NFL QB Power Rankings, Week 10: Nick Foles hits new low
Honestly, is this season cursed? This week featured even more QB injuries across the league, including one of our top-10 guys, Drew Brees. Nick Foles also took a nasty shot at the end of Monday Night Football, adding injury to what was an insulting performance for Bears fans who managed to watch the whole game. Will we see Mitchell Trubisky return when the Bears come back from their Week 11 bye?
Last week: 30
COMP-ATT: 23-47
YDS: 257
TD: 1
INT: 4
Lock had one of the ugliest games of the season in Week 10 and his lone touchdown throw came in super garbage time. It was also the second game he’s finished this season with a completion percentage under 50%.
Last week: 32
COMP-ATT: 38-55
YDS: 390
TD: 0
INT: 0
If you just look at the box score you’d think Smith had a really good game on Sunday. But what the box score won’t show you is how many times the Football Team got bailed out by questionable penalties, and how Smith couldn’t capitalize on all the extra chances to win the game for Washington. Smith struggled escaping the pass rush, and took one big sack to knock the Football Team out of scoring range on the first drive of the game. Other times he simply made bad throws in big moments, like an overthrow to a wide open J.D. McKissic that should have gone for a touchdown.
Last week: 29
COMP-ATT: 15-26
YDS: 106
TD: 0
INT: 1
New play caller, same problems. Foles got a rare clean pocket early in the first quarter and could’ve had a big gain to Anthony Miller. But he threw a terrible pass and the ball ended up in the hands of a Vikings defender. Then with two minutes left in the game, Foles had a chance to redeem himself with Miller running free for what could’ve been a game-winning touchdown. But Foles overthrew him again and the Bears turned the ball over on downs. His 4.1 YPA was a season low, and ranks as the fourth-worst mark this season among all QBs who threw at least 15 passes in a game.
Last week: 31
COMP-ATT: 24-38
YDS: 247
TD: 1
INT: 2
While you certainly can’t fault Mullens for the two 49ers muffed punts that led directly to 14 points for the Saints, he didn’t make enough plays to pull San Francisco back into the game. The Saints took away the run game to make the Niners one-dimensional, and it worked.
Last week: 28
The Cowboys were on bye in Week 10, and he stands pat in the rankings. Next week they take on the surging Vikings.
Last week: 24
COMP-ATT: 18-35
YDS: 169
TD: 1
INT: 1
One week after his impressive NFL debut, Luton fell back to Earth. With a great opportunity to upset the Packers, the Jaguars just needed Luton to make one or two more big plays, but he couldn’t deliver. He was generally inaccurate all day, but one of the worst misses was an underthrown ball to D.J. Chark that should’ve been a walk-in touchdown.
Last week: 27
The Jets were on bye in Week 10, but Flacco moves up after Jake Luton’s underwhelming game. With Sam Darnold expected to return next week, Flacco will likely have to wait before trying to pass Kerry Collins for the 19th-most passing yards in NFL history.
Last week: 25
COMP-ATT: 21-37
YDS: 208
TD: 0
INT: 0
For the first time this season, Wentz didn’t turn the ball over, so that was a plus. However he didn’t do much of anything else as the Eagles lost to the Giants. Wentz stands pat at 25 simply because the other QBs towards the bottom of the list were equally uninspiring.
Last week: 26
COMP-ATT: 21-28
YDS: 244
TD: 0
INT: 0
RUSH-YDS: 9-64
RUSH TD: 1
Jones is finally starting to earn some cred as one of the best rushing quarterbacks in the NFL. His growth over the past two seasons hasn’t always been pretty, but each week he looks more like a legit starter. The question now is, will he continue to develop in the second half of this season and next year? Or will he end up being the second coming of Mitchell Trubisky?
Last week: 23
COMP-ATT: 29-39
YDS: 308
TD: 1
INT: 0
Rivers is not an exciting quarterback to watch, but when he doesn’t make mistakes the Colts win. In games where he hasn’t thrown a pick, Indy is 4-0. Thursday night was one of those times.
Last week: 22
COMP-ATT: 15-25
YDS: 169
TD: 2
INT: 0
RUSH-YDS: 6- -1
Tagovailoa outdueled Justin Herbert, the man selected one pick after him in the 2020 draft, by taking care of the football. One of his best plays was taking a bad snap off the ground and hucking a deep ball to DeVante Parker with pressure in his face. However, he was largely ineffective as a rusher and didn’t look as good as he had the week prior.
Last week: 20
COMP-ATT: 21-40
YDS: 213
TD: 1
INT: 0
Sunday marked the first time in Burrow’s short career that he completed fewer than 60% of his passes, but he gets a pass in the rankings since it came against the Steelers defense. The No. 1 overall pick has already been passed in the rankings by fellow rookie Justin Herbert, but now he’s in danger of being passed by Tua Tagovailoa too.
Last week: 21
COMP-ATT: 25-36
YDS: 292
TD: 2
INT: 1
Cousins was able to put the Vikings on his back and win a game for the first time this season. The Bears bottled up Dalvin Cook, which usually spells disaster for Minnesota, but he made big throws when it counted against an excellent defense.
Last week: 19
COMP-ATT: 24-33
YDS: 276
TD: 3
INT: 0
Stafford hit a huge bomb to former Bear Marvin Hall to start the game. If not for Detroit’s porous late-game defense, Stafford and the Lions should have had an easy win. But it didn't matter, as Stafford led an impressive 34-yard drive with only 16 seconds left to put Matt Prater in position to win the game.
Last week: 17
COMP-ATT: 20-30
YDS: 163
TD: 1
INT: 0
RUSH-YDS: 8-36
Watson dropped in the rankings this week, but it had more to do with the play of QB ranked directly ahead of him than anything he did on Sunday. With the wind howling all day, there wasn’t much offense to be had but Watson still made some impressive plays. One in particular was a big completion to Randall Cobb that Watson made while being dragged down by a defender. Another was a 3rd-and-6 conversion where Watson shook off another would-be sack, pump faked then juked a linebacker to run for the first down.
Last week: 18
COMP-ATT: 13-17
YDS: 118
TD: 1
INT: 0
RUSH-YDS: 11-21
RUSH TD: 1
The former king of rushing QBs took on last year’s new hotness, Lamar Jackson, and came out on top in a sloppy game that featured crazy rainstorms. Somehow Newton completed over 75% of his throws, and didn’t commit a turnover in those nasty conditions. It was an impressive performance despite what the box score says.
Last week: 16
COMP-ATT: 12-20
YDS: 132
TD: 0
INT: 0
Another QB who simply did his best to manage the game in tough conditions, Mayfield did his part to nurse a win over the Texans. It was never going to be a big day for Mayfield as Cleveland opted to run the ball 41 times.
Last week: 15
The Falcons enjoyed a two-game win streak before hitting their Week 10 bye. But when they return to play they’ll have their toughest test of the season waiting in the New Orleans Saints.
Last week: 14
COMP-ATT: 18-24
YDS: 136
TD: 2
INT: 1
RUSH-YDS: 3-16
RUSH TD: 1
Another week, another efficient game from Bridgewater. However this week he couldn’t muster many explosive plays to keep up with Tom Brady who was going off for the Bucs. Bridgewater’s 136 passing yards were a new season low.
Last week: 13
COMP-ATT: 27-37
YDS: 302
TD: 0
INT: 0
FUMBLES LOST: 1
While Goff was able to rack up yards against Seattle’s defense, he wasn’t able to capitalize on Russell Wilson’s bad day. Goff and the Rams didn’t score any points off of Wilson’s three turnovers. It felt like L.A. was lucky to have come away with the win, when it should have been a blowout.
Last week: 12
COMP-ATT: 20-32
YDS: 187
TD: 2
INT: 1
RUSH TD: 1
It took eight games, but an opposing defense has finally been able to hold Herbert under 250 passing yards. His one interception came on a bad decision, and allowed the Dolphins to take a two-score lead in the fourth quarter. Even though he scored three touchdowns, it was the worst start this season.
Last week: 10
COMP-ATT: 15-27
YDS: 147
TD: 1
INT: 0
After a super efficient start to the season, Tannehill hasn’t completed more than 60% of his passes since Week 6. Opposing teams have realized the way to beat Tennessee is to force Tannehill to put the team on his shoulders and so far he hasn’t been able to do it (I’m not counting the Bears game, because they’ve been so pitiful on offense).
Last week: 11
COMP-ATT: 16-25
YDS: 154
TD: 0
INT: 0
The Raiders were able to rush the ball easily against the Broncos, so Carr went on cruise control. He slides into the top-10 as his two interceptions are second only to Patrick Mahomes. He also ranks fifth in the NFL with a 69.3% completion rate.
Last week: 9
COMP-ATT: 28-39
YDS: 341
TD: 3
INT: 0
RUSH TD: 1
This was an up week on the Brady roller coaster, as he accounted for four touchdowns for the third time this season. One of the most impressive plays was a ball he tossed high in the air for Mike Evans to pull down in the back of the end zone. How he’ll play next week against the Rams is anyone’s guess though.
Last week: 8
COMP-ATT: 24-34
YDS: 249
TD: 2
INT: 1
RUSH-YDS: 11-55
Before the heavens completely opened up for a ridiculous rain storm, Jackson and Newton were going toe-to-toe making impressive plays on the ground. He made one bad decision on his interception before halftime, as the Ravens had a chance to put points on the board. But he deserves credit for orchestrating long drives in poor conditions and putting the Ravens in a position to win.
Last week: 7
COMP-ATT: 8-13
YDS: 76
TD: 1
INT: 0
In a season with dozens of disappointing injuries, Brees going down might be the most disappointing yet. He had elevated his play to MVP-caliber levels lately, and had the Saints looking like legit Super Bowl contenders along with superstar Alvin Kamara. There’s no timetable for Brees to return from his cracked ribs and collapsed lung, but hopefully he can heal in time for a playoff run. In the meantime, Jameis Winston will take over the primary quarterback role in New Orleans.
Last week: 6
COMP-ATT: 32-49
YDS: 284
TD: 2
INT: 2
RUSH-YDS: 7-38
REC TD: 1
Allen thought he had the game-winning touchdown pass on a beautiful throw to Stefon Diggs with less than a minute left in the game, but Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins had the last laugh. Allen’s receiving touchdown was a nifty play as well, but his turnovers have continued to put the Bills behind the eight-ball.
Last week: 2
COMP-ATT: 22-37
YDS: 248
TD: 0
INT: 2
RUSH YDS: 8-60
FUMBLES LOST: 1
After looking like he was on the fast track to win MVP this season, Wilson has been on a four-game skid. During that time he’s given the ball away 10 times, while only scoring 10 touchdowns. Compare that to the first five games of the season where Wilson had a 19:3 TD:TO ratio.
Last week: 5
COMP-ATT: 27-46
YDS: 333
TD: 4
INT: 0
Although this was the first game Roethlisberger completed fewer than 60% of his passes, he set season highs in both passing yards and touchdowns. Roethlisberger hasn’t lit up the stat sheet much this season, but he’s doing exactly what the Steelers have needed to get out to a 9-0 start.
Last week: 4
COMP-ATT: 22-32
YDS: 245
TD: 1
INT: 1
RUSH-YDS: 11-61
RUSH TD: 2
Murray’s hail mary to win the game on Sunday was magnificent, but DeAndre Hopkins deserves just as much (if not more) credit for the spectacular catch he made in triple coverage. Meanwhile, Murray’s day on the ground gave him 602 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns on the season. Those rank eighth-best and second-best in league among ALL rushers.
Last week: 3
COMP-ATT: 24-34
YDS: 325
TD: 2
INT: 1
RUSH TD: 1
On a day when Jacksonville had Aaron Jones bottled up, Rodgers made just enough big plays to help the Packers win a game that was much more competitive than anyone expected. Rodgers’ one interception allowed the Jaguars to kick a field goal and take a 20-17 fourth-quarter lead, but he made up for it with a 75-yard drive to take the lead back for good. His 78-yard back-foot bomb to Marquez Valdes-Scantling was Rodger’s tenth pass to go for 40 yards or more this season, giving him the league lead over Russell Wilson.
Last week: 1
The Chiefs were on bye in Week 10, so Mahomes enjoys a week off on top of the rankings. Next Sunday, Mahomes and the Chiefs get a rematch against the Las Vegas Raiders-- the only team to beat K.C. this season.
