Ranking five NFC QBs under most pressure in 2023: Dak Prescott, Kirk Cousins must take teams to next level

Life as a quarterback in the NFL is certainly the most fulfilling — when that player wins. For every Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow, there are quarterbacks who need to win in order to keep their starting jobs. 

The shelf life for an NFL starting quarterback can be long with consistent success, but what about the quarterbacks struggling to retain their jobs? Or the ones trying to prove they belong as a starting quarterback in the league, trying to reach the success Mahomes has accomplished? 

Who are the quarterbacks facing the most pressure in a wide-open NFC? These quarterbacks have already won at the NFL level, but need to advance farther in the playoffs. If that’s not the case, they are trying to win with a new team or win a starting job with their current team. 

Love is in an entirely similar situation to his predecessor. Aaron Rodgers sat behind Brett Favre for three years before the Packers  finally moved on from Favre and allowed Rodgers (a former first-round pick) to take over as the franchise quarterback in Green Bay. 

That decision worked out well for the Packers, as Rodgers won a Super Bowl three years after being named the starter. The Packers had both Rodgers and Favre win a Super Bowl in their decade-plus tenures in Green Bay, having a Pro Bowl quarterback start for the franchise every year since 1992. 

In comes Love, tasked with winning for a franchise that just had Rodgers rack up four MVP awards and a Super Bowl title in his 18 seasons with the Packers. Rodgers succeeded Favre, who won a Super Bowl and three MVPs in Green Bay.

The Packers are in a soft rebuild and already gave Love (also a former first-round pick) a contract extension. Time is on Love’s side — for 2023 at least.

If there’s any quarterback who has a huge vote of confidence from his organization, it’s Sam Howell. The Commanders have spoken glowingly about the 2022 fifth-round pick who has just one NFL start under his belt. Can Howell play? 

Howell is the quarterback Washington wants to be its signal-caller for 2023 and beyond, but the first order of business is to beat out Jacoby Brissett in training camp. Once Howell accomplishes that job, he has to play well enough to keep his position. 

Outperforming Jalen Hurts, Dak Prescott, and Daniel Jones in the NFC East is no easy task — even if the Commanders have a talented roster that can make the playoffs. Their playoff fate comes down to Howell, whom the Commanders believe will end their revolving rotation of quarterbacks (Washington has started 12 different quarterbacks since 2018, the most in the NFL).

With an established offensive coordinator in Eric Bieniemy, Howell has to play well and win. Plenty of jobs in Washington rely on his performance. 

Sooner or later, Cousins is going to have to win more than one playoff game for the Vikings. Cousins is entering the final year of his contract, and Minnesota has $28.5 million in salary cap savings next offseason to move on from him. 

Cousins is 35 years old and has just one playoff win in his 11-year career. He’s never been to a conference championship game despite completing 67.8% of his passes in Minnesota, throwing for 153 touchdown passes to just 50 interceptions and having a passer rating of 100.9. 

If Cousins throws 25 touchdown passes this season, he’ll become the fifth player in NFL history to reach the mark in nine consecutive seasons, joining Peyton Manning (13), Drew Brees (11), Philip Rivers (11) and Tom Brady (10). Cousins has the fourth highest passer rating and fourth most touchdown passes in the league since joining the Vikings in 2018, while Minnesota has gone 46-33-1 in his starts. 

The playoff numbers are good (71.7%, four touchdowns, one interception, 100.0 passer rating in three games with Minnesota), but the Vikings just haven’t made a deep playoff run with Cousins at the helm. If Minnesota takes a step back this year after a 13-4 season, Cousins may be looking for a new job in 2024. 

The Saints were able to improve at quarterback this offseason by getting Carr to come to New Orleans. Now, it’s time for Carr to prove his final year with the Las Vegas Raiders (which he had Josh Jacobs and Davante Adams) was an indictment of Josh McDaniels instead of his play. 

Will Carr have the effect on the Saints that Matthew Stafford had with the Los Angeles Rams two years ago? The Saints have had problems finding consistent quarterback play since Drew Brees retired, despite being the only team in the NFC South to have a top-10 defense in points and yards per game allowed last season. 

There will be no excuses for Carr if he can’t get the job done in New Orleans. Carr never played with a defense ranked better than 20th in points per game allowed in his nine seasons with the Raiders. Instead, he’s played with defenses ranking 20th or worse in yards per game allowed in seven of his nine seasons. Carr made the playoffs in the one season the Raiders’ defense finished in the top 15 in yards allowed (14th in 2021).

The Raiders defense did no favors for Carr, who is getting a complete 180 regarding the Saints’ unit. The Saints are fourth in the NFL in points per game allowed (20.9) over the past five seasons and haven’t had a defense ranked below 14th in points or yards per game allowed over that span. New Orleans has a top-three defense in yards allowed (314.2) over the last three seasons, despite missing the playoffs twice during that stretch. 

Carr, who has one playoff start on his resume, is the best quarterback in the NFC South. On top of this, the NFC South isn’t a good division and the Saints should benefit from having one of the easier schedules in the NFL (New Orleans plays the NFC North and AFC South in 2023). There’s an opportunity for the Saints to rack up wins and set themselves up to become a Super Bowl contender in the NFC.

Of course, this all relies on Carr playing well in year one of a four-year, $150 million deal. Carr has a good defense for the first time in his career and plenty of good skill position players on offense to succeed in New Orleans. There hasn’t been a better opportunity for Carr to win in his career than this season with the Saints.

Prescott’s job isn’t on the line, but his legacy is. How many times are the Cowboys going to win double-digit games, advance to the playoffs, and not get past the divisional round? This occurrence has happened four times under Prescott, and twice in the last two seasons. 

Prescott has won two playoff games, but those playoff victories haven’t exactly been against world beaters. The combined record of opponents the Cowboys have beaten in his two playoff victories is 18-15, which is the lowest opponent win percentage (.545) in playoff wins among the 109 quarterbacks to win multiple postseason games in their career. 

The failures in the postseason are tied to the Cowboys, who have 12 straight playoff appearances without making the conference championship game — the longest streak in NFL history. Prescott has advanced to the divisional round three times and has lost all three games, completing 62.6% of his passes for 774 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions for an 88.3 passer rating. Those are good numbers, but not enough to get Dallas to the next level.

Prescott is still a good quarterback and one worthy of leading a franchise. His 50 games with a 100-plus quarterback rating after his first seven seasons trail only Russell Wilson (56) for the most in NFL history, while his 97.8 passer rating is eighth among qualifying quarterbacks in league history. Prescott has 193 career touchdowns through his first 97 games, fourth-most in league history (trailing only Dan Marino, Aaron Rodgers, and Patrick Mahomes). The Cowboys are 61-36 in his starts (.629 win percentage), so they are winning games and putting themselves in position to make deep playoff runs with Prescott; they’ve just failed to capitalize on them.

At this point, Prescott has to prove he can lead the Cowboys past the divisional round of the postseason. What the Cowboys do in the regular season is impressive, but it’s empty calories given their performance in January. Prescott has a loaded roster on both sides of the ball, as the Cowboys are a legitimate Super Bowl contender in a weak NFC. 

There isn’t a better opportunity for Dallas to advance past the divisional round of the playoffs than the 2023 season. If Dallas doesn’t, Mike McCarthy and several other coaches may lose their jobs as a result. What about Prescott’s future? Can the Cowboys move forward with a soon-to-be 30-year-old quarterback who can’t seem to take the franchise back to their Super Bowl glory? 

There’s a lot at stake for Prescott and the Cowboys in 2023. Prescott’s legacy in Dallas will have a much clearer explanation after this season.