NFL

2024 NFL Quarterback Rankings Week 14: The Amusing Role Reversal for Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson in MVP Race

Photo of Scott Kacsmar Scott Kacsmar04/12/2024 - 09:48 am

The NFL had all 32 teams in action for Thanksgiving Week 13, and it sure delivered with most of the games being very competitive. Josh Allen has taken a considerable lead in the MVP race, but we have some interesting numbers on how he and Lamar Jackson have switched roles from 2023. We also have some concerning numbers on Kirk Cousins that might suggest a quarterback change sooner than later in Atlanta, the worst-case scenario from the Michael Penix Jr. draft selection.

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 13 rank: 1 (0)

When Josh Allen last played against the Chiefs in Week 12, he had his MVP moment with a game-sealing touchdown run on 4th-and-2. After a bye week, Allen and the Bills were back in action Sunday night, and they made short work of the 49ers in the snow in a 35-10 blowout.

For me, a game like this shouldn’t elevate anyone’s MVP case. Not when your defense dominates a talented offense in a blowout. Not when your running backs pile up 30 carries for 198 yards and two touchdowns, and you don’t even have to throw more than 17 passes or for 150 yards. It was similar to Buffalo’s Week 2 win in Miami except the weather was winter conditions. But that also made it easy on the line in pass protection, and both teams had a lot of room to run the ball as even the 49ers had 153 rushing yards despite the rout.

Throwing a bad pass on 1st-and-goal to Amari Cooper that turns into an improv lateral touchdown during a 21-3 blowout in the third quarter shouldn’t be celebrated as an MVP moment the way it has been this week.

But I guess the betting markets see it differently this year as Allen has soared to a -260 favorite for MVP at FanDuel, an implied chance of 73.7% to win it. Saquon Barkley (+500) and Lamar Jackson (+850) are the only other players with odds better than +1500 right now.

It feels way too early to be that lopsided going into Week 14. When you put Allen’s 2024 season in the context of past MVP winners, it shares a lot of traits with Jackson’s 2023 win, which was one of the weakest MVP seasons. But even Lamar didn’t get the push for it until Christmas night as the default choice after everyone played themselves out of it.

Allen is getting “MVP lock” talk for a season that might be his fourth best in just the last five years. If you don’t believe me, here is where Allen’s 2024 season stands with past MVP winners at quarterback in a barrage of stats that are great MVP indicators and baselines, or at least they used to be:

Quarterback Chart for NFL MVP Winners and 2024 Josh Allen

With up to five games left, Allen’s counting stats (passing DYAR and total touchdown count) will improve, but here are some facts about his current efficiency numbers:

  • Allen’s 7.56 yards per pass attempt would be the lowest for an MVP winner since 2008 Peyton Manning, and his rank of 14th would be the lowest in the 16-game era.
  • Allen’s 47.2% passing success rate is his lowest since 2019, and it would be the lowest for an MVP winner since 1996 Brett Favre, and he’d be the only quarterback to rank outside of the top 10 in that stat, which the data goes back to 1994.
  • Allen’s offense has the best average starting field position (LOS/Dr) in the league, like Lamar Jackson’s Ravens did in 2023, but his offense ranking 13th in yards per drive would be the worst ranking on record for an MVP winner.

The notion that Allen is getting it done this year without Stefon Diggs is commendable, but it hasn’t translated into him elevating the success of the receivers he’s already familiar with from 2023:

  • Khalil Shakir already had a 2023 season where he caught 86.7% of his 45 targets for 611 yards, averaged a stunning 13.6 yards per target, and had a stellar 73.3% success rate.
  • In 2024, Shakir’s volume has shot up in a bigger role, but he’s caught 82.2% of his 73 targets for 629 yards, has the same number of touchdowns (2), he is averaging 8.6 yards per target (down a full 5.0 yards), and has a 54.8% success rate.
  • Rookie tight end Dalton Kincaid caught 73 balls in 2023 and had a success rate of 61.5%, catch rate of 80.2%, and averaged 7.4 yards per target.
  • In his second year, Kincaid’s usage is down, and he has a success rate of 52.5%, catch rate of 57.6%, and averaging 6.0 yards per target.
  • Kincaid has missed the last two games, but his numbers have been down all year instead of taking a big step forward in Year 2.

Basically, Allen is getting the MVP push because his team is going to be a top two seed, and he brings rushing value to go along with solid passing stats for a team that is scoring very efficiently.

But this is far closer to what Jackson did in 2023 than Bills fans want to admit since they were arguing for their guy last year while Jackson has assumed that role in 2024. This time, Jackson has far better stats than Allen but not as many wins despite a head-to-head 35-10 blowout of the Bills that people seem to be forgetting now.

According to Next Gen Stats:

  • In 2023, Jackson won MVP even though he was No. 9 in passing EPA (+27.4), well behind No. 1 Brock Purdy (+115.6), and just over 40 points behind No. 4 Josh Allen (+68.9).
  • In 2024, Jackson is lapping the field with +117.0 in EPA while Allen is a distant second at +77.0 EPA, 40 points behind Jackson through Week 13.

It’s like the tables have turned, but Buffalo fans are jumping right through them with five weeks to go to push this “he’s the MVP” narrative before it’s been earned. Let’s see what Allen does in Detroit in Week 15 given that the Bills are just 2-2 against likely playoff teams and the Lions are the last good team they’ll play in 2024. Meanwhile, the Ravens (up to 10), Chiefs (up to 9), and Lions (up to 8) all have way more games against playoff-caliber opponents this year than Buffalo (5) will play by season’s end.

Let’s see how it plays out as MVP is not a lifetime achievement award, though I guess Steve McNair won a share of one in 2003 with that sentiment.

2. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

Week 13 rank: 2 (0)

While the defense could be the undoing for Kansas City’s three-peat, the problem on offense is clearly left tackle Wanya Morris, who had an abysmal game against the Raiders on Black Friday. Even when Mahomes threw a touchdown, he still was pressured from Morris getting beat:

Mahomes has historically been one of the hardest quarterbacks to sack, and one of the best at not taking sacks while pressured. But in back-to-back games against the Panthers and Raiders, he was sacked 5 times each. He had one career game with 5 sacks before this stretch.

The good news is the Chiefs have options going forward at left tackle. Things got so bad against the Raiders that they moved guard Joe Thuney to left tackle in the fourth quarter. But the team recently signed veteran D.J. Humphries from the Cardinals, and he will hopefully be ready to go this week against the Chargers, a top-ranked defense that just turned over Kirk Cousins four times in Atlanta and already held these Chiefs to 17 points and a season-low 16 first downs in Week 4.

The Chiefs are still winning games with Mahomes leading his sixth game-winning drive of 2024. But if they don’t get Morris away from the field, this whole thing could collapse.

3. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

Week 13 rank: 3 (0)

This has to be the most frustrating season of Lamar Jackson’s career. The stats are there in a way they never have been before, especially as a passer. But the wins aren’t coming like they used to as he’s dealing with the worst defense of his career, he has some of the worst starting field position in the league, and even kicker Justin Tucker is broken after missing three more kicks in this game that may have made a huge difference.

The Ravens are 8-0 when they scored 28 points this season and 0-5 when they don’t. In many ways, this would be Jackson’s most deserving MVP yet if he won it, but at the rate things are going, he won’t get any first-place votes, especially if the Ravens keep losing games and falling down the playoff standings.

The result is an 8-5 team going into the bye, and the Ravens still struggled with their familiar foes this year. But Jackson usually beats the NFC as he was 23-1 going into Sunday’s game. But the Eagles had a great plan to keep him contained in the pocket, and he took a few bad sacks while also fumbling the ball on an unforced error that sunk another drive. Throw in the missed kicks and the Ravens just never got much going after an early 9-0 lead.

Jackson said after the game that his mother was mad at him for not taking the running lanes. We’ll see if more running becomes his thing down the stretch when the Ravens are back in action in Week 15 against the Giants, a terrible run defense.

But it’s going to come down to that rematch with Pittsburgh if the Ravens still have any hope to hang onto the AFC North title.

4. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions

Week 13 rank: 4 (0)

Are we starting to see a little regression in the Detroit offense? They haven’t surpassed 24 points in consecutive games and Jared Goff had double-digit incompletions in both games. They’re still winning, but they came very close to blowing a 16-point lead on Thanksgiving to the Bears, aided by the final nail in the coffin for Matt Eberflus’ career.

This becomes a very critical time in Detroit’s schedule, because they have to host the Packers this week, a team that beat them in Detroit last year. Then they’ll host the red-hot Bills in Week 15, a December trip to Chicago is never fun for Goff, and they won’t be bailed out by Eberflus that time. They also still have to play the 49ers and the Vikings, so despite the 11-1 record and good vibes in Detroit, this NFC North title is far from decided.

But first, let’s see how Goff handles the Packers this time. He was held to 145 yards in the rain in the first matchup, a game that swung on Jordan Love’s terrible pick-six before halftime. The Lions technically scored 17 points on offense in that game, and the Packers are coming in hot with a defense that can force turnovers.

5. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders

Week 13 rank: 6 (+1)

The Commanders picked up where they left off against Dallas last week when the offense finally came alive. They were up 28-0 before you could find your seat against the Titans, a defense that was elite at not giving up yardage. But some fumbles led to short fields for Jayden Daniels, and he took advantage with four total touchdowns, including his first NFL game with three touchdown passes in a 42-19 blowout win.

It was the third time this season Daniels completed over 80% of his passes in a game he started and finished as he picked apart the Titans with short throws. It was his best game in a month.

With the bye week here, look for a recharged Daniels to have a great chance at a strong finish given the remaining schedule. The Commanders (8-5) should make the playoffs barring any collapse.

6. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers

Week 13 rank: 5 (-1)

Justin Herbert is one of the hardest quarterbacks to analyze this season as they clearly have leaned into the running game and playing great defense under coach Jim Harbaugh as many expected. Harbaugh also has just one truly reliable receiver in rookie Ladd McConkey, and that was never more on display in Atlanta with McConkey accounting for 117 of Herbert’s 147 passing yards, an absurd share.

But without J.K. Dobbins, the running game took a hit, and the defense earned this win with four interceptions off Kirk Cousins, including a pick-six. The Chargers are going to have to do better offensively if they want to stop the Chiefs from clinching yet another AFC West title this Sunday night.

7. Russell Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 13 rank: 10 (+3)

The most points the Steelers ever scored on the road with Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback was 42 points in Cincinnati in 2014. A decade later, Russell Wilson went into that stadium and did a little better with 44 points in a victory while also passing for 414 yards, the second-highest game in his career.

Not bad given it started with a pick-six when George Pickens let the defensive back pull him down without a flag. But Wilson carved that defense up the rest of the game, and it was so refreshing to see the Steelers finally acknowledge that their offense has relied on too many deep balls under Wilson. On Sunday, they were abusing the middle of the field with easy throws to the running backs, keeping Wilson away from the pass rush and moving the ball at will against a bad defense.

The Steelers have moved the ball well against Cincinnati in recent years, so it’s probably not a sign of things to come with the schedule about to get much tougher. But it’s still good to see that Wilson can be this dominant in a game, and that Arthur Smith’s offense is able to switch things up given the opponent.

8. Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings

Week 13 rank: 9 (+1)

It feels like people are so focused on what Sam Darnold might do to destroy Minnesota’s season that we’re not focusing enough on what he is doing to lead this team to 10-2, a record no one could have imagined this year.

For the second week in a row, Darnold led a game-winning drive against the Cardinals after trailing 19-6 in the third quarter. But this week he did it in a game where his line wasn’t great, he was tied for the team lead with 22 rushing yards, and he took 5 sacks. But he shook all of that off with a turnover-free performance and leading a 70-yard touchdown to take the lead late in a 23-22 win.

Justin Jefferson was a lot more impactful this week, but Darnold used all of his weapons effectively in guiding the latest Minnesota victory. The NFC North race is far from over.

Darnold also has posted a 100 passer rating in 10-of-12 games to start this season, putting him in a list of some pretty exclusive company:

9. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals

Week 13 rank: 7 (-2)

A lot of varying opinions about how Joe Burrow played on Sunday in Cincinnati’s latest high-scoring loss. But the fact is he threw for 110 yards and two touchdowns after coughing up another fumble for a touchdown to make it a 41-24 deficit in the fourth quarter. The Steelers playing soft defense down the stretch almost cost them, but Burrow’s defense was not able to get him the ball back in a 44-38 game.

However, that also means that Bengals were into the fourth quarter with Burrow having three turnovers, a net 10 points on offense since his defense started him off with a pick-six and he gave up a fumble touchdown, and that’s just not going to win many games against playoff competition.

10. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles

Week 13 rank: 8 (-2)

Jalen Hurts simply managed the game in Baltimore as Saquon Barkley rushed for over 100 yards while Hurts passed for just 118 yards. That’s the second time this season that the Eagles won a game where Hurts didn’t throw for 120 yards, which is why we’ve seen the focus shift to Barkley as the MVP candidate from this team.

But Hurts continues to be effective on the Tush Push, and he scored another touchdown on the ground in Baltimore to push his total to 12 this season.

11. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers

Week 13 rank: 12 (+1)

Jordan Love is starting to get on a roll like he did in the second half of 2023. Thanksgiving against Miami was arguably his best game this season with 274 yards (his most in a win this season), 2 touchdowns, no picks, and a season-high 129.2 passer rating. Love only has two games this season where he wasn’t intercepted, but they are his last two games, and he might be starting to peak at the right time. He has a huge game in Detroit this Thursday where the Packers won last year on Thanksgiving, another confidence booster.

12. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 13 rank: 11 (-1)

It was a difficult day for Baker Mayfield in Carolina. His 9.6 QBR was actually the lowest of any quarterback in Week 13, but he still managed to lead a go-ahead touchdown drive, a game-tying field goal drive in 30 seconds to force overtime, and caught a break when his kicker missed a long one and the Panthers fumbled the ball back to his offense.

The ground game was dominant and put things away with a long run to set up the game-winning field goal to get the Bucs back to 6-6 and tied for the NFC South lead. But the Panthers are an improved team, and Mayfield will need to be sharper when they have their rematch in Week 17.

13. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers

Week 13 rank: N/A (Brandon Allen was No. 31)

Brock Purdy didn’t break 100 yards passing in the biggest blowout of his career in a 35-10 loss in Buffalo. But I think it was very evident early that the 49ers weren’t prepared for the snow, dropping several passes, and they lost Christian McCaffrey to a season-ending PCL injury.

Purdy will have better days, and the game was not indicative of his season. But the 49ers are running out of time to turn things around for the playoffs.

14. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans

Week 13 rank: 15 (+1)

C.J. Stroud helped Houston complete the season sweep of the Jaguars, but it didn’t come easy again. Even after finally breaking through for a couple of touchdowns in the second half to build a 23-6 lead, the Texans nearly gave it away again. Fortunately, Joe Mixon put things away on the ground in a 23-20 final as Stroud passed for 242 yards and avoided the turnovers this week.

But they need to start getting earlier production in games, and they could stand to do a better job of putting teams away late.

15. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams

Week 13 rank: 16 (+1)

Matthew Stafford had a fairly clean game in New Orleans with a couple of sacks and no turnovers. There wasn’t much happening in the first half as the Rams were held scoreless, snapping an NFL-record streak of 129 games with points in the first half. But they came up with three touchdown drives in the second half, including the 50th win of Stafford’s career where his team scored the game-winning points in the fourth quarter or overtime, making him just the sixth quarterback to reach that milestone:

16. Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks

Week 13 rank: 17 (+1)

It hasn’t been the greatest month of offense for Geno Smith and the Seahawks, but at least he ended a four-game streak of throwing a pick and registering a fumble with a clean game in the turnover department. He was down 14-0 early against the Jets, but the Seahawks stayed the course and pulled out another game-winning drive against Geno’s former team in a 26-21 win.

It was the first time since Week 7 that the Seahawks scored more than 20 points, but even these numbers included a pick-six by the big man Leonard Williams. But the Seahawks are 7-5 and in first place in the NFC West again.

17. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals

Week 13 rank: 14 (-3)

It was far from a terrible game for Kyler Murray in Minnesota, but the constant settling for field goals led to the team’s undoing in a 23-22 loss after leading 19-6. A pair of interceptions in the fourth quarter also did the Cardinals no favors, and you could certainly argue they should have considered going for the 4th-and-4 late in the game instead of settling for another field goal to go up by 6 points, the most dreaded league in the final minutes of the game.

Despite this loss to fall to 6-6, Murray still leads the NFL in QBR (75.1), which is something we’ve never seen before in the stat’s history. Not only are the Cardinals .500, but they are on the fringes of a top 10 scoring offense instead of an elite unit. They move the ball very well (No. 2 in yards per drive), but again, too many drives fall short of the end zone.

18. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins

Week 13 rank: 13 (-5)

The final numbers for Tua Tagovailoa in Green Bay on Thanksgiving look absurdly good with better than 80% complete, 365 yards, 2 touchdowns, and no turnovers. However, the Dolphins were stuck on 11 points until a few minutes remained in the game, and he took a handful of sacks, including a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line play.

The 30-17 loss also reinforces every negative trend for this Miami team about failing to win on the road against good teams and not playing well in the cold.

19. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos

Week 13 rank: 18 (-1)

I wouldn’t say Bo Nix was at his best on Monday night against Cleveland, but he did drop a sweet deep ball for a 93-yard touchdown to Marvin Mims. That makes up for barely completing 50% of his passes with a pair of interceptions as he was a bit wild with the ball all night. But the Broncos are 8-5, something very few expected this year.

20. Jameis Winston, Cleveland Browns

Week 13 rank: 20 (0)

Jameis Winston is one of a kind.

In throwing for 497 yards and having 171 yards worth of interception return yards, that’s 668 yards gained on Winston’s passes in Denver, a single-game NFL record. Go figure it’s the quarterback who holds the NFL record for pick-sixes in a season (7 in 2019) and is the only quarterback to ever throw 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions in the same season. This is who he is.

But it was a wild night for Winston as he nearly led another upset of a playoff contender. But those two touchdowns he gave up on picks in each half were killers. That’s just what you have come to expect from him, and it still beats watching sack merchant Deshaun Watson fail to do anything in this Kevin Stefanski offense.

Jerry Jeudy had 235 receiving yards in Denver, the most ever in a revenge game, and more than Watson had in passing yardage in any game this season. In fact, Watson didn’t even have a 200-yard game this season. Winston elevates the offense, mistakes and all.

21. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears

Week 13 rank: 23 (+2)

The good news is Caleb Williams is officially free of head coach Matt Eberflus. The team fired him Friday after that disastrous ending in Detroit on Thanksgiving. Some feel Williams should be culpable for not calling timeout or getting a better play in faster, and that makes some sense. But it’s still on the head coach to call timeout when he sees things are clearly teetering on disaster, and Eberflus just froze.

He leaves the Bears with an abysmal 4-22 (.154) record in game-winning drive opportunities. The Bears blew yet another winnable game this year, adding to the Hail Mary finish in Washington and the blocked field goal against Green Bay.

Williams struggled to get a first down in the first half in Detroit, but he picked that defense apart for three touchdowns after halftime. I think there should be plenty of optimism about his future, and it will be very important to hire a great coaching staff after the poor decision to not let Eberflus go along with Justin Fields for 2024.

Williams more than held his own against the Packers, Vikings, and Lions, the three NFC North rivals that are accounting for one of the strongest divisions in NFL history. Bears fans, you’re going to get better from this moment. Thursday was just a necessary way out of Eberflus.

22. Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints

Week 13 rank: 21 (-1)

We’re still waiting for the first fourth-quarter comeback win of the Derek Carr era in New Orleans. He did throw a great game-tying touchdown and 2-point pass against the Rams. But down 21-14, his drive came up short again after he was pressured on fourth down.

But the Saints struggled to find the end zone the first three quarters in a much lower-scoring game than expected. They also lost Taysom Hill to a torn ACL, so there goes another weapon. But Carr was supposed to give this team an edge in close games just like this one. It hasn’t happened for two seasons now.

23. Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets

Week 13 rank: 22 (-1)

Aaron Rodgers turned 41 on Monday, but he looked closer to 50 on Sunday in the latest loss for the Jets, the first team to ever go 3-9 straight up despite being a point spread favorite in 9-of-12 games to start a season.

Rodgers threw his second pick-six of 2024, something he only did four times in his Green Bay career. This was a bad one as it came after he missed Garrett Wilson for a touchdown, and it caused a huge swing in a game that the Jets once led 21-7. It also was 92 yards to Leonard Williams, the longest pick-six ever for a 300-pound NFL player.

But even with a chance to lead a game-winning touchdown drive, Rodgers again came up short as he often has this season. The Jets fell 26-21, and Rodgers is averaging a career low 6.3 yards per pass attempt.

24. Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons

Week 13 rank: 19 (-5)

Remember the worst-case scenario of the Michael Penix Jr. draft pick in Atlanta? We might be in that territory as the Falcons have squandered their NFC South lead with a 3-game losing streak that has largely been about poor play from Kirk Cousins, who has thrown no touchdowns and six interceptions in those games.

He’s just not looking physically great, and his season’s success has largely been built on shredding Tampa Bay twice. He’s struggled in many other games, and the 17-13 loss at home to the Chargers was especially rough with four picks, including a pick-six in the third quarter that put the team behind for the rest of the game.

The defense was great enough for the Falcons to win that game. But the team is going to have to make some decisions about what to do at quarterback if this slump continues. Cousins signed a 4-year deal worth $180 million in March, but at this rate, he might not be worth starting in January, let alone Week 1 of the 2025 season.

25. Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers

Week 13 rank: 25 (0)

Has Bryce Young turned the corner these last four starts? The numbers still won’t blow anyone away (59.1% complete, 4 touchdowns, 1 interception, 6.5 yards per attempt), but given where he’s been the rest of his career in the statistical mud, this looks like competent quarterback play.

It’s also led to at least 20 points on the scoreboard in four straight games, and he’s had the team in position to win or at least go to overtime in each game. He did it to the Chiefs last week, and this time he had Tampa Bay on the ropes with a great 25-yard touchdown pass to Adam Thielen with 30 seconds left that should have won the game if the defense could have got one stop.

Then in overtime, Chuba Hubbard fumbled while the Panthers were driving for the winning score, and Young never touched the ball again in a 26-23 loss. But he is showing he deserves more time in Carolina.

26. Aidan O’Connell, Las Vegas Raiders

Week 13 rank: N/A (Gardner Minshew was No. 29)

Similar to Caleb Williams in Chicago, you have to feel a little bad for Aidan O’Connell after he had a career game with 340 passing yards and should have been able to take down a 10-1 team on the road in Kansas City. But his coach is incompetent in close games, his kicker couldn’t come through on any long kicks on Friday, and then his center snapped the ball too early on a disastrous game-ending fumble when it looked like the Raiders might have had the Chiefs on the ropes.

It’s a remarkable turnaround for a quarterback who literally didn’t complete a pass after the first quarter in Arrowhead last Christmas in a 20-14 win that was built on the defense returning two touchdowns. But this time, O’Connell erased a 16-3 deficit with a pair of long touchdown passes to his playmakers.

I’m not sure if this is a new step forward for O’Connell or just the state of a Kansas City defense that’s struggling really bad, but this was as impressive as anything O’Connell has done in the NFL so far.

27. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars

Week 13 rank: 24 (-3)

The scary moment in Week 13 was when Houston linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair took a cheap dive at a sliding Trevor Lawrence, knocking the quarterback out with a concussion that featured posturing.

The good news is Lawrence is doing okay after the hit. The NFL is expected to suspend Al-Shaair three games for the hit, pending appeals. Lawrence only returned to action in this game before his day was cut short. He had a rough day in there and the offense actually got better with Mac Jones before coming up short in a 23-20 loss.

We’ll see if Lawrence returns to action soon since he doesn’t have the concussion history of someone like Tua Tagovailoa. But with the Jaguars at 2-10 and head coach Doug Pederson a likely sitting duck, there shouldn’t be any rush with Lawrence.

28. Drake Maye, New England Patriots

Week 13 rank: 27 (-1)

Once upon a time, if the Patriots took a 24-17 lead on a go-ahead touchdown drive at home, there was almost no way of beating them. But those days are over, and Drake Maye watched his team waste a golden opportunity for a win after the offense sputtered on the ground following an Anthony Richardson pick, and Maye took a sack on third-and-long.

By the time Maye touched the ball again, just 12 seconds remained with the Patriots down 25-24. At least they had a few timeouts to work with, and to Maye’s credit, he set up the special teams for what would have been a record-setting 68-yard field goal. But Joey Slye, who was off on a 25-yard kick earlier in this game, was just a little short on the kick that would have won the game.

Maye is getting closer to figuring things out. He was 24-of-30 for 238 yards passing in this game, the red-zone interception wasn’t really his fault on a deflected ball, and he rushed for 59 yards too.

29. Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts

Week 13 rank: 28 (-1)

Anthony Richardson is the first quarterback since Austin Davis in 2014 to win a game despite throwing for fewer than 110 yards (min. 20 attempts) and multiple interceptions. He’s the first quarterback to do it in a game where his team allowed 24 points since Greg Landry did it for the Colts in a 28-24 win over Buffalo in 1980.

This is usually not a winning formula, but to his credit, Richardson had the most fantasy points (21.16) of any of the 84 quarterbacks to hit those passing parameters in a game. That’s because he can rush for 48 yards and a touchdown, and his legs were vital on the epic 19-play drive to win the game at the end. While Richardson had his struggles with throwing the ball, he threw a dart on fourth-and-goal for the 3-yard touchdown with 12 seconds left that allowed the Colts to go for a 2-point conversion with Richardson running it in for the lead and victory.

The Colts are still in the playoff race at 6-7 with their unorthodox quarterback. He still is a huge work in progress, but drives like that will at least give the team hope about his future.

30. Cooper Rush, Dallas Cowboys

Week 13 rank: 30 (0)

If there’s something the Cowboys still do well, it’s beat the New York Giants. They completed the sweep with a very modest game by Rush, who threw for 195 yards and a touchdown while averaging 5.4 yards per attempt. Rico Dowdle led the offense with his best rushing game (112 yards), and the good news is the offense had no turnovers in a game for the first time Rush’s four starts.

We’ll see if Rush can improve to 2-0 as a starter against Joe Burrow and the Bengals on Monday night. He already upset them in Dallas in a 2022 game.

31. Will Levis, Tennessee Titans

Week 13 rank: 26 (-5)

I don’t want to hammer Will Levis for the 42-19 loss in Washington since it was 28-0 in the blink of an eye, and to that point, his success rate was 1-for-5 with no giveaways. That’s right, a quarterback had just five dropbacks (and only two incompletions) by the time his team fell behind 28-0 due to terrible defense and fumbles setting up short fields.

Levis eventually threw for 212 yards and 2 touchdowns while limiting any sack damage, but the game was decided so early in a week where most games were very close at the end.

32. Drew Lock, New York Giants

Week 13 rank: N/A (Tommy DeVito was No. 32)

Are the Giants just going to cycle in a new quarterback every week to produce some of the worst passing offense in the league? Drew Lock was clearly rusty on Thanksgiving, but it’s never going to end well when he’s your leading rusher in the game. He found some plays late to make a game of it, but the Giants couldn’t get him the ball back.

Frankly, I’m not sure what the team should do going forward. There’s no way you’re going into 2025 with Lock or Tommy DeVito as the starter, so this is a 2-10 team playing out the schedule and flirting with that No. 1 pick in the draft.

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Photo of Scott Kacsmar Scott Kacsmar04/12/2024 - 09:48 am