As we have seen in the past, stellar quarterback play in the postseason is one of the largest indicators of success for a team. Even tough many of us will fall short of calling Joe Flacco an elite quarterback, his postseason performance last season was one of the primary reasons that the Baltimore Ravens hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. This story has been repeated over and over again. In reality, the Trent Dilfer's and Brad Johnson's of the world are far and few between. On that note, let's check in and rank each of remaining quarterbacks in the NFL playoffs heading into divisional weekend. 

Note: These rankings will be based SOLELY on postseason performances. 

1. Tom Brady, New England Patriots

Career Postseason Statistics: (17-7 record) 62.3 completion, 5,949 passing yards, 45 touchdowns, 22 interceptions and a 87.4 rating

A lot has been made of the success that Brady has had in the postseason, but the future Hall of Fame quarterback and three-time Super Bowl Champion hasn't hoisted the Lombardi in a decade and has lost five of his last eight playoff starts. In order for Brady to entrench his name in there among the greatest of all time, if he hasn't already, he needs to win one more Super Bowl. 

The interesting dynamic here is that Brady hasn't started a playoff game on the road since 2007, going 3-3 at home during that span. Despite his high level of success in January, some recent trends indicate that Andrew Luck and Co. have a decent shot to go into Gillette on Sunday and come away with a victory. 

2. Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos

Career Postseason Statistics: (9-11 recod) 63.2 completion, 5,679 passing yards, 35 total touchdowns, 21 interceptions and a 88.4 rating

If I were to tell you that Manning possesses a better postseason quarterback rating than Brady, you would have responded with one of two statements.  First, quarterack rating doesn't matter. Second, that I am probably smoking some funky stuff. As it is, Manning's perceived lack of success in the postseason has had more to do with recent trends. Manning has lost each of his last three playoff starts and is 2-5 since defeating the Chicago Bears in Super  Bowl XLI back in February of 2007. 

For his part, most of Manning's statistical struggles in the postseason have come in open-air environments. He has lost six of his eight career playoff starts in outdoor environments, including in the divisional round to the Baltimore Ravens last season. He has thrown nine touchdowns compared to 11 interceptions in those starts. In order for Denver to move on to the Super Bowl this season, those numbes are going to have to change. 

3. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints

Career Postseason Statistics: (6-4 record) 66.8 completion, 3,230 passing yards, 23 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 101.9 rating. 

Much like the two quarterback above him, Brees hasn't had a ton of postseason success since winning his first and only Super Bowl back in 2009. Brees is 2-2 in his last four playoff starts and has failed to lead New Orleans past the divisional round in his last two postseason appearances. Unlike Manning before, Brees' performance has been stellar since that Super Bowl win. He has thrown 10 touchdowns compared to four interceptions in those four games. 

The issue here, however, is that Brees' fist career road playoff win came last week against the Philadelphia Eagles after three different opportunities. He will now take on the Seattle Seahawks in the Pacific Northwest this upcoming weekend. If trends hold true, Brees will fail to make it back to the conference championship game for a fourth consecutive season. 

4. Colin Kaepernick, San Francisco 49ers

Career Postseason Statistics: (3-1 record) 59.1 completion, 1,025 passing yards, 362 rushing yards, eight total touchdowns, three interceptions and a 93.9 rating. 

If I were to tell you that Kaepernick has more road playoff wins in two starts away from Candlestick Park than Joe Montana and Steve Young had in 10 combined road postseason starts, you would have pegged me as a crazy man. But after leading San Francisco to a fourth quarter comeback against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field last week, Kaepernick is 2-0 on the road in his playoff career, both games via the fourth quarter comeback. 

All said, San Francisco is averaging over 30 points per game in its four playoff games with Kaepernick under center. He's also averaging 350 total yards and two touchdowns per game in his postseason career. The third-year signal caller will now have yet another opportunity to prove his resolve this week on the road against the Carolina Panthers. 

5. Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks

Career Postseason Statistics: (1-1 record) 62.9 completion, 572 passing yards, 127 rushing yards, four total touchdowns, one interception and a 102.4 rating

Despite losing in the divisional round last season, Wilson put up an extraordinary performance in his first and only venture into the playoffs last season. He averaged nearly 350 total yards per outing and become a rare rookie quarterback to win his first road postseason start when Seattle defeated the Washington Redskins in the NFC Wild Card playoffs. Heck, Wilson wasn't even close to blame for Seattle's late-game loss against the Atlanta Falcons in the divisional round. He put up 445 yards and three total scores in the 30-28 loss. 

Wilson will now make his first career playoff home start when Seattle hosts the aforementioned Saints in the divisional round on Saturday. Will he be able to duplicate what was a stunning playoff performance last season? 

6. Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts

Career Postseason Statistics: (1-1 record) 57.6 completion, 731 passing yards, four touchdowns, four interceptions and a 77.5 rating

Last week's ridiculous performance notwithstanding, Luck just isn't as experienced and hasn't had as much success as the vast majority ot the quarterbacks listed above. And for good reason...he has only started 32 regular season games in a two-year career. With that said, Luck's second half performance against the Kansas City Chiefs in the wild card round was historical. He put up 300-plus total yards and four touchdowns (I count the fumble recovery) in leading Indianapolis back from a 28-point deficit.

Luck will now have to travel on the road to take on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots on Saturday night. In his only exposure to a road playoff game, last season against the Baltimore Ravens, Luck led the Colts to just nine points on 54 pass attempts in a 15-point loss to the eventual Super Bowl champions. Can Luck prove that he is capable of winning in January away from Indianapolis? That will be the larger question at hand this weekend. 

7. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers

Career Postseason Statistics: (4-4 record) 5.96 completion, 1,948 passing yards, 10 total touchdowns, nine interceptions and a 81.8 rating

I am not going to simply rank Rivers higher because he has more experience than some of the quarterbacks listed above or is coming off a surprising victory against the Cincinnati Bengals last week. Instead, it's important to look at his  whole body of work. While Rivers has rebounded a big way during a breakout 2013 campaign, he's bean a .500 quarterback in the playoffs and has a one-to-one TD/INT ratio in the second season. He is going to have to improve on the latter numbers if San Diego is going to come out on top against the Broncos in Denver on Sunday. 

8. Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers 

Career Postseason Statistics: N/A 

Newton is ranked eighth here simply because he will be making his initial postseason start in his three-year career Sunday afternoon against San Francisco. He will be doing so against a fellow 2011 NFL draft classmate who has already notched three career playoff wins. For more on what Newton needs to prove in this one, check out my recent article on Yahoo!