Technically speaking, the Pittsburgh Steelers will play their 62nd playoff game in the history of the franchise on Sunday at Heinz Field against the Jacksonville Jaguars. It’s technically because according to the team’s media release, the franchise counts the losses to the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1947 Eastern Division Playoffs and the Detroit Lions in the 1962 season’s Playoff Bowl.
As part of the Steelers 36-25 all-time playoff record, it’s quite interesting to go back and look at the starting quarterbacks they have lost to during the postseason.
For starters, the Steelers first franchise playoff loss in 1947 to the Eagles came at the hands of Tommy Thompson, who started his professional football career with the Steelers in 1940.
As for the second quarterback the Steelers lost to in the playoffs, Milt Plum of the Detroit Lions, while he never played for the Steelers, he did play his college football at Penn State.
Earl Morrall, the third-ever starting quarterback the Steelers lost to in the playoffs, like Thompson, he was a former member of the Steelers.
All Steelers fans remember Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler, who beat Pittsburgh in the playoffs twice during his career. Stabler is one of six quarterbacks currently enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame who have beaten the Steelers in the playoffs. The others are Dan Fouts, Dan Marino, John Elway, Joe Montana and Troy Aikman. At some point, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and perhaps even Aaron Rodgers, will one day be enshrined in Canton and all three have beaten the Steelers in the playoffs.
While there are certainly some impressive quarterbacks who have beaten the Steelers in the playoffs on this list, there’s unfortunately a few others that weren’t overly impressive during their NFL careers. Do the names Frank Reich, Stan Humphries, David Garrard and Tim Tebow all ring a bell? In the playoff losses to those four quarterbacks, the Steelers were favored to win three of those games.
Should the Steelers ultimately fail to win this year’s Super Bowl in the coming weeks we’ll unfortunately need to add another quarterback to the list below. The possibly names as we sit here today are Blake Bortles, Marcus Mariota, Brady, Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Nick Foles or Case Keenum.
QBs Who Have Beaten Steelers In The Playoffs:
| DATE | PLAYOFF GAME | SCORE | Starting QB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec. 21, 1947 | Eastern Division Playoff | Philadelphia 21, Pittsburgh 0 | Tommy Thompson |
| Jan. 6, 1963 | Playoff Bowl | Detroit 17, Pittsburgh 10 | Milt Plum |
| Dec. 31, 1972 | AFC Championship | Miami 21, Pittsburgh 17 | Earl Morrall |
| Dec. 22, 1973 | AFC Wild Card | Oakland 33, Pittsburgh 13 | *Ken Stabler |
| Dec. 26, 1976 | AFC Championship | Oakland 24, Pittsburgh 7 | *Ken Stabler |
| Dec. 24, 1977 | AFC Divisional | Denver 34, Pittsburgh 21 | Craig Morton |
| Jan. 9, 1983 | AFC Tournament | San Diego 31, Pittsburgh 28 | *Dan Fouts |
| Jan. 1, 1984 | AFC Divisional | L.A. Raiders 38, Pittsburgh 10 | Jim Plunkett |
| Jan. 6, 1985 | AFC Championship | Miami 45, Pittsburgh 28 | *Dan Marino |
| Jan. 7, 1990 | AFC Divisional | Denver 24, Pittsburgh 23 | *John Elway |
| Jan. 9, 1993 | AFC Divisional | Buffalo 24, Pittsburgh 3 | Frank Reich |
| Jan. 8, 1994 | AFC Wild Card | Kansas City 24, Pittsburgh 23 | *Joe Montana |
| Jan. 15, 1995 | AFC Championship | San Diego 17, Pittsburgh 13 | Stan Humphries |
| Jan. 28, 1996 | Super Bowl XXX | Dallas 27, Pittsburgh 17 | *Troy Aikman |
| Jan. 5, 1997 | AFC Divisional | New England 28, Pittsburgh 3 | Drew Bledsoe |
| Jan. 11, 1998 | AFC Championship | Denver 24, Pittsburgh 21 | *John Elway |
| Jan. 27, 2002 | AFC Championship | New England 24, Pittsburgh 17 | Tom Brady |
| Jan. 11, 2003 | AFC Divisional | Tennessee 34, Pittsburgh 31 | Steve McNair |
| Jan. 23, 2005 | AFC Championship | New England 41, Pittsburgh 27 | Tom Brady |
| Jan. 5, 2008 | AFC Wild Card | Jacksonville 31, Pittsburgh 29 | David Garrard |
| Feb. 6, 2011 | Super Bowl XLV | Green Bay 31, Pittsburgh 25 | Aaron Rodgers |
| Jan. 8, 2012 | AFC Wild Card | Denver 29, Pittsburgh 23 (OT) | Tim Tebow |
| Jan. 3, 2015 | AFC Wild Card | Baltimore 30, Pittsburgh 15 | Joe Flacco |
| Jan. 17, 2016 | AFC Divisional | Denver 23, Pittsburgh 16 | Peyton Manning |
| Jan. 22, 2017 | AFC Championship | New England 36 Pittsburgh 17 | Tom Brady |
* Hall of Famer
