Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love's dynamite first playoff game against Dallas nearly featured a perfect passer rating; he completed 16 of 21 passes for 272 yards and three touchdowns, having to settle for a 157.2, just a sliver south of the perfect 158.3.

Here's how passer rating is calculated and what it represents.

If we're using passer rating as a mark, Love is tied for second in history for best playoff debut by a quarterback. It's doubly impressive in that it gave the underdog Packers, the bottom seed in the NFC, a 48-32 win over the No. 2-seeded Cowboys.

These are the best playoff debuts since the NFL-AFL merger aside from Love, including one that was barely 24 hours old when Love delivered his early-career magnum opus.

Dave Krieg, 1983 season with Seattle Seahawks vs. Denver

The only quarterback making his playoff debut to post a perfect passer rating is … Wisconsin native Dave Krieg? Bet you didn't see that coming. And it requires a caveat, because he threw only 13 passes in the 31-7 win over the Broncos in December 1983 in the wild-card round.

Krieg, an undrafted player out of Milton College who attended D.C. Everest High School in Schofield, completed 12 of those 13 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns. Seattle went on to beat Miami 27-20 the following week before losing in the conference championship 30-14 to the Los Angeles Raiders. Krieg was benched in that game and replaced by Jim Zorn, whom Krieg himself had supplanted during the regular season. Krieg went on to make three Pro Bowls, with the first the following year in 1984.

C.J. Stroud, 2023 season with Houston Texans vs. Cleveland

With an almost identical line to Love's, the Offensive Rookie of the Year favorite completed 16 of 21 passes for 274 yards one day before the Packers beat the Cowboys. That's 2 more yards than Love and identical number of completions and attempts, putting Stroud right at a 157.2 passer rating as well. The Texans hadn't been in the playoffs since 2019 but dominated the Cleveland Browns 45-14 in the wild-card round.

Lynn Dickey, 1982 season with Green Bay Packers vs. St. Louis

Dickey was sensational for the Packers, throwing four touchdowns and completing 17 of 23 passes, good for a passer rating of 150.4, and the Packers steamrolled the Cardinals 41-16 in the wild-card round of the strike-shortened 1982 playoffs. The Packers lost the next week in Dallas 37-26, but the victory marked the only playoff win for the Packers in the barren desert of play between the 1967 Super Bowl championship and the Brett Favre era, which began in earnest with a playoff win in 1993.

Opposing quarterback Neil Lomax wasn't so bad either in his first (and only) playoff appearance: 32 of 51, 385 yards and two scores, but also two interceptions.

Steve Fuller, 1984 season with Chicago Bears vs. Washington

A Chicago Bears quarterback, you say? Fuller might not be a name that jumps to mind, but he still posted a 143.7 rating at the end of the 1984 season in a 23-19 victory; he threw for two touchdowns and 211 yards. Fuller started only 42 games in his career and didn't play at all in 1983, then started for the Bears in Week 10 in 1984 after Jim McMahon got injured.

Fuller was also under center the following week in the NFC championship game, a 23-0 loss to San Francisco. The Bears won the Super Bowl the next year, and Fuller started five games that season behind McMahon and wound up with a Super Bowl ring.

Kurt Warner, 1999 season with St. Louis Rams vs. Minnesota

Warner's story from undrafted quarterback out of Northern Iowa to two-time MVP and Hall of Famer is well documented. The fairy tale's postseason chapter began right after the new century dawned, with a playoff game Jan. 16, 2000, against the Vikings. Warner completed 27 of 33 passes with five touchdowns and one interception, giving him a 143.0 rating. The Rams kept winning, beating Tampa Bay and then Tennessee by the narrowest of margins in the Super Bowl 23-16.

Chad Pennington, 2002 season with New York Jets vs. Indianapolis

In a 41-0 smackdown during the wild-card round, Pennington completed 19 of 25 passes for 222 yards and three touchdowns, good for a rating of 142. Pennington became the rare quarterback to out-duel Peyton Manning in the playoffs, with the Jets defense holding the Colts to 176 yards of total offense. New York list to Oakland the next week 30-10.

If we move away from passer rating as the primary metric, there are other performances to note, as well.

Brock Purdy, 2022 season with San Francisco 49ers vs. Seattle

The final pick of the 2022 draft capped a brilliant rookie season by helping the 49ers to a 41-23 win over the Seahawks, completing 18 of 30 passes for 332 yards and three scores. The 49ers beat Dallas the following week and then lost at Philadelphia in the NFC title game, where Purdy completed his first four passes … but then was lost for the rest of the game with injury. The Eagles prevailed 31-7.

Tim Tebow, 2011 season with Denver Broncos vs. Pittsburgh

If we're using adjusted net yards per attempt (ANY/A) − a stat that weighs certain outcomes like touchdowns and sacks to give the best value possible for average production per pass play − No. 1 on that list among playoff debuts is Tebow. He completed only 10 of 21 passes but threw for 316 yards and two touchdowns, and he ran 10 times for 50 yards for good measure. It helped that Demaryius Thomas took the first pass of overtime 80 yards for a score to give Denver a thrilling playoff win in the wild-card round.

Daunte Culpepper, 2000 season with Minnesota Vikings vs. New Orleans

He was a backup the year before when the Vikings appeared in two playoff games, but in 2000, it was his show. In a 34-16 win over the Saints, Culpepper completed 17 of 31 passes for 302 yards and three scores, sending Minnesota to the NFC championship game. It didn't go well once the Vikings got there, with the Giants dispatching Minnesota 41-0.

Kelly Holcomb, 2002 season with Cleveland Browns vs. Pittsburgh

In his only playoff start, Holcomb completed 26 of 43 passes for 429 yards, three scores and one interception, but it wasn't enough. Pittsburgh won the wild-card game 36-33. Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala's 3-yard touchdown run with 54 seconds to go gave Pittsburgh the winning points and helped the Steelers overcome a 27-14 fourth-quarter deficit.

Erik Kramer, 1991 season with Detroit Lions vs. Dallas

In the divisional round of the playoffs, Kramer lit up the Cowboys by completing 29 of 38 passes for 341 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions. The Lions prevailed 38-6, recording their last playoff win for more than three decades, a streak finally snapped this year against the Rams. Detroit lost the following week in the NFC title game 41-10.

Aaron Brooks, 2000 season with New Orleans Saints vs. St. Louis

The former Packers backup completed 16 of 29 passes with 266 yards, four touchdowns and one interception as the Saints held off the Rams 31-28 in the wild-card round. The Rams furiously rallied from down 31-7 to pull within 3 points and still 2:32 to play, but punt returner Toby Gowin muffed a punt with 1:51 to go, and the Saints recovered to salt the win away. Brooks also ran for 26 yards on 10 attempts, but the Saints lost the next week to the Vikings 34-16.

By the numbers: How Packers quarterback Jordan Love’s amazing run stacks up in NFL history

Data pulled from Stathead.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Jordan Love and other best quarterback playoff debuts in NFL history