Quarterback rankings after Week 16

Week 16 was a mixed bag with some outstanding performances, and a high number of forgettable outings.

Although there was only one Total QBR above 90 points, what is most surprising is the name of the passer who achieved it, after spending almost the entire season among the basement in that category.

And speaking of the basement, there were three quarterbacks who did not even reach double digits in Total QBR, including two passers who were making their debut as starters in an NFL game.

Five quarterbacks on the rise
Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills. Someone woke up at the right time, and that’s only good news for the Bills. Allen owned the game, completing 30 of 47 passes for 314 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, and again led Buffalo on the ground with 12 carries for 64 yards, including some crucial breakaways down the stretch. His Total QBR of 85.0 was the third-highest on the day. He’s not up for winning the season’s Most Valuable Player award, but it doesn’t matter, because the Bills have another award in mind.

Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With 18 pass completions out of 30 attempts for 232 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions, Brady wasn’t particularly devastating, but effective enough to sneak into the top Total QBR for the day, with an 82.6. He ranked 11th in average yards per pass attempt, with 7.73, and even had an 11-yard breakaway on his only carry of the day.

Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals. It was a historic afternoon for Burrow at the helm of the Cincinnati offense, completing 37 of 46 passes for 525 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. In addition to leading the league in yards per pass, he set the fourth-highest total in a regular-season game in NFL history. To top it off, he led the league in pass completion percentage at 80.4, average yards per pass attempt at 11.41 and sixth best in inaccurate passer rating at just 6.5 percent. If the Bengals are to become a playoff contender, they will do so under Burrow.

Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys. Total QBR didn’t treat Prescott very well in Week 16, recording him just a 72.6 that was the 10th-highest of the day. However, it cannot be ignored that he completed 28 of 39 pass completions for 330 yards with four touchdowns with no interceptions. His pass completion percentage of 71.8 percent was also the 10th best mark of the day, and he ranked seventh best in yards per pass attempt with 8.46.

Zach Wilson, New York Jets. Believe it or not, the Jets rookie took the highest QBR Total of the day, a 92.4 that represents far and away his best performance as a pro. He completed 14 of 22 pass attempts for 102 yards with one touchdown with no interceptions, but added four carries for 91 yards and a touchdown to his afternoon. Finally, he was second in the league in inaccurate passer rating at just 4.8 percent.

Five quarterbacks down
Ian Book, New Orleans Saints. There are debuts on the wrong foot, and then there’s Book. The Saints rookie had a really tough time against the Dolphins defense, connecting on 12 of 20 pass attempts for 135 yards with two interceptions. His start on Monday Night Football resulted in a Total QBR of just 2.1 for the day, the lowest in the NFL and one of the lowest we can remember in this space. All in all, the Saints don’t have much of an argument for not leaving Book in, unless it’s Taysom Hill taking the controls. Returning a passer like Trevor Siemian doesn’t make sense for this team with two games to play.

Jake Fromm, New York Giants. Another backup who had a really tough time in his debut as starting quarterback was Fromm, who connected on 6 of his 17 pass attempts for 25 yards with no touchdowns, and an interception. His Total QBR of 4.9 was the third worst on the day, and admittedly I don’t remember a yards per pass attempt average as microscopic as his 1.47. He was also second-worst on the day in pass completion rate at 35.3 percent and second-worst in inaccurate passer rating at 31.3 percent.

Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers. The Panthers must feel the same rush to find a quarterback for 2022 after another embarrassing display by their quarterbacks. Newton, who started, was the worst, but Sam Darnold is not spared. Newton completed 7 of 13 completions for 61 yards with zero touchdowns and one interception, plus five carries for 42 yards. His 53.8 percent pass completion rate was the fifth-worst figure of Week 16, and he was sixth-worst in inaccurate passer rating at 23.1 percent. His Total QBR of 16.8 was fifth-worst on the day. An average of 4.69 yards per pass attempt doesn’t usually translate into many wins in this league.

Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers. No one really wants to see Roethlisberger out of the league just because, but it’s hard to watch him operate on a week-to-week basis without feeling bad for him. He’s coming off a 23 complete outing out of 35 attempts for 159 yards with one touchdown and one interception, and averaged just 4.54 yards per pass attempt. To make matters worse, 22.9 percent of his passes were inaccurate, ranking No. 28 in that category league-wide. His Total QBR of 15.4 was the fourth lowest on the day.