Who were the passers that were light, and who were shadow, during the fourth day of the new NFL campaign?
During the fourth day of the regular season, the balance was heavily tilted towards good performances at the most important position in the game, with four quarterbacks scoring a Total QBR of at least 90 points, against only one who stayed in single digits in the same item.
Of those four quarterbacks who appeared at the top of the rating created by the group of ESPN Stats and Informationtwo were completely unexpected at the height of quarterback performances, to be sure.
And speaking of surprises, two of the quarterbacks who had consistently made appearances among the day’s best went to the other extreme this time.
With the new generation of arms leading the way, and without further ado, here are — in alphabetical order — the best and worst quarterbacks in the NFL for the week 3.
CINCO QUARTERBACKS ALZA
The primetime game against the Chiefs was not an easy one for Buccaneers fans to watch. No matter what kind of big plays they pulled off, they always seemed to be several miles behind the Chiefs, both in explosiveness and scoring. Putting that insurmountable gap aside, we can’t ignore the good game Brady put up, completing 39 of 52 pass attempts for 385 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. The veteran among veterans led the NFL in passing yards and was third in completion rate at 75 percent, which earned him eighth in Total QBR at 73.9.
In the end, the Chargers once again had a very good game, and Herbert was no stranger to that positive trend. He completed 69.2 percent of his passes — 27 of 39 — and had two touchdown passes with no interceptions. He ranked seventh in average yards per pass attempt at 8.72, and his 90.5 was the third-best Total QBR on the day.
With just 17 passing rebounds on the day, and completing eight of 13 attempts for 71 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions, it caught up with Jones — who momentarily left the game with an injury before being forced to return with a concussion. of his deputy, Tyrod Taylor— to lead the NFL in Total QBR for Week 4 at 92.3. How did that happen? Well, he rushed twice inside his six carries for 68 yards, numbers that highlighted his good decision-making on the day. Totally unexpected, but here is Jones among the best of the fourth date.
Mahomes’ display was great, even despite a late interception that allowed the Buccaneers to cover the loss a bit with a less humiliating score late in the game. Mahomes completed 23 of 37 passes for 249 yards with three touchdowns and that one interception, but he did more than that, with magical plays like the 360-degree rushing run to the right before throwing a touchdown pass to Clyde Edwards-Helaire. His Total QBR of 90.4, the fourth highest of the day, recorded a great night for the quarterback. Don’t forget that he contributed 34 yards on four carries to the win, too.
No one expected the Seahawks to be enjoying a better level of play at quarterback than the Broncos, but here we are in 2022. Smith engaged in a gunfight duel with Jared Goff — who was at least left off our list this week — going 23-of-30 for 320 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. To that he added 49 yards and a rushing touchdown in the wild win. No one threw fewer inaccurate passes on the day than Smith, at 6.9 percent, and he also led the NFL in yards per pass attempt at 10.67, the only passer in double figures for that line. Finally, his 76.7 percent completion rate was the second-highest of the day, as was his Total QBR of 91.3.
FIVE QUARTERBACKS DOWN
Philadelphia pulled out a big win, even though Hurts didn’t have a great start. A bona fide NFL MVP candidate at the start of the season, the Eagles quarterback completed 16 of 25 passes for 204 yards with an interception and no passing touchdown and a fumble. He also had 38 yards on 16 carries, including a gutsy rushing touchdown, but it was only enough for a Total QBR of 26.2 that ranked him 27th in the league.
The rival in turn for Hurts was Lawrence, who also did not have a memorable day after rising as one of the revelations of the first days. They were 11-of-23 completions for 174 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, but also four lost fumbles on their Sunday. His completion rate of 47.8 was the second-lowest of the day in the league, as was his Total QBR of 12.9.
The most inaccurate passer of the day with a 35.3 percent off-target rate, Mariota compiled a Total QBR of 26.4, fifth-worst among Week 4 starting quarterbacks. He connected on seven of his 19 pass attempts, to a ridiculous 36.8 completion percentage that is incomprehensible in this era of the passing game. His five carries for 3 yards did little to improve his numbers.
Mayfield took the disgrace of being the only quarterback with a Total QBR below 10 points in the fourth day: a 7.4 that undoubtedly contributes to his being last in this category so far this season, with a 15.3. They were 22-for-36 on their day, for 197 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, and two carries for zero yards. A lost fumble only made his statistical run worse, with the Panthers’ fans begging for an end to the Mayfield era.
Another week of action, and another appearance for Wentz among the NFL’s poorest quarterbacks. The Commanders quarterback was 25-for-42 for 170 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, and overall he was clearly outclassed by a career backup on the other side of the field, in Cooper Rush. Wentz’s Total QBR was just 23.2, second-to-last among quarterbacks who jumped starts in Week 4, and no one had a poorer average yards per pass attempt than his 4.05. Also, 25 percent of his passes were inaccurate, the fourth-highest rate of the day. When, and by whom, will change come in Washington?
Data of ESPN Stats & Information and TruMedia were used in the writing of this note.
