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Sports Seriously’s Mackenzie Salmon “overreacts” to the key news from Sunday’s games.
Sport in Seriousness
Patrick Mahomes knows it.
The Kansas City Chiefs are starting the 2024 NFL season with wins, but their superstar quarterback did not seem quite in form after three games.
“I feel like I didn’t play very well, and that has nothing to do with stats,” Mahomes admitted after the Chiefs improved their record to 3-0 with a narrow 22-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday night.
The stats also back up Mahomes’ analysis. He is currently on pace to set a career low in passing yards and a career high in interceptions after three games. Even more telling is his ranking compared to other quarterbacks in ESPN’s QBR (quarterback rating) before Week 4.
While the top of the QBR rankings remains littered with heartwarming redevelopment projects like Derek Carr, Sam Darnold and Malik Willis, Mahomes sits 18th in QBR entering Week 4. Right now, he’s behind players like Jacoby Brissett, Bo Nix and Daniel Jones in that metric. Keep in mind that since becoming the Chiefs’ starting quarterback, Mahomes had never finished worse than the top five in QBR prior to last season when he was ranked 8th. As recently as 2022, he led the league in QBR.
Here’s where the rest of the NFL quarterbacks rank based on their QBR for the season (including an unlikely frontrunner) and their performance in terms of QBR in Week 3:
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ESPN’s QBR, explained
Each week, ESPN awards each quarterback a QBR for his most recent performance. According to ESPN, the rating is designed to “take into account all of a quarterback’s contributions to the win, including his impact on the game on passes, runs, turnovers and penalties.”
QBR measures the success of each play and how much credit the quarterback deserves for the play. The stat also takes into account the strength of the opposing defense. The end result is an efficiency rating as a number on a scale of 0 to 100 points. The overall rating is averaged per game over the course of the season.
NFL quarterbacks ranked by total QBR before Week 4
Here’s how all starting quarterbacks are doing before Week 4 of the NFL season, based on their 2024 QBR:
- Malik Willis, Green Bay Packers (QBR: 89.3)
- Andy Dalton, Carolina Panthers (86.4)
- Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills (84.6)*
- Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints (80.4)
- Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals (74.2)
- Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers (74.1)
- Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings (73.1)
- Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens (68.3)
- Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks (61.9)
- Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles (60.5)
- Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets (59.9)
- Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals (56.9)*
- CJ Stroud, Houston Texans (54.9)
- Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers (54.8)
- Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams (54.7)
- Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars (54.5)*
- Jacoby Brissett, New England Patriots (54.0)
- Bo Nix, Denver Broncos (53.9)
- Daniel Jones, New York Giants (52.3)
- Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs (51.2)
- Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts (49.1)
- Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons (48.6)
- Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders (48.1)*
- Justin Fields, Pittsburgh Steelers (46.9)
- Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (45.1)
- Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys (45.1)
- Gardner Minshew, Las Vegas Raiders (43.7)
- Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins (34.9)
- Jared Goff, Detroit Lions (34.1)
- Will Levis, Tennessee Titans (29.3)
- Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears (26.5)
- Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns (23.3)
- Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers (22.7)
- Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers (8.9)
- Skylar Thompson, Miami Dolphins (4.9)
*Does not include MNF Game of Week 3
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NFL Week 3 QBR Leaders
Here’s how all starting quarterbacks performed in Week 2 of the 2024 NFL season, based on their QBR:
- Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens (28-25 win at Dallas Cowboys) – 96.8
- Malik Willis, Green Bay Packers (30-14 win over Tennessee Titans) – 92.9
- Andy Dalton, Carolina Panthers (36-22 win at Las Vegas Raiders) – 86.9
- Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers (27-24 loss at Los Angeles Rams) – 86.1
- Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets (24-3 win over New England Patriots) – 81.1
- Bo Nix, Denver Broncos (26-7 win at Tampa Bay Buccaneers) – 80.6
- Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings (34-7 win over Houston Texans) – 74.7
- Daniel Jones, New York Giants (21-15 win at Cleveland Browns) – 72.8
- Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams (27-24 win over San Francisco 49ers) – 64.5
- Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs (22-17 win at Atlanta Falcons) – 57.8
- Justin Fields, Pittsburgh Steelers (20-10 win over Los Angeles Chargers) – 55.4
- Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers (20-10 loss at Pittsburgh Steelers) – 52.7
- Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys (28-25 loss to Baltimore Ravens) – 52.2
- Jared Goff, Detroit Lions (20-13 win over Arizona Cardinals) – 44.0
- Gardner Minshew, Las Vegas Raiders (36-22 loss to Carolina Panthers) – 41.7
- Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles (15-12 win at New Orleans Saints) – 41.2
- Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints (15-12 loss to Philadelphia Eagles) – 40.8
- Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals (20-13 loss to Detroit Lions) – 37.7
- Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears (21-16 loss at Indianapolis Colts) – 35.8
- Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks (24-3 win over Miami Dolphins) – 35.3
- Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons (22-17 loss to Kansas City Chiefs) – 30.7
- Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns (21-15 loss to New York Giants) – 27.3
- CJ Stroud, Houston Texans (34-7 loss at Minnesota Vikings) – 25.1
- Jacoby Brissett, New England Patriots (24-3 loss at New York Jets) – 23.5
- Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts (21-16 win over Chicago Bears) – 17.6
- Will Levis, Tennessee Titans (30-14 loss to Green Bay Packers) – 15.1
- Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (26-7 loss to Denver Broncos) – 10.1
- Skylar Thompson, Miami Dolphins (24-3 loss at Seattle Seahawks) – 7.9
