In case you haven’t noticed, passing offense in the NFL is finally perking up in the 2024 season. Even the rookie quarterbacks are starting to throw multiple touchdowns as Drake Maye and Spencer Rattler made their first starts this weekend, and Caleb Williams had himself a day in London for the Bears.
The showdown in Baltimore between Jayden Daniels and Lamar Jackson may have had an expected ending with the Ravens winning 30-23, but the rookie showed a lot against the reigning MVP who is now 22-1 against NFC foes.
But Tuesday was an eventful news day as the Jets and Bills were not happy about Monday night’s game, so both acquired a wide receiver via trade. The Jets brought Davante Adams back to the graces of Aaron Rodgers, and Josh Allen has a new No. 1 in Amari Cooper. I’m not sure either move shakes up the division races or the Super Bowl LIX odds, but they could have a positive impact on those quarterbacks going forward.
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).
Table of Contents
1. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders
Week 6 rank: 1 (0)
People tend to downgrade a quarterback after a loss, but I really think Jayden Daniels played better than expected in Baltimore in a tough environment with his defense getting shredded by a top offense.
He still threw for a season-high 269 yards, hit some tight-window throws to Terry McLaurin, did not turn the ball over, and he scored 23 points on the road. The defense just couldn’t get him the ball back for one more try.
There were some issues with sacks and finishing in the red zone. But Daniels also was his team’s leading rusher with 22 yards as they couldn’t find a running game without Brian Robinson Jr. available.
Losing isn’t fun, but that game was a great litmus test and learning opportunity for Daniels and a young Washington team. There are much easier games coming up.
2. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans
Week 6 rank: 3 (+1)
C.J. Stroud’s first game without Nico Collins was a success as the Texans scored a season-high 41 points in New England. He threw 3 touchdowns, did well on third downs, and turned things over to the running game that really popped again with Joe Mixon leading the way.
If the Texans can ever get Collins and Mixon to stay healthy together at the same time, this offense operated by Stroud could really take off this year.
3. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
Week 6 rank: 4 (+1)
The Ravens are rolling with an offense that averages a league-high 6.9 yards per play. Pick your poison with Lamar Jackson throwing down the field, Jackson running with the ball, or Derrick Henry racking up huge numbers too.
The Washington defense was not match for this group, and the only blemish was on the opening drive when a Jackson pass went off Mark Andrews’ hands for an interception. But he threw for 323 yards on just 26 attempts as Zay Flowers had a huge game.
Jackson can continue his MVP push on Monday night in Tampa Bay against a team that just scored 51 points. But with the way the Ravens are playing right now, this team is more built to win shootouts than at any other point in the Jackson era.
4. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
Week 6 rank: 6 (+2)
The Bills survived the bad kicking fest in New York on Monday night, but they clearly aren’t satisfied with their receiving room as Josh Allen is averaging just 193.3 passing yards per game this season, easily his lowest since 2019. He hasn’t thrown an interception, he’s made timely runs, and he’s not taking sacks. But they need more production than this to hang at the top of the AFC.
That’s why they traded for Amari Cooper from the Browns. He’s past his prime, but he’ll have his moments and can be a decent outside option for Allen. That would hopefully help receivers like Khalil Shakir and Curtis Samuel better understand their roles in the slot for the Cole Beasley role in this offense.
But with Cooper’s tendency to disappear in big games and drop the ball at bad times, don’t be surprised if he’s not the missing piece to putting this offense over the top in January.
5. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Week 6 rank: 2 (-3)
The Chiefs had their bye week, so not much of a chance for Patrick Mahomes to improve his status. He remains an MVP favorite with pedestrian numbers, but he’ll draw a lot of attention in this week’s Super Bowl rematch with the 49ers. Mahomes is 4-0 against that team, including 2-0 in the Super Bowl. He’s posted huge numbers against them, and we know the Chiefs usually do great things after bye weeks under Andy Reid.
We’ll see if Mahomes can solve the 49ers once again, or if they finally step up and get a win over him as the Chiefs have won 11 games in a row.
6. Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings
Week 6 rank: 5 (-1)
The Vikings also had their bye week with a 5-0 record before a huge game to come this week with Detroit in that loaded NFC North race. The good news for Sam Darnold is that Aidan Hutchinson suffered a season-ending injury in Dallas, so he won’t have to worry about a dominant edge rusher coming after him this week.
But with everyone waiting to see Darnold implode, he’ll have to prove he is legitimate this year with this team. Great game to showcase that against Detroit this week. Get to 6-0 and there will be more believers in this team and Darnold.
7. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
Week 6 rank: 7 (0)
Joe Burrow started Sunday night’s game against the Giants with an unusual scrambling performance as he took off on 3rd-and-18 for a 47-yard touchdown run. That was more than double the previous longest run of his career (23 yards).
That was the only score in the game for a long time as both teams struggled with sacks and finishing drives. Burrow took a season-high 4 sacks in the game, but he did deliver a big strike late in the game on another third-and-long situation.
But the Bengals did look far from unstoppable in this game, a 17-7 win that represents the fewest points the Bengals have ever allowed in any of Burrow’s starts.
8. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
Week 6 rank: 13 (+5)
The Lions are dialing up big plays with offensive coordinator Ben Johnson calling some masterclass games against the Seahawks and Cowboys. We know Goff averaged 16.2 yards per completion against the Seahawks when he completed 100% of his passes, but he still averaged 12.6 yards per attempt in Dallas too.
In fact, Goff is the first quarterback since Nick Foles (2013 Eagles) to average 12.5 yards per attempt in back-to-back games. You have to go back to Kurt Warner and the Greatest Show on Turf Rams in 1999 and 2000 to find other times it’s happened recently.
But we know the Seahawks and Cowboys have a lot of defensive injuries. Let’s see how Goff fares on the road against Minnesota in a huge NFC North game as Brian Flores’ defense has been very tough on every quarterback this year.
9. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
Week 6 rank: 9 (0)
Brock Purdy actually had the highest QBR (90.6) of any quarterback in Week 6 in a 36-24 win in Seattle. Granted, the Seahawks allowed Jared Goff to complete 100% of his passes recently, so that defense has problems.
But Purdy did well with 3 touchdown passes while not taking any sacks or committing any turnovers. He is leading the NFL in yards per completion (13.5) this season, and he’s doing it without nearly as much YAC as he had in previous seasons.
10. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 6 rank: 8 (-2)
It might be strange to score 51 points and drop in the rankings, but Baker Mayfield was a bit all over the map in New Orleans. He threw 4 touchdowns, but he also threw 3 interceptions in a wild game where the Saints dropped 27 points in the second quarter. But Mayfield leaned on the running game too, and the Buccaneers finished with 277 rushing yards in a game where Rachaad White didn’t even play. Bucky Irving looks like the best back there anyway.
But Mayfield has a talented offense around him, and they are doing very well with new offensive coordinator Liam Coen. Mayfield is leading the NFL with 15 touchdown passes.
11. Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons
Week 6 rank: 10 (-1)
Coming off his epic 509-yard game against Tampa Bay, Kirk Cousins started a bit slow in Carolina. However, the Falcons got the best performance of the season out of their running game, and Cousins eventually found his groove with Drake London for a big day as the team scored a season-high 38 points.
It was only the Panthers, but it was the most comfortable win of the season by far for the Falcons, who are now 4-2 and holding onto that head-to-head tiebreaker over the 4-2 Buccaneers. Cousins looks fully back on track from that Achilles injury.
12. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers
Week 6 rank: 18 (+6)
Jordan Love had his second game this season with 4 touchdown passes, but this one was much better as he protected the ball and distributed it well to his weapons on the way to an easy 34-13 win over Arizona.
Love didn’t complete 60% of his passes in any of the first three games this season, but he was 22-of-32 passing (68.8%) against Arizona. If this version of Love shows up for the Packers, they will be tough to beat as he’s getting a great effort from his defense with takeaways every week. He just needs to maintain that edge by protecting the ball himself.
13. Joe Flacco, Indianapolis Colts
Week 6 rank: 15 (+2)
You know what Week 6 lacked? Real drama. Favorites were 12-2 SU, 11-3 ATS, and only one game had a fourth-quarter lead change. But that game was in Tennessee, and Flacco led the underdog Colts (+2.5) to a 20-17 comeback win after throwing multiple touchdowns in an eighth-straight game.
It wasn’t a great Flacco performance as he leaned heavily on penalties to extend drives, but he got the job done in the fourth quarter with a game-winning touchdown to Michael Pittman Jr., who was supposed to go on injured reserve with a bad back.
It’s the kind of game that you wonder if the Colts win if Anthony Richardson played instead of Flacco. That was supposed to be the case, but Flacco got the surprise start at the last minute. Now the Colts are 3-3, Flacco is ranked No. 4 in QBR (72.0), but it sounds like Richardson will be back in the starting role next week against Miami.
Let the soap opera continue there.
14. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
Week 6 rank: 17 (+3)
Thanks to the bye, this was probably the healthiest Justin Herbert has been all season. That meant he was able to complete passes to nine different receivers by early in the second quarter, utilizing his full array of marginal weapons. He ended up throwing for more yards by halftime than he had in any full game this season, and thankfully he was able to play the full game this time.
But after the Chargers led 23-0 in the fourth quarter, they didn’t close things that well and allowed Denver to give them a scare with 16 points. Still, this version of Herbert with the Chargers giving him a defense and running game can win a lot of games. But they will have to show it against the better opponents on the schedule as they’ve had it easy in that regard so far.
15. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
Week 6 rank: 19 (+$)
After the bye week, Jalen Hurts finally got his receivers back, and he needed every bit of them as A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith made pretty much all the big, decisive plays in a 20-16 win over Cleveland that won’t impress many people.
The game didn’t have any turnovers, but you’d like to see the Eagles put up another touchdown or so.
16. Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks
Week 6 rank: 12 (-4)
It was Geno Smith’s 34th birthday last Thursday night, but he started the game with a bad interception, and he had another in the fourth quarter when it was a 23-17 game after the Seahawks trailed by 20 points earlier.
The comeback attempt was spoiled by that, and Smith once again lost to these 49ers. He is 0-6 against them since 2022 with Seattle. The Seahawks have followed a 3-0 start with an 0-3 run, and while it’s not all Smith’s fault, he is not stepping up in the big moments right now.
17. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
Week 6 rank: 11 (-6)
It’s not Dak Prescott’s fault his outmatched defense was destroyed by Detroit on Sunday. But how do you not lead a single touchdown drive in a game where you knew you had to be sharp to keep up with the Lions? Also, this interception in a 7-3 game with a chance to take the lead is terrible.
It just hasn’t been a good start to the season for Prescott after he finally got his record contract extension. He’s not protecting the ball, he’s not scoring many points, and he’s just watching his team get destroyed in these home games. We know that happened in the playoffs too against Green Bay, but it just feels like a common occurrence now.
18. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals
Week 6 rank: 16 (-2)
The Cardinals added turnover issues to their scoring woes with a season-high three giveaways in Green Bay in a blowout loss. Kyler Murray’s numbers were not terrible in the game, but he was just very ineffective at finishing drives, and it didn’t help that Marvin Harrison Jr. left the game with an injury before the rookie could even make a catch.
19. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears
Week 6 rank: 26 (+7)
Remember our conclusion this summer that Caleb Williams was walking into the best situation ever for a rookie quarterback drafted No. 1 overall? People laughed about it for two weeks, but Williams has the Bears thriving with points and a 4-2 record.
He may not be playing the stiffest competition, but Williams threw 4 touchdowns in London against the Jaguars in a big win. He has 7 touchdowns to just 1 interception over the last three games, and his sack rate is down to 9.1% for the season.
The Bears may finally have a quarterback.
20. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
Week 6 rank: 20 (0)
The Rams had a bye week, which should have been good for allowing Matthew Stafford to rest and heal as one of the oldest quarterbacks in the league. However, it’s not like he’s going to have Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp available in his next game against the Raiders, which is a winnable matchup.
21. Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets
Week 6 rank: 23 (+2)
Aaron Rodgers is going to get crushed for throwing a game-losing interception to Mike Williams for the second week in a row. This time, the pass was underthrown and Williams slipping made it much worse.
But let’s be real. The Jets missed two very makeable field goals that would have taken the lead in this game. That’s inexcusable for a veteran kicker like Greg Zuerlein, who also missed the game-winning kick in nastier field conditions against the Broncos this year.
Rodgers played better in this game, which featured 22 accepted penalties and his record fourth Hail Mary touchdown pass of his career. But it still wasn’t enough to end this losing streak for the Jets, who are fading fast at 2-4.
Rodgers got some reinforcements on Tuesday when the team pulled off the trade for Davante Adams, reuniting him with his old No. 1 receiver from Green Bay. That should help, but it’s still up to Rodgers to start playing better.
22. Andy Dalton, Carolina Panthers
Week 6 rank: 24 (+2)
The Panthers (1-5) are stuck in this situation where they can continue losing high-scoring games with Andy Dalton doing well until he throws a critical pick in the fourth quarter like he did against Atlanta in Week 6. The alternative is to go back to Bryce Young and risk losing a 30-6 game that is terrible for evaluating your team.
Dalton made some plays against a bad Atlanta pass rush, but when push came to shove, he was picked twice in the fourth quarter, unable to keep up with Kirk Cousins and those talented skill players for Atlanta.
23. Justin Fields, Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 6 rank: 25 (+2)
While the Steelers scored 32 points in Las Vegas, it’s a lot easier to do that when you get to start two drives inside the opponent’s 10 and three more inside their 36. Justin Fields did not show much touch on his passes again, but he rushed for 59 yards and two touchdowns.
It was the first game all year where Russell Wilson was active, but the Steelers are not committed to making that move yet. It’s easy to play Fields when the defense is barely allowing any points and setting up great field position. But the Steelers will need to play better offense than this against better teams and defenses, and it would not be a surprise if Wilson is the quarterback this Sunday night against the Jets now that Aaron Rodgers has Davante Adams to throw to again.
24. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
Week 6 rank: 21 (-3)
The Jaguars are used to the London experience, but they were the flat team in this one. They punted on three straight drives in the second quarter, then tight end Evan Engram had a huge fumble to start the third quarter after a 24-yard completion from Trevor Lawrence. The Bears added a touchdown to make it 21-3, and Lawrence was chasing big time from there, unable to mount a comeback on a day where the Jaguars were simply outclassed on both sides of the ball.
25. Daniel Jones, New York Giants
Week 6 rank: 22 (-3)
The worst NFL quarterback in prime time struck again as Daniel Jones fell to 1-15 in games that kickoff after 7:00 p.m. This time it was a 17-7 loss to the Bengals that was close all the way until Chase Brown decided to pad the scoreboard with a touchdown.
Jones had his chances to put the team on top, but he just couldn’t make the timing throws into sharp windows on key downs. The Cincinnati defense looked way better than it did a week ago when the Ravens torched it.
Jones had to play this game without Malik Nabers again, but the Giants are not without receiving talent. They’re just not without a reliable passer, especially at night.
26. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos
Week 6 rank: 27 (+1)
Again, Bo Nix seems to do something absolutely dreadful every other week. This was his “bad” week, and he didn’t disappoint with an inept start to a game that the Broncos trailed 23-0 in the fourth quarter of.
But to his credit, and on brand for the Chargers, he led three long scoring drives in the fourth quarter to make it a 23-16 game. The Broncos just couldn’t recover an onside kick at the end.
Nix will have to play much better than that to start a game, but he’s learning on the fly with little help around him. Once again, he led Denver in rushing with 61 yards, or more than half of the team’s total in the game. Sean Payton needs to do him more favors in that regard.
27. Drake Maye, New England Patriots
Week 6 rank: N/A (Jacoby Brissett was No. 30)
Leave it up to Drake Maye to throw more touchdown passes (3) in one start than Jacoby Brissett (2) had in five games this season. Sure, the Patriots lost 41-21, Maye had three turnovers, and he took 4 sacks. But they were also playing Houston, one of the best teams this year, and an elite pass rush.
Maye still threw for 243 yards and 3 touchdowns to an underwhelming receiving corps, and he led the team in rushing with 38 yards, doubling his starting running back Antonio Gibson, who had 19 yards on 13 carries.
They expected Maye to be a one-man show against one of the best teams in the NFL. Better days are coming, but his debut had some real positives. It’s hard to think he couldn’t have been doing these things in September too, getting some of the learning curve out of the way earlier.
28. Spencer Rattler, New Orleans Saints
Week 6 rank: N/A (Derek Carr was No. 14)
There was some real “the good, the bad, and the ugly” to Spencer Rattler’s NFL debut against Tampa Bay.
The good: He made true on his “poor man’s Patrick Mahomes” label with some plays that looked like a young Mahomes with his mobility and throwing on the run. The Saints stormed back quickly from a 17-0 deficit to take a lead after scoring 27 points in just the second quarter alone.
The bad: Rattler struggled at sustaining offense on third downs (4-for-13) and the Saints did not score on any of their final eight drives. He had multiple turnovers too.
The ugly: On the third snap, Rattler led Chris Olave into a huge hit that led to a fumble that was returned for a touchdown, not to mention a concussion for Olave. Then with a 31-27 deficit to start the fourth quarter, Rattler immediately threw a terrible pass that was intercepted deep, which led to a Tampa Bay avalanche in the 51-27 loss.
With the Saints playing this Thursday night against Denver, we’ll probably see Rattler again in prime time, but without many healthy receivers after the Saints had a rough afternoon in their fourth-straight loss.
29. Tyler Huntley, Miami Dolphins
Week 6 rank: 29 (0)
The Dolphins had a bye week, which was fine by me as that offense has been a rough watch. Starter Tua Tagovailoa could be back soon, but for Week 7, you’ll likely see Tyler Huntley again with the team in Indianapolis, a vulnerable defense.
30. Aidan O’Connell, Las Vegas Raiders
Week 6 rank: N/A (Gardner Minshew was No. 28)
It’s hard to crush Aidan O’Connell in this one as he was down his top two wide receivers and running back, and he had to deal with T.J. Watt coming off the edge. But he also didn’t make many big plays, especially after the opening drive went for a touchdown.
Down 22-7 in the fourth quarter, O’Connell forced a brutal interception on 3rd-and-19 from deep in his own end that set up the Steelers on another very short field to add to the lead. The Raiders just had too many of these mistakes in the game.
Benching Gardner Minshew for O’Connell in this game was probably worth it, but it still didn’t change anything for the team going forward. I also would point out that while Spencer Rattler struggled in his first start with New Orleans, his team scored 27 points in the second quarter. The Raiders have yet to score 27 points in any game this season.
Maybe they could trade for one of Pittsburgh’s quarterbacks.
31. Will Levis, Tennessee Titans
Week 6 rank: 31 (0)
The latest viral moment for Will Levis involves him taking out the knee of a poor ball boy on the sideline.
But we probably should focus on the fact that he threw for just 95 yards on 27 attempts in a 20-17 loss against an Indianapolis defense that has been one of the worst in the NFL this year. The Titans had a 27-yard touchdown drive in this game, and their other touchdown was because Tony Pollard broke a 23-yard run on 3rd-and-19.
Levis gave them very little production, and he threw a fourth-quarter interception with the game on the line. He also apparently annoyed Calvin Ridley by not getting him early targets, and Levis was 0-for-8 when throwing to him in this game.
We have to be very close to seeing Levis benched for Mason Rudolph.
32. Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns
Week 6 rank: 32 (0)
For a change, Deshaun Watson did not have the worst quarterback performance in Week 6 in Philadelphia. However, he took 5 more sacks and repeatedly failed in scoring territory to finish drives with touchdowns. He also reached a streak of 26 straight failed third-down conversions before finally getting some done late in the game.
But coach Kevin Stefanski keeps adamantly coming out after the game to say that Watson is his quarterback, and he gives his team the best chance to win. We’re waiting to see just how low this goes before he can say that with a straight face as Jameis Winston clearly would be a better option at this point.
Just about any quarterback would be better than this.
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