NFL

2024 NFL Quarterback Rankings Week 12: Josh Allen Regains Top Spot After Epic Run to Beat the Chiefs

Photo of Scott Kacsmar Scott Kacsmar20/11/2024 - 10:49 am
(Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)

The NFL lined up an incredible Week 11 schedule, and it mostly delivered with Josh Allen and the Bills getting the biggest win of them all against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. That’s why we have a new MVP favorite, but don’t discount the significance of the Steelers dropping the Ravens as Lamar Jackson has lost four starts in a row to his AFC North rival. We also saw the Eagles force rookie Jayden Daniels into his worst game of the season last Thursday.

But it was also a week where Jared Goff led, and this is not hyperbole, one of the greatest offensive performances in NFL history just one week after he got away with throwing five interceptions in Houston. We also got a dandy between Justin Herbert and Joe Burrow where it didn’t look like either team knew how to win the game until a running back decided to just score in the final moments.

We also may have closed the book on the Daniel Jones era in New York, and that’s incredibly fitting given the Giants didn’t even play a game. They had their bye week and Vanilla Vick is still getting sacked.

Good night sweet prince.

Each Wednesday at 365Scores, we are going to rank all 32 NFL quarterbacks from top to bottom. The methodology is to start with our preseason quarterback rankings from July, which was based on a mixture of career value and emphasis on recent play. Then each week, we will adjust the rankings to account for the latest game to get a sense of which quarterbacks are performing the best in the 2024 season. Injured starters will be replaced.

Note: Many statistical references will be made to data from Next Gen Stats (NGS).

1. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills

Week 11 rank: 4 (+3)

I’m not sure Sunday was even a top three game against the Chiefs for Josh Allen, who has now faced his main rival eight times with a 4-4 record. But given the circumstances, you can argue this was Allen’s best win yet against the Chiefs.

He didn’t dominate a bad defense like he did in Arrowhead in 2021, nor did he match the statistical greatness he had in the 2022 match with the game-winning drive. But on Sunday, he took on a team with a 15-game winning streak, didn’t falter against their pass rush, didn’t take a single sack, and showed a lot of growth in knowing when to attack with a quick throw, when to run himself, and when to test them down the field.

Buffalo’s offense was 9-for-15 on third down, leading the offense, which had some key receivers out with injuries, to a very efficient 30 points – the first time since Super Bowl 57 against Philadelphia that the Chiefs allowed more than 27 points in a game.

While Allen had a bad interception on a 4th-and-3 in the second quarter, he didn’t make the same mistake twice with the game on the line. Up 23-21 and facing a 4th-and-2 at the Kansas City 26 with 2:27 left, there was never a doubt who was getting the ball and what he was going to do with it. Allen took off against a surprising defensive look without a spy, and he rumbled his way all 26 yards for a game-clinching touchdown, arguably the most memorable rushing touchdown yet in his career:

That puts the Bills (9-2) right behind the Chiefs (9-1) in the AFC standings, and it also makes it a lot more likely they’ll be a top two seed. It’s also similar to 2022 in that the Bills now enter their bye week after a huge win over the Chiefs with Allen as the odds-on MVP favorite.

But we’ll see how they finish the last six games with half of them being NFC opponents, including a possible Super Bowl preview in Detroit in Week 15. The Bills should feel very solid about where they stand in the AFC right now.

2. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

Week 11 rank: 2 (0)

Kansas City’s first loss since Christmas 2023 saw some familiar tactics used by Buffalo if you’re going to beat Patrick Mahomes. First, you better play great on third down and control the ball like the Chiefs have done all year. The Bills were excellent in that regard, and Mahomes had the ball just nine times, which has been normal for Kansas City this year, but that makes a huge difference when you put 30 points on the board like Buffalo did.

That makes every mistake magnified, and the Chiefs couldn’t avoid those mistakes on the road. Mahomes was intercepted on his first play of the game after forcing a pass at midfield. He also had another deep ball to rookie Xavier Worthy that wasn’t caught for a big play after Worthy didn’t drag his feet in bounds, an issue they really need to work on together if he’s going to continue being a big part of the offense.

Another proven way to get a win over Mahomes is to make him hold the ball long and not establish a rhythm with his receivers. The Bills did a fantastic job here by playing man coverage, staying tight on the receivers, and Mahomes’ average time to throw was 3.35 seconds, his longest in any game this season (source: NGS).

The Bills got good pressure on him with minimal blitzing, and Mahomes never registered a rushing attempt in this game, something that’s only happened one other time in a loss in Mahomes’ career. That was the 2019 game against the Titans when he returned from a dislocated kneecap and may have been concerned about running. Mahomes had a couple of good scrambles against Buffalo, but both were negated by holding penalties on the line, a consistent issue this year.

But with the Bills playing tight coverage, Mahomes threw into a tight window on 18.2% of his attempts, another season high. He also had a season-high +7.5% CPOE as he did hit on several of those throws, including some of his three touchdown passes in the game.

In fact, the drive to start the fourth quarter was one of the best the Chiefs had all season as they never even faced a third down. Mahomes was finally playing with urgency and tempo with the Chiefs down 23-14, something we’ve rarely seen this year from the offense.

But in a 23-21 game, the Bills held the ball and added that touchdown run by Allen to make it 30-21 late, the kind of call you have to make against Mahomes. You’re not going to dare give him the ball back in a 26-21 game. But now down two scores, Mahomes had to force a pass on 4th-and-13, and it was intercepted to end the game and the 15-game winning streak.

These teams always play great games, and you never know which players are going to be the heroes and which units are going to be scapegoated in the end. It probably wasn’t ideal that Worthy was the only Chief to break 30 receiving yards, nor is it a good thing for the offense to get 11 players a catch while barely using Travis Kelce (2 catches) and DeAndre Hopkins. You also have to imagine Mahomes will scramble more past the line of scrimmage with the season on the line in January.  

I’m sure if there is a playoff rematch, things will look different from both sides as there were players injured on both teams that should be back in the playoffs. But the Bills kind of beat the Chiefs at their own game Sunday, they made it harder than most 2024 defenses have on Mahomes, and the Bills just made a few more plays in the end.

3. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

Week 11 rank: 1 (-2)

It’s pretty amazing that I tweeted this in November 2020 and it’s still 100% true about Lamar Jackson having three forms of kryptonite: Steelers, Chiefs, and the NFL playoffs.

The sample size is now 16 unique games, by the way, and Jackson is 4-12 in those games. Sunday’s latest loss to the Steelers was not a headlining effort by Jackson. It was a full team loss as the Ravens did just about everything poorly except for play good defense, something they’ve rarely done this season.

But Derrick Henry and Isaiah Likely lost fumbles to help gift the Steelers two of their six field goals, Justin Tucker missed two field goals he used to make, the Ravens had 12 penalties, and Justice Hill had a ball stolen away from him by a rookie linebacker for an interception in Jackson’s numbers.

Just a poor day at the office, but Jackson also showed major hesitation on when to throw and when to scramble, often making the wrong decision. He was only 16-of-33 passing, he couldn’t get the ball to his wide receivers, and he was stopped cold on a game-tying 2-point conversion where the Ravens didn’t look like they knew what the plan was.

Just another terrible day at the office against a team that has Baltimore’s number. But we’ll see if the Ravens get back to business as usual against the Chargers next week, or if this is going to lead to another little losing streak the way they started this season 0-2.

But if you’re a Ravens fan, you have to be very concerned that this team keeps losing to the exact same entities, especially when they involve your main division rival and your main AFC rival. At what point does Jackson start playing better against these specific opponents?

4. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions

(Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

Week 11 rank: 7 (+3)

What a way to bounce back from a 5-interception night. Jared Goff became the first quarterback in NFL history to have multiple games in his career with a perfect passer rating (158.3) while throwing for over 400 yards. He was 24-of-29 for 412 yards and 4 touchdowns with no picks this week against the lowly Jaguars.

But what a farce passer rating can be as I was tracking that during the game. Goff actually fell from 158.3, the highest it goes, after he converted a third down with a 23-yard gain. Then his rating dropped again after a 22-yard completion to convert another third down. That sounds ridiculous, but it’s because his touchdown percentage fell below the needed threshold for a “perfect” rating. Thankfully, his 9-yard touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown pushed him back up to 158.3, but that’s my little rant about passer rating’s flaws.

Goff was in this territory before in Week 4 of the 2018 season, which became a Super Bowl season for the Rams, when he threw for 465 yards with a perfect passer rating. I recall that game well because that was when I wondered when people would start giving him credit for his success instead of giving it to head coach Sean McVay and the receivers. Goff was fantastic in that game against the Vikings, and there are reasons he was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 draft:

Well, here’s Goff having great success again for another scoring juggernaut in Detroit. We don’t have to pretend the Jaguars aren’t terrible defensively and may be firing their coach imminently, but Sunday was still in the running for one of the best offensive performances in NFL history.

We had a top five list of such games last season after the Dolphins scored 70 points against Denver, and you might have to put what Detroit did in the middle of that list.

The Lions were 7-for-7 at scoring touchdowns while Goff was in the game, and they were all long drives, covering 70, 93, 64, 84, 80, 83, and 96 yards. We are seeing a lot of 70-yard touchdown drives this season because of the new kickoff rules, but the Lions had five touchdown drives of 80-plus yards in this game. They had three all season coming into Sunday.

In that regard, you can say Goff truly did pitch a perfect game here. They took him out for their eighth drive, and the Lions still got a field goal. Then on their ninth drive, they ran out the final 6:45 on the clock. In the end, the Lions piled up 645 yards of offense on their way to 52 points.

I know a blowout over Jacksonville isn’t going to sway many people on Goff, but when this offense is on like this, no team in the NFL is better this year, and Goff’s numbers are absurd. He’ll have his chances to do this against teams like the Packers (Week 14), Bills (Week 15), and 49ers (Week 17) too.

5. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders

Week 11 rank: 3 (-2)

It’s hard to say what is exactly going on with rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, but he has been off the last couple of games. Maybe it’s the rib injury, which probably doesn’t heal as well on a short week like when you have to play a road division game against a solid defense on a Thursday night. Maybe it’s another case of a Kliff Kingsbury-coached offense being figured out after about seven games as we saw in the past. Maybe it’s just a rookie wall as the Commanders haven’t had their bye yet.

But Daniels played his worst game of the season on Thursday in Philadelphia, a tough blow for a first-place division game. He simply couldn’t get much on the ball with accuracy on anything down the field, or really on anything over 5 yards that wasn’t to a running back.

He hasn’t cracked 20 rushing yards in the last two games, and that’s another area where it could be the ribs he’s protecting. But they’ll have to work this out as Washington cannot afford a long losing streak with the records the teams in the NFC North have. They may not get a wild card because of that division and after giving up the lead to the Eagles here.

6. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers

Week 11 rank: 6 (0)

Justin Herbert showed us a bit of everything in Sunday night’s wild 34-27 win over the Bengals. He made incredible throws, he led the team with 65 rushing yards, he had the Chargers up 27-6, and then he nearly watched it all collapse as he fumbled on a scramble, he flirted with picks, and he threw a couple of daggers to Ladd McConkey on the game-winning drive. Truly the Full Herbert experience on Sunday night.

But the key thing is they won this game instead of blowing a three-score lead for the fifth time in his career. That’s what having a coach like Jim Harbaugh does for Herbert, and the Chargers tightened up on defense late in the game too.

They’ll have to play sharper against the Ravens next week in another prime-time tilt, but the Chargers have the right formula for success this year. Maybe not Super Bowl success, but things are moving in the right direction for a change.

7. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals

Week 11 rank: 5 (-2)

With the Bengals’ playoff hopes hanging by a thread at 4-7 as they head into their bye week, we might need to do a full autopsy at some point on just where this season has gone wrong.

Sunday night’s 34-27 loss in Los Angeles was the latest case of the Bengals not finishing the deal, and that’s really the easiest argument to make against Joe Burrow for why he’s not a legitimate MVP candidate with a 4-7 record. You have to finish games, and it would help to start some better as well. The Chargers were up 27-6 in this one before the Bengals hit some touchdowns on fourth downs, then got a fumble on defense to lead to a tying score.

But in the fourth quarter, the Bengals didn’t score on their last four drives. They set up Evan McPherson for field goals, but he missed both from 48 and 51 yards. However, when you know your kicker has been struggling, you should try to get him closer. Maybe call a screen or draw play instead of just repeatedly throwing incomplete on third-and-long as Burrow did on both drives. In fact, Burrow was only 6-for-15 in terms of success rate (40%) after tying the game at 27.

Even when he got the ball back with 1:26 left at his own 16, it was quickly a punt. When the Chargers got the ball back at their 16, they made three big plays and scored a game-winning touchdown. That was the difference at the end.

But it’s been this way all season for the Bengals, who are likely going to have to go in a different direction at head coach in 2025 as Zac Taylor is just not the guy for winning these close games.

But people also need to start taking a hard look at Burrow in these moments too. He has not led the team on a late go-ahead drive since the 2022 season.

8. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals

(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Week 11 rank: 8 (0)

The Cardinals had their bye week, but why not push Kyler Murray into the MVP discussion if they actually pull off this NFC West title? It’s a crowded race right now, but the Cardinals (6-4) are the only team in the division with a winning record. Murray is No. 3 in QBR (74.9), a metric that loves his rushing ability, but he’s also No. 2 in passing success rate (53.3%), so he’s been a true dual threat this year.

But a huge game this Sunday when he’ll be in Seattle.

9. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles

Week 11 rank: 11 (+2)

The Eagles started slowly against the Commanders last Thursday, and it didn’t help that Jake Elliott forgot how to kick field goals. But Jalen Hurts didn’t throw any interceptions. He didn’t throw any touchdowns either, but he added another score on the ground after Saquon Barkley got them close.

It was a huge night for Barkley (146 rushing yards) as the Eagles scored 20 points in the fourth quarter to win 26-18 and take control of first place in the NFC East. Hurts was more of a bystander for the win, but he didn’t hurt the team, and that’s sometimes all they need from him in this talented offense.

Hurts is up to No. 4 this season in yards per pass attempt (8.4) and we know the Tush Push is still very effective for this offense.

10. Russell Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 11 rank: 9 (-1)

The Steelers have yet to lose with Russell Wilson (4-0) as their starting quarterback, but Sunday was undeniably his worst game of the season. Part of that is the Steelers-Ravens rivalry being what it is, but Wilson made a huge mistake when he forced a terrible interception in the end zone in the fourth quarter when the Steelers could have kicked a field goal to take an 18-10 lead.

He did that after carefully throwing the ball away a handful of times earlier in the game to avoid such mistakes. Picked the worst time possible to get risky. Hopefully he’ll learn from that, but the red zone struggles for the Steelers have been legitimate, and that may be the only area where they had a slight edge with Justin Fields at quarterback.

But Wilson’s big plays down the field to George Pickens and Darnell Washington were enough to get the Steelers six field goals, and sometimes that’s all you need to win a game against the Ravens when these teams hook up.

Now we’ll see how Wilson fares on the road on a short week in his first game against the Browns as part of another AFC North rivalry. Something tells me Myles Garrett won’t be so willing to tear his head off the way he wanted to do to Mason Rudolph.

11. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers

Week 11 rank: 10 (-1)

Tough month for the people who said Christian McCaffrey was the engine of this offense instead of Brock Purdy, because things have not been great in the two games since the star back returned. The 49ers missed George Kittle’s presence on Sunday, but it was more about the defense giving up the late lead than anything Purdy did or didn’t do in this game, the latest loss for the .500 49ers.

But Purdy’s 5.68 yards per pass attempt was the second-lowest game of his NFL career. He only seems to be comfortable throwing to Jauan Jennings this season, a development few could have imagined given the loaded cast in San Francisco.

They are running out of chances to fix this, but blowing a late lead to all three of your division rivals is a terrible way to defend a conference championship.

12. Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings

Week 11 rank: 12 (0)

Finally, Sam Darnold had a workmanlike, low-drama win in Tennessee after some weeks with high turnovers. The only giveaway in Tennessee was a botched running play where Aaron Jones shared responsibility, if not most of it. But those get charged to the quarterback as the person with last possession, so that’s another fumble on Darnold’s stats.

But he found Jordan Addison for a long touchdown and the Vikings improved to 8-2, a start no one saw coming this year.

13. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Week 11 rank: 14 (+1)

The Buccaneers had a bye week, but Baker Mayfield is still not going to get Chris Godwin back from injury. Mike Evans is more possible, but the good news is the Bucs have a very light schedule of opposing offenses coming up, so getting back to a winning record and possibly the division title is within reach despite the 4-6 start against what’s been a brutal schedule.

14. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams

Week 11 rank: 17 (+3)

It’s been an inconsistent season for Matthew Stafford, but after the offense was held out of the end zone on Monday night against the Dolphins, he threw four touchdowns against the friendlier pass defense of the Patriots. Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua were studs again with Stafford passing for 295 yards in a 28-22 win.

But it is worrisome how the Rams never seem to put teams away in the four-minute offense. People used to blame Sean McVay not trusting Jared Goff in those moments, but it’s continued for years in the Stafford era too. Even a 15-point lead was down to a 28-22 game late with the defense having to put things away for Stafford.

But the Rams are 5-5 and have a tough one against the Eagles this Sunday night.

15. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans

Week 11 rank: 15 (0)

C.J. Stroud was happy to get Nico Collins back on Monday night, and he almost got a screen pass touchdown to him immediately on the opening drive had it not been for an illegal formation penalty. But that’s kind of been the issue with Houston this season. Just too many mistakes all over the place, and Stroud did throw an ugly pick in this game on fourth down.

But overall, Stroud was fine in directing a 34-10 blowout of a Dallas team that is collapsing so bad right now that even pieces of the roof are falling from the sky in AT&T Stadium.

16. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers

Week 11 rank: 16 (0)

People may feel like a 20-19 escape over Chicago was a ho-hum win as Jordan Love threw another interception and he needed his field goal defense unit to block a kick at the end. But don’t discount how offensive this game was as it only had 13 total possessions between the teams.

While Love threw a pick, he was 13-of-17 for 261 yards and made some key runs in the fourth quarter, including his go-ahead touchdown from the 1 with 2:59 left. He has to clean up those picks, but the Packers moved the ball at least 60 yards on 5-of-6 drives in the game, which is extremely impressive work.

The Packers (7-3) are only in third place despite a strong record because of how great the NFC North has been. But this is a huge week with Love getting his shot at redemption against the 49ers, the team who ended his season on an interception in the playoffs.

17. Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons

Week 11 rank: 13 (-4)

The Denver defense is very solid, but it was still surprising to see Kirk Cousins have his least effective game since Week 1 in a 38-6 rout. Cousins only managed to throw for 173 yards, his first game under 222 yards since the season opener when he was understandably rusty against a good Pittsburgh defense.

But Cousins couldn’t sustain offense on the road and was replaced by rookie Michael Penix Jr. with the score out of hand. He’ll have to bounce back with a bye week before he faces the Chargers, the No. 1 scoring defense.

18. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins

Week 11 rank: 19 (+1)

Don’t look now, but Tua Tagovailoa has completed 77.7% of his passes in the four games since his return from his latest concussion. The Dolphins haven’t been playing the toughest competition outside of Buffalo, but Tagovailoa is dealing, and it’s not like Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle are the dominant receivers during this run. It was tight end Jonnu Smith again on Sunday against the Raiders.

The Dolphins are back in a groove offensively with Tua, but we’ll see if it’s too big of a hole to climb out of for the playoffs. The schedule isn’t daunting though.

19. Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks

Week 11 rank: 20 (+1)

Geno Smith has done some good things for the Seahawks since taking over for Russell Wilson in 2022, but his kryptonite has been the 49ers, who he was winless against. But that changed Sunday when Smith delivered arguably the best game-winning drive of his career with an awesome touchdown run with 12 seconds left while the Seahawks were out of timeouts:

The Seahawks (5-5) are right back in the NFC West hunt and may have just dealt some real damage to San Francisco’s playoff hopes.

20. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos

Week 11 rank: 21 (+1)

I don’t know if Bo Nix will ever win the AFC West for Denver, but he would crush the NFC South as the rookie already swept that division this year. Sunday was his best game yet in a rout of Atlanta where he completed 28-of-33 passes for 307 yards and 4 touchdowns. Those look like Drew Brees numbers to me, so Sean Payton has to be thrilled with what he has in Nix right now.

21. Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints

Week 11 rank: 22 (+1)

It’s funny how Derek Carr has led just two game-winning drives with the Saints since 2023, and Taysom Hill was the one he threw a touchdown on one (Chicago game last year) and ran for the game-winning touchdown in Sunday’s 35-14 win over Cleveland.

Hill had an absurdly great day, but Carr was still 21-of-27 for 248 yards and two touchdown passes in the Saints’ most impressive win since Week 2.

22. Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets

Week 11 rank: 18 (-4)

The stat going around this week is that the Jets have a worse winning percentage with Aaron Rodgers (.273) than they did with Sam Darnold (.342) and Zach Wilson (.364).

That’s true, but it is a little misleading in that the Jets have already blown three fourth-quarter leads this season, including twice in the final 50 seconds against the Patriots and Colts, and of course they’ve missed go-ahead field goals against the Broncos and Bills.

Trust me, I’d jump on a chance to say Rodgers is overrated and hurting his legacy this season, which can both still be true. But he hasn’t been as terrible as his 3-8 record suggests, and he had the Jets up 24-16 after a miserable start on Sunday before things collapsed again.

But he definitely hasn’t elevated the team by any means, and now they’ve fired their GM (Joe Douglas) to go along with their fired coach (Robert Saleh) and jettisoned wide receiver (Mike Williams).

Maybe Rodgers is the next one gone after the season, because this has been the most disappointing team in the league this season. At least Dallas can point to injuries to Dak Prescott and Micah Parsons.

23. Drake Maye, New England Patriots

Week 11 rank: 23 (0)

It’s unfortunate that Drake Maye looked out of sync on the game-ending interception in the 28-22 loss to the Rams, but he gave the team a chance on a day where the defense was shredded once again. The 22 points were a season high in a game Maye started and finished for New England. He completed 30-of-40 passes for a season-high 282 yards.

Things are slowly coming together for him, but it’s just going to take time.

24. Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts

Week 11 rank: N/A (Joe Flacco was No. 24)

On November 15, 1998, rookie Peyton Manning had the first fourth-quarter comeback win of his career against the Jets. On November 17, 2024, Anthony Richardson had his first fourth-quarter comeback win against the Jets, his first game back after regaining the starting job from Joe Flacco.

Not saying there’s a path to Peyton in Richardson’s future, but that was a much-needed win for his career. He completed two-thirds of his passes, his highest rate in any game where he’s thrown more than 12 passes in the NFL, and he also ran for two touchdowns, including the game winner in the last minute.

The Colts can work with this version of Richardson, but he’ll have to start stacking good performances to give them some assurance he’s the guy for 2025.

25. Jameis Winston, Cleveland Browns

Week 11 rank: 25 (0)

You’re probably wondering how the heck did Jameis Winston throw for 395 yards but only have it lead to 14 points in New Orleans despite the Browns not committing a single giveaway. Well, they missed two field goals and turned it over on downs twice, so that at least helps make sense of it better.

Going 3-for-13 on third down isn’t good enough, and Winston will have to be sharper than that against T.J Watt and company this Thursday night if the Browns are going to upset the Steelers.

26. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears

Week 11 rank: 30 (+4)

It’s been a rough rookie season for the No. 1 pick, but his first matchup with the hated Packers was a bright spot, if not his best game of the year. Despite the Bears firing offensive coordinator Shane Waldron early in the week, Williams was successful on some key downs and had the Bears in the lead late. He completed 74.2% of his passes, his second-highest game this season, and he didn’t throw any interceptions for the fourth game in a row.

But the Bears let him down at the end. After giving up a go-ahead touchdown to the Packers, the Bears just needed a field goal to win the game. Williams had only taken one sack in the game after going down nine times against the Patriots a week ago. But back-to-back sacks threatened to kill his final drive before he got the Bears out of a 3rd-and-19 situation.

That should have led to a game-winning field goal, but the Bears got a little conservative once they were close enough for a kick. It made some sense, but you’d like to get closer than they did. Still, Cairo Santos had a 46-yard field goal to win the game on the last play, but it was blocked by the Packers for the stunning 20-19 win.

That one is going to sting for Williams, who in addition to throwing for 231 yards, he rushed for a career-high 70 yards. Still, Bears fans need to be encouraged despite the loss. The Bears only had seven possessions in this game, they gained at least 34 yards on every drive, and they should have had 23 points and the win against a good Green Bay team.

27. Gardner Minshew, Las Vegas Raiders

Week 11 rank: 29 (+2)

Gardner Minshew played well enough in Miami to not get benched, which is a good sign given the quick pull coach Antonio Pierce has for him. Minshew threw for a season-high 282 yards, but that’s coming at the expense of having no running game to speak of, and the defense had a huge letdown in Miami.

Even when it looked like Minshew might get the ball back in a 24-19 game, the defense gave up another big touchdown and forced him to get desperate, resulting in his only interception in a game the Raiders went on to lose 34-19.

28. Will Levis, Tennessee Titans

(Photo by Kara Durrette/Getty Images)

Week 11 rank: 27 (-1)

Will Levis completed the longest pass play of 2024 with a 98-yard touchdown to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. But in fitting Tennessee fashion, that was the only touchdown of the game for the offense in a 23-13 loss to the Vikings. Levis has now thrown 16 touchdowns in 16 career starts, and it was the 12th time the Titans failed to score more than 17 points in his starts.

It was also the second time this season that Levis took 12 sacks in a 2-game span. That’s why his 32.6 QBR this season is ranked last among active starters who are still healthy.

29. Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers

Week 11 rank: 28 (-1)

The Panthers had their bye week, but good luck to Bryce Young extending the first winning streak of his career to a third game. They’ll get the Chiefs this week, coming in after a loss. But it is an opportunity for him to show he belongs in Carolina for a long time if he can play well this Sunday.

30. Daniel Jones, New York Giants

Week 11 rank: 26 (-4)

Only Daniel Jones can lose during his bye week. The Giants announced they’ve benched the sixth-year starter for Tommy DeVito, and that could be the end of the road for Jones in New York. He has thrown just 10 touchdowns in his last 16 starts, and the Giants are 3-13 in those games. Meanwhile, DeVito was a bit of a folk hero last year, and he was 3-3 as a starter with 8 touchdown passes in limited playing time.

The Giants (2-8) aren’t going anywhere this season, but we may not have to entertain the idea of Jones starting another game for them. That’s a happy thought.

31. Mac Jones, Jacksonville Jaguars

Week 11 rank: 31 (0)

The good news is the Jaguars have their bye week, so hopefully Trevor Lawrence (shoulder) will be back for Week 13. Mac Jones never stood a chance in Detroit with the Lions scoring seven straight touchdowns. At least we didn’t have to watch him throw away a winnable fourth quarter as the Lions won 52-6.

32. Cooper Rush, Dallas Cowboys

Week 11 rank: 32 (0)

I’ll give Cooper Rush credit for throwing for 309 more yards than he did last week against the Eagles, but he’s still a rough watch in this offense when plays like this happen:

How bad can Trey Lance be if we’re still watching Rush when the Cowboys host the Giants on Thanksgiving next Thursday? At least we’ll have a good excuse to take a nap.

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Photo of Scott Kacsmar Scott Kacsmar20/11/2024 - 10:49 am