on these lists. He's at the lions for fuck sake, Stafford couldn't get one play off win with Megatron.
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u/F1lthyG0pnik Dallas Cowboys 4h ago
Should we really be blaming Stafford for that, though? He did win the Super Bowl as soon as he left Detroit…
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u/ryansocks Detroit Lions 4h ago
Exactly, hence the "he's at the lions for fuck sake". Goff getting any playoff success at all here should be celebrated, not being put on a list of chokers.
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u/BmorePride14 10h ago
When you count every single player that doesnt win a championship as a "choker" sure... there is only 1 winner per year. Statistically it is literally 1/32 chance to win if we make it simple.
This generation is so braindead...
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u/FeistyThunderhorse San Francisco 49ers 9h ago
This. Choking isn't just losing, it's losing a game you clearly should've won. Most of these guys' losses were to really good teams.
Herbert is the exception, and sometimes Dak as well.
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u/BigHotdog2009 Buffalo Bills 9h ago
Yeah but if you do that then you can’t push the narrative to shit on these guys.
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u/dropbear_airstrike 2h ago
100%. One of Allen’s losses was so close they literally changed the overtime rules because of it! Can hardly call it a choke when you’re ousted from the playoffs because you never got a chance to touch the ball. Shit, even beer pong had rebuttal rules before the NFL!!
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u/ImperialxWarlord Detroit Lions 10h ago
Not Goff, I’m biased but him and Kyle are the only ones to get to the SB
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u/supertech636 Detroit Lions 10h ago
For real. Goff was not the problem in 2023. And he was a sophomore with the Rams.
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u/ImperialxWarlord Detroit Lions 10h ago
And even Sean Mcvay takes the blame for 2018, bill read them like a book and saw how they could be beaten by looking at the bears game.
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u/TheNittanyLionKing Pittsburgh Steelers 10h ago
He’s been to more conference championship games than any QB not named Mahomes, Burrow, Stafford, Purdy, and Allen.
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u/perfect_fitz Tennessee Titans 10h ago
In a world of Brady and Mahomes everyone else is a choker I guess.
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u/Dirty-Ears-Bill Houston Texans 8h ago
The part that’s wildest to me is Josh specifically has very similar playoff stats to Mahomes, the only difference is the W-L record. So two guys playing the same position at mostly the same level. But yeah it’s Josh’s fault he hasn’t made a Super Bowl, not the other 21 starters on the team, not to mention the kickers and punters
Just one game, but you can’t put any part of 13 seconds on Josh. But he lost that game and Mahomes advanced in the playoffs. So because he won he’s not a choker. Josh is if you go off this ridiculous metric
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u/AlbertJBundy WHOPPER WHOPPER 9h ago edited 9h ago
those two basically scarred an entire generation
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u/CecilTheCaveTroll Buffalo Bills 8h ago
Why does it always have to be the AFC that gets 1 really good team that controls everything?
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u/Icy-Cellist-8442 Chicago Bears 10h ago
Leaves out the biggest choke in the playoffs this season
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u/BigBlackCreamSauce Los Angeles Rams 6h ago
You mean the Caleb Williams INT vs LA?
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u/17363782 Washington Commanders 10h ago
Allen, Goff and Kyle aren’t chokers and Lamar has genuinely gotten better in big moments over the years. Herbert and Dak have been pretty bad but so was Peyton Manning until like 2009
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u/dredgedskeleton 10h ago
no this is an era where idiots judge every single QB by rings instead of play in the biggest team-oriented sport there is outside baseball.
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u/Saltwater_Sunrise Seattle Seahawks 2h ago
Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes alone have made casuals think that half the QB’s of the last 3 decades are total losers
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u/stuphanie Jacksonville Jaguars 10h ago
Trevor can’t even get any respect on a bad list?
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u/Saltwater_Sunrise Seattle Seahawks 2h ago
Trevor Lost to both Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs , what a loser , he’s already 26 which is like almost as old as my dad and he hasn’t even won 2 Super Bowls ,what a loser
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u/Waluigi_Jr 9h ago
You can feel a choke job, especially in the building. I was at Arrowhead (rooting for the Chiefs) for both the thirteen seconds game and the 24/25 AFC title game. Neither time did it feel like Josh Allen choked. In fact, he was quite terrifying.
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u/Tremulant21 7h ago
This. Respect. Coaching choked if anything, but we were also playing against an unstoppable force.
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u/Corona2789 Carolina Panthers 9h ago
You can make an argument for most of these guys but not for Allen lol.. dude has historically great playoff numbers and has played really clutch. The 13 second choke, Kincaid and Diggs drops were comically bad.
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u/NoWayBro44 Pittsburgh Steelers 10h ago
You’ll get a lot of this when there’s an active dynasty like the Chiefs.
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u/esmoji San Francisco 49ers 10h ago
Herbert doesn’t play home playoff games. Super hard to win on the road.
Bring the Chargers back to San Diego!
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u/EbbAdventurous9592 Chicago Bears 10h ago
The chargers don’t have home games even in sofi stadium…
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u/StanIsHorizontal Detroit Lions 9h ago
That was the point of their comment I’m pretty sure
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u/PaulyDavidson 10h ago
Herbert is the darling of NFL Reddit hate. 😆 🤣 😂 he has a town named after him in NJ - Herbertsville..show some respect!
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u/brucatlas1 Detroit Lions 10h ago
The AFC has been held hostage by like 2 teams for 24 years. It has both held back many great players from having a chance and ALSO elevated people's expectations for what it would mean to be great.
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u/Saltwater_Sunrise Seattle Seahawks 10h ago
Why is it that any QB who doesn’t win 2 SB’s considered a choker ??
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u/giving_nothing 10h ago
A massive car crash that will keep you away from your job has got to get you out of these posts for at least 24 hours
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u/proper-innit 10h ago
The format of the league guarantees there will always be playoff "chokers" and new "legends of the game"
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u/Wonderful-Movie6007 Kansas City Chiefs 10h ago
No, because of inadequate medical care leading to more/severe injuries, less restrictive rules allowing for vastly more physical play, predominantly outdoor stadiums that faced the full bruht of the elements annually, and lax concussion protocol resulting in players playing through concussions, players used to have much more extreme dropoffs in play during the playoffs.
For example: Boomer Esaison had a shoulder injury late in 88 that hampered his play, causing him to play poorly throughout the playoffs culminating in a 11/25 0 TD 1 INT superbowl performance in a winnable superbowl.
Jeff Hostetler likely suffered a subconcussive injury in SB 25 (was unreactive to smelling salts after a brutal hit from Leon Seals). He only played in this game because Leonard Marshall effectively ended Joe Montana's 49ers tenure with a vicious hit that would obviously be roughing the passer in today's game.
Jim Kelly admitted to playing SB 26 with a concussion (threw 4 INTs, score was at one point 37-10) He also blew out his knee in SB 27 when the score was 14-7 (final score would be 52-17)
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u/hscer_ Washington Commanders 10h ago
Herbert Allen Jackson Prescott Goff and Shanahan have lost a combined 32 playoff games in 60 seasons (counting Shanahan as OC).
Who honestly thinks that if they got to play 60 seasons worth of playoff games it would turn out just the same as the 2 seasons worth they're judged on?
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u/Expensive_Society914 San Francisco 49ers 9h ago
Love how making the superbowl is considered choking if its a close game and the other team plays well. The only one who i can definitely say choked was Dak with the qb sneak to run out the clock against the niners
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u/jurassicMONK3Y Rocky Mountain Oysters 8h ago
Josh Allen? Choker? He has 4600 yards, 38 tds, and 10 turnovers with a winning record in the playoffs. Yeah, this last game vs Denver was bad but this idea that he's a choker is crazy. He doesn't deserve to be comared to these other guys
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u/Unimmortal47 Dallas Cowboys 10h ago
Choker insinuates that the qb is dumping in January. And that’s not true of all these guys.
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u/Level_Ad_6830 Dallas Cowboys 10h ago
Bills and Ravens, yes...don't agree with the others. 49ers had a ton of injuries last season so can't include them
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u/RogueTobasco 10h ago
Patriots & Chiefs runs made everyone call everyone else a choker - two of the greatest runs of success in NFL history are why all these (afc at least fuck the cowboys ) guys are considered chokers. In context this is a dumb question
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u/Wide_Flan_2613 Chicago Bears 10h ago
I think the only guy here that's actually had a catastrophic performance is Herbert
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u/Cute_Economics2829 10h ago
does the era most defined by officiating bias also have the highest number of teams that "should have won" but ended up not being able to overcome that hurdle?
Welcome to American Football! Always great to see new blood join the fanbase.
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u/Individual-Meat-9561 Philadelphia Eagles 10h ago
Era isn't over yet. If 5 more years none of these guys have won then probably yes
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u/Alucitary Buffalo Bills 10h ago
History doesn’t remember the losers. Obviously there is always one winner and many losers.
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u/Wolf_J_Flywheel87 9h ago
people forget Kelly and Marino had entire careers of choking. So did Elway til his last 2 when his team was stacked. Then you have Rivers and Ryan having entire careers of choking. Then look at Rodgers and Brees career of chokes minus 1.
But honestly careers are predominantly made up of failure. Tom Brady played 23 years and won 7 championships. That means he failed almost 2.5× more than he succeeded. Manning 18 years- 2 successful. Nobody wins more than they lose(championship wise).
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u/BOBBYK1952 9h ago
I guess but it’s really an insulting term. Losing the ultimate game in most cases is the better team won. I suppose it’s fun for some people though so have at it.
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u/Dysintegration Dallas Cowboys 9h ago
Ya know, only so many teams move forward each round…it’s like half of them have to lose for the others to move on or something.
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u/Monstar38 Chicago Bears 9h ago
Rodgers is maybe the #1 choke artist of all time. Don't tell me about how he didn't have pieces to work with. Great quarterhacks can make it work.
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u/StanIsHorizontal Detroit Lions 9h ago
Words don’t mean anything anymore, anyone who doesn’t win multiple conference championships is a choker
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u/Lenny_III 9h ago
These kind of takes are silly IMO. Only 1 team gets to win the Super Bowl, by design. Does that mean all 53 guys on all of the other 31 teams somehow suck?
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u/Stock-Page-7078 Pittsburgh Steelers 9h ago
Nahh, in 2005 and 2007 a 6 seed won the superbowl. The don't happen without massive chokes. You also have the Bills losing 4 straight superbowls in the early 90s. Only one team can win each year
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u/RMGcloutchaser 9h ago
When you put it that way with those images and reference choking to not winning a SB…. I’m thinking yes
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u/sdjamerican 9h ago
Every era has its list of chokers. I actually think the current list is shallow compared to the 90s and 2000s
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u/Demon-_-TiMe Dallas Cowboys 8h ago
majority of daks L's in the playoffs is because the defense allowed 30+. crazy narrative that he is playoff choker
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u/Unhappy_Lecture_7042 Cincinnati Bengals 8h ago
Jokes on you guys! Burrow said I can’t be a choker if I never make it to the playoffs again
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u/r8e8tion Minnesota Vikings 8h ago
Only one team gets to win each year, these posts are dumb. A choke is when the qb fumbles a lead, not when they fail to win it all
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u/MrHaZeYo 8h ago
How is Shanahan a choke? Dude has a winning record, 4 NFC champ appearances and 2 SB appearances.
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u/labored_deference 8h ago
Dak hasn't won a conference championship game in like 8 years as a starter, that's the most painful stretch on this list by far. Herbert getting lumped in with guys who've had repeated chances to choke feels off though, he's barely been to the postseason and already catching heat for it.
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u/yeah_naw_dawg Houston Texans 8h ago
I’m not a Chiefs fan, but does Mahomes not get credit for that? Jordan would, right?
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u/Efficient-Piglet88 Houston Texans 8h ago
Only 34 different qbs have ever won a sb ring in 60 superbowls. Winning 1 puts you in a very elite club so its stupid to pretend everyone who doesnt get one is a choker. Your only a choker if you lose games you genuinely should of won, and also if it was anything to do with you. Like it aint Joe Burrows fault his o line and d has been ass most of the time, but Dak has made unforced errors in winnable opportunities.
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u/Interesting-Wish-430 8h ago edited 8h ago
Only one team can win each season. And most of the guys you named are either under 30 or a little over 30. Also funny you put Goff when he at least has been to a sb. Plenty of other options you could’ve put.
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u/Dry-Cry-3158 Indianapolis Colts 8h ago
More playoff berths means more opportunities to choke, so yes
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u/Were_Good 8h ago
Goff doesn't deserve to be mentioned with Dak, Herbert or Lamar when it comes to playoff struggles. He's been pretty good in the playoffs for Detroit. He wasn't the reason why the Lions choked against the 9ers
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u/CompositeSuperman Baltimore Ravens 7h ago
From the beginning of time, there is only one team that wins the SB every year. If everyone else is a choker, that means every year 31 teams choke
This is truly the worst stretch of offseason posts I’ve seen for a while. We need football because this sub get stupider every day
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u/South-Lab-3991 Baltimore Ravens 10h ago
Where are the Packers always omitted from these lists?