The Five Worst Super Bowl Quarterback Performances Of The 21st Century

Despite just barely finishing as the runner-up to Matthew Stafford in the race for the 2025 NFL MVP award, New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye had a horrific showing in Super Bowl LX against the Seattle Seahawks.

Maye completed just 27-of-43 passes for 295 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions in the 29-13 loss to Seattle, and the majority of his yardage, as well as both touchdowns, came with the game seemingly already decided.

According to TruMedia, Maye finished with an EPA (Expected Points Added) per dropback of -0.34, the sixth-worst of any Super Bowl quarterback in the 21st century. And that number would have almost certainly been worse if not for his accumulated stats with the game well in hand for Seattle.

That got us thinking, which quarterbacks this century have put up worse performances in the big game? This is the list we came up with by the numbers.

5) Ben Roethlisberger – Super Bowl XL: -0.38 EPA/db

While the majority of quarterbacks on this list unsurprisingly lost the Super Bowl, it’s not true for every quarterback on the list.

One of the two exceptions was Ben Roethlisberger, who completed just 9-of-21 passes for 123 yards and two interceptions against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 40. That gave him an EPA per dropback of -0.38.

Thankfully for Roethlisberger, the Pittsburgh Steelers had a dominant defense and ran for 181 yards on 33 carries, an average of 5.5 yards per carry, en route to a 21-10 victory.

4) Rex Grossman – Super Bowl XLI: -0.46 EPA/db

The storyline for Super Bowl 41 was no secret. The Indianapolis Colts came in with a high-powered offense led by superstar quarterback Peyton Manning. The Chicago Bears, meanwhile, had the best defense in the league and a Hall of Fame return man in Devin Hester.

Unfortunately for the Bears, they also had Rex Grossman at quarterback. Grossman had done just enough all year to not screw things up.

That is, until the Super Bowl.

After Hester returned the opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown to put Chicago up 7-0, Grossman proceeded to go 20-of-28 for 165 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions, for an EPA per dropback of -0.46.

After going up 14-6 after the first quarter, the Bears scored just three points the rest of the way, losing the game 29-17.

3) Rich Gannon – Super Bowl XXXVII: -0.51 EPA/db

Unlike with the Bears and Grossman, the Oakland Raiders came into Super Bowl 37 feeling pretty good about how they matched up against the vaunted Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense.

Veteran Rich Gannon was coming off an MVP season and was named to his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl.

Unfortunately, however, the Bucs defense proved too much. Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice dominated the Raiders up front, and Gannon was rattled from the jump.

He finished the night 24-of-44 for 272 yards, two touchdowns, and a remarkable five interceptions, three of which were returned for touchdowns. Two of those three were by safety Dwight Smith, while the other was to Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks, despite Dexter Jackson, who had the other two interceptions, both in the first half, being named the game’s MVP.

Gannon finished the game with a lowly -0.51 EPA per dropback.

2) Peyton Manning – Super Bowl L: -0.58 EPA/db

By the time Peyton Manning reached Super Bowl 50 with the Denver Broncos, he was a shell of the quarterback who was once considered the best in the league. Neck surgeries had zapped his once howitzer of an arm, and he was now reduced to little more than a game manager.

Simply put, Manning was dreadful against the Carolina Panthers. He completed only 13-of-23 passes for 141 yards, no touchdowns, an interception, two fumbles, and five sacks, which worked out to -0.58 EPA per dropback.

Thankfully, however, Manning was able to lean on one of the best defenses of this century, and the Broncos walked out 24-10 winners after containing NFL MVP Cam Newton and the Panthers’ offense all night.

1) Kerry Collins – Super Bowl XXXV: -0.74 EPA/db

Sometimes you are the hammer, and sometimes you are the nail.

Unfortunately for Kerry Collins and the New York Giants, he was very much the nail in Super Bowl 35 against the Baltimore Ravens, who boasted perhaps the best defense in NFL history.

Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, and company made life hell for Collins all night. The journeyman QB went just 15-of-39 passing for 112, no touchdowns, and four interceptions. Collins finished the game with an astonishing -0.74 EPA per dropback.

Despite that fact, the Giants found themselves still hanging around, down just 17-7 after a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Ron Dixon with 3:31 left in the third quarter. However, Jermaine Lewis answered right back with an 84-yard kickoff return touchdown of his own, marking the only time in Super Bowl history that consecutive kicks have been returned for a score.

Baltimore ran away with the game from there, winning 34-7 and capping a night Collins probably wishes he could forget.