This NFL season has seen no shortage of heroic performances from quarterbacks – from both the usual suspects as well as signal-callers who once seemed unlikely to seize the spotlight.
The likes of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert and other established stars have already announced themselves as ones to watch on a weekly basis. But 2023 has also featured its share of surprising star turns.
So with the calendar year closing out and the regular season drawing closer to an end, we decided to ask our panel of NFL reporters and columnists:
What has been the most heroic QB performance this season?
Their answers:
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Joe Flacco’s resurgence with the Cleveland Browns
A month ago, the answer would have been Joshua Dobbs, who helped save the Minnesota Vikings’ season after Kirk Cousins suffered a season-ending knee injury. But now it’s Flacco. His case and the plight of Dobbs, who has been benched, illustrate just how dramatically circumstances can turn over the course of 30 days in the NFL. Nobody in the NFL wanted Flacco – even in this year of the backup QB – until the Browns tapped him to be their fourth starting quarterback this season. Didn’t the New York Jets need an emergency starter, too? Now the playoffs loom and the Browns (9-5) will have an undeniable road warrior and Super Bowl MVP to roll with and have a better than average chance of winning on the road in the playoffs. In other words, the heroic performance could go on for a few more weeks. As it stands now, the Browns are 2-1 in Flacco’s starts and head into this weekend’s clash at Houston on the heels of the lanky QB’s huge, 200-plus yards fourth quarter in the comeback against the Bears.
– Jarrett Bell
Jake Browning stepping up as starter
I was among many – I assume – who thought the Cincinnati Bengals were dead in the water after QB Joe Burrow was lost for the season. I was in their locker room the night his wrist came unglued in Baltimore and saw a dour, defeated bunch. QB2 Jake Browning’s performance at MT&T Bank Stadium and in the following game against the Steelers, a 16-10 loss in Cincinnati, did little to suggest the reigning AFC North champs were headed anywhere but the gutter. But Browning, pretty much a career practice squader before this season who’d never taken a regular-season snap, has since made an old Army guy reminisce about the M2 Browning machine gun after resilient, devastating performances (to the opposition) while blowing massive holes into playoff-caliber teams like the Jaguars, Colts and Vikings the past three weeks, two of those victories occurring in overtime. He’s thrown for nearly 1,000 yards during that three-game stretch, completing 77% of his passes (112.6 QB rating) and even rushing for two scores. Browning will never be Burrow, but he’s probably gonna get a long look from a long list of teams this offseason. And while the Bengals are hardly a sure thing to return to postseason, they’re also most certainly out of the gutter.
– Nate Davis
Josh Allen’s dazzling display in losing effort
His team didn’t win even win the game, but the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen had an equally gritty and star-like performance against the Philadelphia Eagles in a Week 12 overtime loss.
Allen was 29-for-51 with 339 passing yards and two touchdowns with his arm and added 81 yards on nine rushes with another two scores. The Bills were 13-for-22 (59%) on third down. All game, Allen extended, spun and bruised his way for extra yards and big plays.
Was he perfect? Absolutely not. He threw an interception. He missed a potential game-winning throw in overtime to Gabe Davis, which could have also been the receiver’s fault for running the wrong route after beating his defender off the line of scrimmage. But he meshed his desire to play hero ball with enough positive plays to give his team more than a puncher’s chance against a Philadelphia squad whose cracks that have been exploited in three straight losses became apparent throughout that contest.
Allen sat in his locker despondent afterward on the wrong side of a 37-34 outcome. But there was still an air of hope in a season that had not gone to plan at all for Buffalo, and it was because of what their quarterback did that day. Since then, the Bills have won two in a row – at Kansas City and last Sunday against Dallas – coming off their bye.
– Chris Bumbaca
C.J. Stroud’s sterling rookie season
The presumptive NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year has been nothing short of impressive this year. Stroud has undoubtedly performed like the best rookie quarterback since Justin Herbert. His poise, maturity, and ability to process against good defenses has been a pleasant surprise. Stroud already broke the NFL’s single-game rookie record for passing yards and his 98.7 passer rating ranks fourth in the NFL for quarterbacks with at least 13 starts.
The Texans roster is void of stars and household names. They weren’t considered a playoff contender coming into the season. But Stroud has help lead the upstart Texans into playoff contention as they are threatening to make the postseason for the first time since 2019. To me that’s heroic, especially for a first-year QB.
– Tyler Dragon
Joshua Dobbs’ amazing fill-in performance five days after being traded
Don’t let what followed diminish an incredible performance. Yes, other quarterbacks listed here won with more panache and style points, and all have proven to have more staying power. But what Dobbs did for the Minnesota Vikings in their time of need this November was a singular outing.
There was no reasonable expectation that Dobbs could meaningfully contribute to the Vikings on the field just five days after he was dealt to the team by the Arizona Cardinals at the NFL trade deadline. But when rookie Jaren Hall –who first got the call as Kirk Cousins’ replacement after the veteran tore his Achilles – suffered a first-quarter concussion against the Atlanta Falcons, Minnesota was out of options, as primary backup Nick Mullens was on injured reserve.
By now, Dobbs’ performance is the stuff of legend: Despite not knowing many of his teammates’ names, he tallied three touchdowns and tossed the go-ahead score in the final minute to power a 31-28 win. Dobbs would go on to deliver another stellar start before things began to unravel, leading to his benching in the fourth quarter of a 3-0 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. Yet while Dobbs has receded into the background, his importance to the Vikings’ season – at a time when the offense was still trying to stay afloat without Justin Jefferson – can’t be overstated as they try to cling to a wild-card berth.
– Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz