And then there were eight. Eight teams are left on the road to the Super Bowl, and eight quarterbacks have the chance to be either heroes or goats. Football is rightfully known as the ultimate team sport, but the eight men who will take the snaps this weekend have more responsibility for the ultimate success or failure of their teams than anyone else. Since they're so important, and since we can never talk about football too much, here's an attempt to handicap this weekend's games by ranking the quarterbacks.

It's an interesting group in that, with one notable exception, they are all very solid, competent, effective quarterbacks. Each has their strengths, and some have more weaknesses than others. But at least seven of the players have shown that they can take their team on the back and win a game if they have to.

8) Rex Grossman, Chicago. More than any other team, the Bears can win despite their quarterback. It's a good thing, too, because Grossman just isn't very good. His 73.9 rating is the worst of any remaining QB, as are his 20 interceptions. His 54.6 percent completion percentage was better than just four players in the whole league. There are a couple of things to consider, though. First, it would be easy, but you could get in trouble by underestimating Grossman. He still passed for more than 3,200 yards and 23 touchdowns, so he isn't completely useless. More importantly, the Bears won 13 games - three more than any other team in the conference. They might win despite him, but they still win.

7) Matt Hasselbeck, Seattle. It might seem unfair to put the defending NFC champion QB this low, but this is as high as he deserves to climb this year. He missed four games because of injury, and the rest of the time he didn't look as crisp as we know he can. His yards per attempt, completion percentage and rating were far from the elite levels, and he still managed 15 interceptions in his limited action. Seattle is probably outclassed in the playoffs anyway, and Hasselbeck's performance is just one of the reasons.

6) Philip Rivers, San Diego. This placing is no reflection on the team, but more on the fact that the first playoff game is nerve wracking for any player. Rivers saved some of his worst performances for later in the season, and he will have his hands full with the experienced and nasty New England defense. He'd be a prime bet to have an off game, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the Chargers are in trouble. Unless Rivers breaks both his arms and can't hand off to Tomlinson anymore then the offense will still have a good chance of survival.

5) Jeff Garcia, Philadelphia. If we took the last few weeks under consideration then Garcia would be near the top of this list. The guy is consistent and reliable, and he has single-handedly saved his team's season. He's only here because of his age and the fact that he's bounced around the last few years. That means he can't really move any higher. Despite that, he engineered one of the great playoff comebacks for San Francisco against the Giants in 2002, and he could do the same thing again if he keeps playing as effectively as he has so far.

4) Drew Brees, New Orleans. Brees is the best story in the league this year, and he deserved more MVP consideration than he got, but he can't be placed any higher than this. His last two full games, against New York and Washington, were his worst since the start of the season. Another knock against him is his playoff and stretch performance with San Diego. He didn't pull his team through then, and he'll have to prove that he can now before he belongs higher on my list.

3) Peyton Manning, Indianapolis. You may question why a guy who led the league in rating and touchdowns, and was third in yards, only lands here on the list. You could say it's because I don't like him, which I really don't, but that's not the reason. There were points this season that Peyton didn't look like Peyton. He struggled against Dallas, Jacksonville and Tennessee. His defense saved him from horrible embarrassment last week against Kansas City. He certainly can't rely on that happening again. His periodic vulnerability plus his complete, lifelong inability to win a big game means he only gets to be here until he finally wins a game that matters.

2) Steve McNair, Baltimore. If you don't agree with Manning in third, then you certainly won't like McNair here. With apologies to Drew Brees, though, no player has done more to get his team where they are than McNair. Baltimore is a very quiet and underappreciated at13-3, which is a huge improvement over 6-10 last year. The coach was the same, the defensive core was the same and many of the offensive skill players were the same. This happened almost singularly because of McNair. It's not that he put up huge numbers like Brees did. In fact, he was pretty unimpressive statistically in some categories. The difference is that his team, for the first time in years, actually has faith in the quarterback. That boosts the offensive players obviously, but it also makes the defense play better - they get a break occasionally, and they don't burn psychic energy resenting the offense. Baltimore is very dangerous, and it's all because of McNair.

1) Tom Brady, New England. If you have any problems with this pick, or if you need it explained, then you obviously haven't been watching football this decade.