Then, wheels got wobbly, a handful fell off, and we are headed into a postseason with only two of these four quarterbacks carrying a torch for Super Bowl LX.
The biggest surprise is Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks. Darnold, the discarded New York Jet, Carolina Panther, San Francisco 49er, and Minnesota Viking, was not necessarily expected to duplicate his excellent seventh season. Especially with the Seahawks parting ways with their top receivers and a suspect offensive line.
How did Darnold and co. respond? Simply by accumulating 14 wins and earning the top seed in the NFC, all while remaining on the fringe of MVP talk.
The other playoff-bound quarterback is Josh Allen, leading the Bills back to the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season. This year, Buffalo is the sixth-seed and is traveling to Jacksonville to face the red-hot Jaguars. The good news for Allen? With no Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, or Lamar Jackson in the playoffs, this may be his and Buffalo's best chance to reach the Super Bowl.
Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens fell short of the playoffs, falling to the Pittsburgh Steelers in week 18 with the AFC North on the line. The loss ultimately paved the way for the Ravens parting ways with head coach John Harbaugh.
Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers also were eliminated on the last weekend of the regular season. Though the Bucs won their finale, they lost the tiebreaker with the Carolina Panthers when the Atlanta Falcons defeated the New Orleans Saints.
The eighth season saw decent performances for these four quarterbacks but had plenty of disappointment mixed in, even for those headed to the playoffs and the quest to be the first to earn a Super Bowl title.
Sam Darnold
The list of quarterbacks to lead two different teams to 14-win seasons is a small one. Last week, Darnold joined Peyton Manning and Tom Brady on that list. Two years ago, one would have thought that to be improbable, if not impossible.
Backed by a strong running game and a top-tier defense, Darnold led the Seahawks (14-3) to a division title and the top-seed in the NFC. His numbers dropped slightly in the season's back nine and he still faded slightly in big games. However, he played mistake-free football in the clincher, completing 20 of 26 for 198 yards in a 13-3 victory over the 49ers.
Seattle enters the playoffs with a seven-game winning streak. Darnold was better in the season's first eight games, struggling with only nine touchdown passes against nine interceptions. Darnold's completion percentage also dropped from 70.4% after eight games to 67.7% to end the season.
The 14 interceptions Darnold threw were the second highest of his career, just below the 15 he threw as a rookie. Darnold finished with 4,048 passing yards and 25 touchdowns, adding 95 yards on the ground while only being sacked 27 times.
As the top seed, Seattle has home field advantage. In an ultra-competitive NFC, this means everything in the world for the Seahawks. The defense will have its say but for Seattle to reach the Super Bowl, they will need the mistake-free version of Darnold mixed with the one from the season's first eight games. Do that and come February the Seahawks will be Super Bowl bound.
Josh Allen
With no real "star" receiver and injuries among his receivers and tight ends, Allen had somewhat of a down year in the passing game. This is not to say the aforementioned was the entire reason for Allen having a down year by comparison to his MVP season.
Buffalo (12-5) seemed poised to roll through the regular season. After dominating opponents early, Allen and the Bills had inconsistent results, with three of their losses coming by a combined eight points. This included a week 17 loss when Allen missed an open Khalil Shakir on a two-point conversion attempt that would have won the game.
Still, the Bills won four of five to close the regular season. Allen played only one snap in week 18 but in the four weeks prior, did not throw an interception (this after a four-game stretch in which he tossed six picks).
Numbers were down but Allen did achieve a career-best 69.3 completion percentage, throwing for 3,668 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. In the week 17 loss, Allen crossed 30,000 passing yards for his career.
In the ground game, Allen found the end zone 14 times and rushed for 579 yards. Back in week 13, Allen set the record for career rushing touchdowns by a quarterback.
A tough opening round game is on the agenda for Allen and the Bills. The path is no easier with Mahomes, Jackson, and Burrow absent but perhaps, just perhaps, the mental hurdle will be much easier to clear to reach the Super Bowl this February.
Lamar Jackson
Consider the 2025-26 season a lost one for Jackson and the Ravens (8-9). It was one filled with injuries for the two-time MVP and one that produced the first losing season as a starter (6-7) in Jackson's career.
Jackson showed flashes of his normal brilliance but those were outweighed by struggles. True, Baltimore relied a lot on Derrick Henry without much in the passing game beyond Zay Flowers. But Jackson had six games with under 200 yards passing and had the lowest total rushing yards of his career (349) on 4.8 yards per carry and rushing for only two scores.
Henry ran to the tune of 1,595 yards and 16 touchdowns for Baltimore, including a week 17 effort where he ran for 216 yards and four touchdowns.
At one point, Jackson went three games without a touchdown pass. Despite a heroic fourth quarter effort in the season finale loss against the Steelers (with two touchdowns of 50+ yards), Jackson ended the season losing four of his last five starts.
Jackson completed 63.6% of his pass attempts, throwing for 2,549 yards, 21 touchdowns, and seven interceptions in his eighth season.
With no postseason, Jackson has a chance to start the healing process and get healthy for season nine. And with a new head coach headed to Baltimore, it will be interesting to see if there is untapped potential still floating around in Jackson. More importantly, hopes for a bounce back season and a return to Super Bowl aspirations.
Baker Mayfield
Struggles by Mayfield in the second half of the season contributed to Tampa Bay's swoon, where the Buccaneers went 2-7 to close the year. Inopportune turnovers, injuries to star receivers, and a running game that slowed down also contributed.
In their 6-2 start, Tampa Bay won the close games. That trend reversed the back half of the season, where their last four losses were by a combined 11 points.
The season was also a tale of two halves for Mayfield. During the first eight games, Mayfield's name was thrown around in MVP circles, passing for 1,919 yards, 13 touchdowns, and only two interceptions.
In the final nine games, Mayfield threw for only 1,774 yards, 13 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. Overall, Mayfield finished with a completion percentage of 63.2 in passing for 3,693 yards, 26 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. The numbers were all the lowest of Mayfield's time in Tampa Bay.
Mayfield did, however, finish with a career-high 382 yards on the ground, scoring once.
Tampa Bay might be in the middle of a transition period. They went all in this season and may have missed their window, especially within their division, where the New Orleans Saints appear to be on the right track and Carolina is now competitive. For now, it is another offseason to reflect, and for Mayfield to hope he gets the team back to the playoffs in season nine.
Josh Rosen
Josh Rosen remained out of the game through the 2025 season, off pursuing other endeavors.
Thanks for following along with this continuing series. Enjoy the playoffs and come back next August to see how these quarterbacks stack up entering their ninth season.
2018 NFL Draft - 1st round quarterbacks - season 8:
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