NFL power rankings: Where Jimmy Garoppolo, remaining playoff QBs rank in divisional round

Niner Noise dives into the remaining quarterbacks in the playoffs and lists them out, NFL power rankings style. Where does the 49ers’ Jimmy Garoppolo stand?

The San Francisco 49ers certainly don’t have the best quarterback remaining in the NFL playoffs. And with the Wild Card round now complete and six teams fully eliminated from the postseason, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo probably doesn’t sit too high when compared to the other signal-callers who’ll be playing in the divisional round this upcoming weekend.

Garoppolo wasn’t close to perfect during the Niners’ 23-17 Wild Card win over the Dallas Cowboys, but Jimmy G easily didn’t make the kind of mistake Prescott made in the waning minutes, failing to hand over the ball to the officials on what could have been a game-sealing snap before time expired.

Regardless, it’s still worth diving into where Garoppolo and the rest of the 2022 playoff quarterbacks (at least those still in the dance) stand in comparison to each other.

So, let’s rank them all out, NFL power rankings style as the “elite eight” of the league prepare to square off in the divisional round of the postseason.

NFL Power Rankings No. 8: Joe Burrow, Bengals

Cincinnati Bengals second-year quarterback Joe Burrow’s playoff debut couldn’t have gone much better than it did with him being primarily responsible for defeating the Las Vegas Raiders in their Wild Card matchup.

Burrow’s line was exceptional, him tossing 24 of 34 passes for 244 yards, two touchdowns against zero interceptions and a passer rating of 110.4, adding to a streak of five games now where he’s reached at least a 100 rating.

True, it helps having the bona fide Offensive Rookie of the Year, wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, at his disposal. And overall, Burrow has played such a key role in Cincy’s turnaround this season and first playoff win since, well… a long time ago.

Yet the divisional round will be an entirely different animal, and the pressure on a young quarterback means he’ll ultimately be pushed down towards the bottom of this list.

It shouldn’t take anything away from his stellar 2021 campaign, though.