The Athletic has live coverage of Lions vs. Vikings and Broncos vs. Chiefs in the NFL Christmas Day games.
When the NFL planned its slate of Christmas Day games, it was expecting a showcase of playoff-bound teams led by marquee quarterbacks.
It’s getting something much different.
Of the six teams playing on Thursday, the Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, Washington Commanders and Kansas City Chiefs have all been eliminated from playoff contention, and the Detroit Lions are on the brink. (The Denver Broncos, who face the Chiefs in the night game, have clinched a playoff spot and are fighting for the No. 1 seed in the AFC.)
As for the quarterbacks, Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes and Washington’s Jayden Daniels are both injured and out for the season, and Minnesota’s J.J. McCarthy will miss the Vikings’ Christmas game with a hand injury. The Chiefs and Commanders will also be without their well-known backups.
Gardner Minshew suffered a non-displaced tibial plateau fracture in Kansas City’s loss to Tennessee on Sunday and is out for the year. Marcus Mariota will miss Washington’s game Thursday against the Cowboys, after he exited the Commanders’ Week 16 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles with a hand injury that required stitches, as well as a quad injury.
So while Detroit’s Jared Goff, Denver’s Bo Nix and Dallas’ Dak Prescott will be familiar faces to many fans tuning in to the Christmas games, it is possible that three of the starting quarterbacks will be relative unknowns. Here’s what you need to know about each:
Chris Oladokun, Kansas City Chiefs
Oladokun replaced Minshew, who was injured early in the second quarter of the Chiefs’ 26–9 loss to the Titans on Sunday. In close to three quarters of action, Oladokun completed 11 of 16 passes for 111 yards. The 28-year-old signal caller was selected in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers cut him shortly thereafter, and Oladokun has been off and on the Chiefs’ practice squad ever since.
Oladokun began his college career at South Florida before transferring to Samford University, where he threw for 2,058 yards and 18 touchdowns in his junior season with the Bulldogs in 2019. He transferred to South Dakota State for his final collegiate season in 2021, when the 6-foot-1, 213-pound quarterback threw for 3,164 yards and 25 touchdowns for the Jackrabbits.
Before Sunday, Oladokun had only attempted one career NFL pass. Now, he’s replacing Mahomes as the Chiefs take on the AFC West-leading Denver Broncos.
Josh Johnson, Washington Commanders
The chances are almost 50-50 that Johnson has played for your favorite team at some point. The legendary journeyman and career backup has been a member of an NFL-record 14 different franchises.
The 39-year-old started his pro career as a fifth-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2008. Since then, he’s had stops with nearly half the teams in the league and has spent this season as the Commanders’ third-string quarterback. After Mariota went out in the third quarter against Philadelphia on Saturday, Johnson stepped in to finish the game, connecting on 5 of 9 passes for 43 yards and throwing one interception in the 29-18 loss.
Johnson has played in 45 games over his decade-plus in the league. He has started only nine of those games, with a 1-8 record in those starts. Overall, he has thrown for 2,340 yards with 13 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.
Max Brosmer, Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings’ undrafted rookie out of the University of Minnesota has already started one game this season and thrown passes in four. In his lone start, Brosmer went 19 of 30 for 126 yards and four interceptions in a 26-0 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 13. After McCarthy left Sunday’s Vikings-Giants game at halftime, Brosmer finished the 16-13 win by completing 7 of 9 passes for 52 yards.
Brosmer, 24, spent five seasons with the University of New Hampshire. As a redshirt junior in 2023, he threw for 3,464 yards and 29 touchdowns, earning first-team All-American honors from the American Football Coaches Association. He then transferred to Minnesota for the 2024 season, throwing for 2,828 yards and 18 touchdowns with six interceptions in his lone year in the Big Ten.