NFL QB Index, Week 5: Josh Allen claims No. 1 spot; Dak Prescott trending up

2023 stats: 4 games | 74.8 pct | 1,048 pass yds | 7.8 ypa | 9 pass TD | 4 INT | 106 rush yds | 2 rush TD | 2 fumbles

A week ago, I said no one was playing quarterback better than Tua Tagovailoa. Well, after Week 4, that honor belongs to Allen, who has been on an absolute tear since the Bills’ rough Week 1 outing. Everything worked for the Bills on Sunday: the downfield shots, the swing passes, handoffs to their stable of backs, sideline completions to Stefon Diggs and even designed quarterback runs. The Bills scored in just about every fashion imaginable, and Allen played a part in all of the TDs, including James Cook‘s 1-yarder, with Allen ensuring Cook reached the end zone by pushing the RB through the pile over the goal line. The Bills are flying high right now, and Allen is captaining the aircraft. There’s no sign they’re going to run low on fuel any time soon.

2023 stats: 4 games | 71.3 pct | 1,306 pass yds | 9.6 ypa | 9 pass TD | 3 INT | 15 rush yds | 0 rush TD | 5 fumbles

Tagovailoa would have had to play about as close to a perfect game as possible to give the Dolphins a legitimate chance against Buffalo. Sadly, as we all now know, he did not, with his ugly interception serving as proof. But Tagovailoa wasn’t terrible; in fact, he was still quite good. Miami just couldn’t execute well enough to keep pace with the explosive Bills. Tagovailoa still completed 25-of-35 throws, and he probably should have had a few more completions — his targets failed to hold on to some catchable tosses. He also didn’t have time to throw for much of the game, as Buffalo’s defense notched a 35.9 percent pressure rate. The Bills also became the first opponent to implement and execute an effective coverage scheme against the Dolphins’ potent attack. That’s not on Tua; that’s just good game-planning.

2023 stats: 4 games | 64.3 pct | 1,006 pass yds | 7.0 ypa | 8 pass TD | 4 INT | 154 rush yds | 0 rush TD | 1 fumble

Well, Mahomes started Week 4 where he left off in Week 3, tossing it all over the yard and seemingly finding success no matter where he looked. In a flash, the Chiefs led the Jets by 17, with Mahomes’ best throw capping the scoring spree: on third-and-2, he lofted a pass over the driving-down safety to a wide-open Noah Gray, who took it the rest of the way for a 34-yard touchdown. Right around then, the wheels started to rattle. Mahomes threw two very uncharacteristically ugly interceptions, putting too much touch on one pass and leaving it up in the air to be picked off, and appearing to trust his arm more than his eyes on another turnover. As Mahomes suddenly struggled, the Jets rallied back. But Mahomes got the last laugh, putting away the game with a drive that lasted nearly seven and a half minutes. It included a huge scramble for a first down and ended with Mahomes taking off around the left side, sliding in bounds to keep the clock running instead of scoring a walk-in touchdown. It certainly wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done.

2023 stats: 4 games | 74.3 pct | 794 pass yds | 7.6 ypa | 4 pass TD | 1 INT | 220 rush yds | 4 rush TD | 6 fumbles

Against Cleveland, Jackson pieced together his best game of 2023 in part by replicating what he’d done in the previous week’s loss, to the point that one of his touchdown runs appeared as if it was plucked right from the Indianapolis tape and superimposed over the Week 4 action. That’s just Lamar, operating the offense while using his greatest strengths to devastate an opposing defense. Jackson added the passing game to his repertoire on Sunday, connecting twice with a past favorite target, tight end Mark Andrews, for touchdowns, dropping passes into tight windows and making a number of difficult on-the-run throws look easy. The Ravens cruised to victory because of Jackson’s performance, and if he can blend the run and pass this well every week, you just might be looking at your AFC North champions.

2023 stats: 4 games | 67.7 pct | 959 pass yds | 7.4 ypa | 5 pass TD | 3 INT | 134 rush yds | 3 rush TD | 1 fumble

The Eagles still aren’t operating at 100 percent efficiency, but for the first time in 2023, they rediscovered how to work offensive magic through the air. To the surprise of no one, the performance was built on the connection between Hurts and A.J. Brown, with the duo hooking up nine times for 175 yards and two touchdowns, including a go-ahead score that might have occurred a little too quickly in the fourth quarter, as Washington had time to tie the game before the end of regulation. You take your shots when they’re there, though, and when Hurts found a chance to hit Brown in the end zone, he didn’t miss — much like most of the day. Hurts put up 12.76 yards per completion, which should be a sign of good things to come.

2023 stats: 4 games | 71.0 pct | 1,106 pass yds | 7.6 ypa | 7 pass TD | 1 INT | 55 rush yds | 3 rush TD | 1 fumble

Heading into Sunday, Herbert had logged more than 200 attempts (including the playoffs) without an interception, but he threw one in the third quarter that almost opened the door for an unlikely Raiders comeback. When asked about the injury that he suffered on his non-throwing hand attempting to defend the return after that pick, Herbert cleverly quoted Monty Python and the Holy Grail, replying, “ ‘Tis but a scratch. Just a flesh wound.” Though the injury required a splint, a glove and shotgun snaps in the victory formation, he is not expected to miss any time, with a Week 5 bye on tap for the Bolts. Whether it affects him beyond that remains to be seen. We won’t necessarily look back on this game as a memorable one for Herbert. He played well, spreading the ball among six pass-catchers and continuing to connect with Keenan Allen for big gains. But he wasn’t as spectacular as usual, and he didn’t stuff the stat sheet, with two of his touchdown drives beginning in Raiders territory, thanks to defensive takeaways. That was fine, because he did enough to help the Chargers win.

2023 stats: 4 games | 72.3 pct | 1,019 pass yds | 9.1 ypa | 5 pass TD | 0 INT | 24 rush yds | 2 rush TD | 4 fumbles

The sun rises and sets, the calendar months move from one to the next, and all the while, Purdy stays the same: calm, cool, collected and efficient. Purdy finished the win over Arizona with an incredible completion percentage (95.2) while connecting with targets all over the field. He let off a few beauties, lofting rainbows downfield to Brandon Aiyuk, and he consistently found his underneath targets, ultimately compiling quite a day. He just keeps doing his job and doing it well.

2023 stats: 4 games | 71.3 pct | 908 pass yds | 6.7 ypa | 4 pass TD | 1 INT | 43 rush yds | 0 rush TD | 0 fumbles

For the first time in 2023, Prescott propelled the Cowboys to victory. Sure, he got some help from his opportunistic defensive teammates, but make no mistake: Prescott was as sharp as can be on Sunday. He finished 28 of 34 for 261 yards, one touchdown and a sparkling 108.5 passer rating. He delivered on-target throws under pressure, occasionally even while being taken to the ground. And he earned an early departure in a blowout win. The only note for Prescott: convert more red-zone opportunities.

2023 stats: 4 games | 62.0 pct | 1,229 pass yds | 7.4 ypa | 3 pass TD | 5 INT | 49 rush yds | 0 rush TD | 0 fumbles

After a rough night in Cincinnati, Stafford returned to form against a Colts defense that wasn’t as aggressive with its blitzing as the Bengals were in Week 3. With less heat chasing after him, Stafford thrived, firing it around the field and finishing with a 27-of-40, 319-yard passing line that included a walk-off touchdown pass over the middle to rookie sensation Puka Nacua in overtime. Stafford’s play has largely been rather impressive through the first month, save for Week 3, and folks are starting to notice. He’s the main reason the Rams are finding success despite most observers expecting them to struggle mightily this season. Another quality performance — minus an ultimately inconsequential interception — should keep him in the news cycle for the surprising Rams.

2023 stats: 4 games | 69.5 pct | 1,029 pass yds | 7.9 ypa | 6 pass TD | 3 INT | 12 rush yds | 1 rush TD | 0 fumbles

A disastrous interception to start the night against Green Bay was the worst of it for Goff, who settled in and got back to where he left off in Week 3. He engineered five scoring drives of 50-plus yards by completing a number of tight-window throws; he also evaded a sack and found rookie tight end Sam LaPorta for a key first down. His best throw of the night found Amon-Ra St. Brown, who was wide open, thanks to excellent route-running, and he had several other excellent passes in the hostile territory of Lambeau Field. In total, it was another good game for a quarterback whose team has put the league on notice.

2023 stats: 4 games | 68.8 pct | 1,214 pass yds | 7.7 ypa | 11 pass TD | 4 INT | 17 rush yds | 0 rush TD | 4 fumbles

Cousins ranks third in passing yards heading into Week 5 and owns an 11:4 TD-to-INT ratio, which should push him pretty high here. My biggest concern with him (and the Vikings as a whole) is a consistent turnover problem. The Vikings are tied for 30th in turnover differential (-8), and Cousins is responsible for seven of their 11 giveaways. He threw two picks in Carolina on Sunday, including an ugly one on the goal line that was returned 99 yards for the first touchdown of the game. And when it comes to the stats, Cousins certainly wasn’t remarkable, completing 12-of-19 passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns.

Now for the good stuff: His second touchdown pass (on what was essentially a free play, thanks to an offsides penalty) to Justin Jefferson was excellent, as was his earlier scoring completion to Jefferson, delivered on the run with sharp vision, allowing him to find Jefferson for six points. Otherwise, it was a pedestrian performance from Cousins, who won’t be moving up until he can clean up those TOs.

2023 stats: 4 games | 68.3 pct | 846 pass yds | 6.9 ypa | 5 pass TD | 1 INT | 22 rush yds | 0 rush TD | 0 fumbles

Smith exited Monday night’s game for a brief stretch due to a knee injury, and in total, he didn’t do all that much statistically, finishing with a mere 110 passing yards on 20 attempts (13 completions). But I will give him credit for the missile he launched on the run that was thrown with such force that it even appeared to surprise its intended target, DK Metcalf. That was about it for highlights from Smith, who helped the Seahawks run away with a win that was largely powered by a stellar defensive performance.

2023 stats: 4 games | 62.3 pct | 1,212 pass yds | 8.0 ypa | 6 pass TD | 0 INT | 51 rush yds | 0 rush TD | 3 fumbles

Call it hyperbole if you want, but the tape doesn’t lie: Stroud is ballin’ right now. He appears to be in total sync with offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, who has crafted an attack that fits his rookie quarterback quite well. The rookie appears very comfortable within the offense. Consider the way he sealed a Week 3 win over Jacksonville: faced with pressure in the pocket, he calmly stepped up and delivered a beautiful strike. He did that again in Week 4, capping off a boat-racing of the Steelers by dropping a dime on favorite target Nico Collins for a 52-yard touchdown. Stroud looks like he’s been in the league for five years and is a huge reason the Texans are suddenly a fun watch. 

2023 stats: 4 games | 67.1 pct | 961 pass yds | 6.9 ypa | 4 pass TD | 5 INT | 82 rush yds | 1 rush TD | 2 fumbles

Howell’s Week 4 performance was quite the opposite of his ugly, no good, very bad Week 3. He was back to the guy we saw in Weeks 1 and 2, firing darts all over the field from the pocket, extending plays and scrambling for pickups when necessary. He helped the Commanders build an early lead, and when they’d blown it and needed a comeback, he engineered a frantic but impressive 10-play, 64-yard drive that ended in a game-tying touchdown pass to Jahan Dotson with no time remaining on the clock. Sure, Washington fizzled in overtime, but Howell’s courageous showing will make plenty of folks give a second look at the Commanders, who took the defending NFC champions to the wire in their house.

EDITOR’S UPDATE: In Washington’s 40-20 loss to Chicago on Thursday night, Howell blew past 300 yards passing for the first time in his young NFL career. With the Commanders in catch-up mode after falling behind big early, Howell completed 37 of his 51 throws for 388 yards with two touchdowns against one interception.

2023 stats: 4 games | 69.6 pct | 882 pass yds | 7.1 ypa | 7 pass TD | 2 INT | 61 rush yds | 0 rush TD | 1 fumble

Look, Mayfield is never going to win a passing title, but his can-do attitude — which can hurt him sometimes, like on his second-quarter interception thrown into a crowd of Saints — is certainly making the 2023 season an enjoyable one to watch. He’s a never-say-die quarterback who will try every avenue that exists to make a positive play, and it’s produced some unconventional touchdowns in the first four weeks. On Sunday, he opened the Bucs’ scoring with such a play, tossing a short pass to Cade Otton before being folded awkwardly by two defenders. He put the game away in this fashion, too, finding Chris Godwin for a gain of 42 and throwing his final touchdown pass on a prolonged dropback. It sure is fun to watch Mayfield drop, set and let that thing rip over the middle to an open target. The overall product is much better than many expected, and the stats from Sunday’s win back it up: 25 of 32, 246 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Not bad for a guy who is on his fourth team since June 2022.

2023 stats: 4 games | 67.4 pct | 1,014 pass yds | 7.7 ypa | 9 pass TD | 2 INT | 70 rush yd | 0 rush TD | 1 fumble

Wilson had a pedestrian first half in Chicago before awakening in the final two quarters, delivering a pretty rainbow to Brandon Johnson for Denver’s second touchdown, then firing a bullet down the seam through coverage to Courtland Sutton, jump-starting a remarkable comeback for the Broncos. On a per-play basis, Wilson’s day wasn’t exactly breathtaking, but he did a good job taking what the defense gave him while also enjoying help from rookie Jaleel McLaughlin, who had a very nice outing. Wilson didn’t make any major mistakes. He connected with Marvin Mims Jr. on a crucial completion to set up a go-ahead field goal. And he did just enough at the perfect time to get the Broncos into the win column. It’s nice to see him starting to settle into this offense, even if it hasn’t yet been spectacular.

2023 stats: 3 games | 56.9 pct | 479 pass yds | 6.7 ypa | 3 pass TD | 1 INT | 131 rush yds | 4 rush TD | 2 fumbles

It sure was nice to see Richardson back on the field for the Colts, who lost Sunday but are 2-2 largely because of what the rookie brings to the table. The uber-talented quarterback is making a difference with his legs and his arm. He racked up 56 yards on 10 carries, both on scrambles and designed QB runs, with one of the latter producing a touchdown. His athleticism shined when he rolled away from pressure and delivered a bullet to tight end Mo Alie-Cox while falling down, landing the Colts in the end zone again. Without Richardson, the Colts likely never would have come back to nearly pull off a stunning win. He’s a legitimate Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate after one month.

2023 stats: 4 games | 67.1 pct | 943 pass yds | 6.6 ypa | 4 pass TD | 2 INT | 101 rush yds | 0 rush TD | 3 fumbles

At this point, I think we can accept Lawrence isn’t going to reach his peak overnight in 2023. After two weeks filled with near-misses, Lawrence managed to find success in Week 4, connecting with Calvin Ridley thanks to a blown coverage for an early touchdown in London. He led three scoring drives of 50-plus yards and exited with a solid stat line, but the Jaguars still aren’t consistently finishing drives with touchdowns. Lawrence is like a young, springy deer in the pocket, but like a fawn, he sometimes fails to capitalize on opportunities. He took a fourth-down sack deep in the red zone, when Lawrence moved off Christian Kirk in his progression prior to Kirk coming open in the corner of the end zone, and with nowhere else to go, David Onyemata ate him up for a loss and turnover on downs. Lawrence deserves credit for battling through some struggles in the game, entering the huddle with a need to put together a quality drive late in the contest. The result: a 10-play, 74-yard drive that ended in a field goal and iced the win. Baby steps will work for these Jaguars, provided they start stacking wins. Eventually, I believe Lawrence will get back to where he finished 2022. It just won’t be a breeze.

2023 stats: 4 games | 64.2 pct | 861 pass yds | 7.0 ypa | 7 pass TD | 5 INT | 134 rush yds | 1 rush TD | 4 fumbles

Week 4 was an example of what Fields can be for the Bears for many years to come. After weeks of ineptitude, offensive coordinator Luke Getsy committed to scheming around Fields’ strengths, rolling him out often and allowing him to use his athleticism to find open targets downfield. Fields was perfect until his incompletion at the end of the first half, delivering strikes to Cole Kmet down the seam and DJ Moore near the pylon, injecting a massive dose of life into the previously catatonic Bears offense. He looked great, and posted a stat line that reflected it. Fields’ two mistakes — attempting to throw out of danger, resulting in a strip sack returned for a touchdown, and placing a desperate pass on the wrong shoulder of Kmet in the final minute — ended up being incredibly costly, but when viewing his performance in total, this was a stellar day for the young quarterback. If the Bears can get this from him consistently, they’ll bury talk of finding a replacement under center.

EDITOR’S UPDATE: In Chicago’s 40-20 win at Washington on Thursday night, Fields provided one of the best all-around performances of his NFL career. In addition to producing 282 yards and four touchdowns through the air, the Bears quarterback also rushed for 57 yards. With this coming four days after his 335-yard, four-touchdown effort in a narrow loss to Denver, Fields certainly appears to be finding his groove in 2023.

2023 stats: 4 games | 56.1 pct | 901 pass yds | 6.8 ypa | 8 pass TD | 3 INT | 72 rush yds | 2 rush TD | 2 fumbles

It’s been three weeks now since Love has put together a complete game. This time around, a lifeless first half against the Lions saw Love fail to establish any sort of rhythm to move the Packers’ offense, facing constant pressure and long down-and-distance situations. His first interception was more the product of a good play by linebacker Alex Anzalone, and his second was simply a bad throw underneath a receiver who was breaking open in the end zone. Love isn’t entirely at fault for the Packers’ sleepy first half, but he certainly didn’t lift them out of the morass before the break. He found it in the second half, throwing for 194 of his 246 passing yards and powering a couple of impressive scoring drives with downfield completions. But ultimately, the lack of production in the first half doomed the Packers — and left us with another incomplete performance from Love.

2023 stats: 4 games | 62.0 pct | 788 pass yds | 7.3 ypa | 2 pass TD | 4 INT | 28 rush yds | 1 rush TD | 3 fumbles

I like to refer to Tannehill as Diet Kirk Cousins, because while Diet Coke might not be as rich and delicious as a classic Coca Cola, it still gets the job done, much like Tannehill. When he’s in the right situation in a game — and when the running game is working — Tannehill will find success in the passing game, using play-action to his advantage. He did exactly that in Week 4, stringing together a couple of impressive scoring drives by relying on play-action and finding open targets downfield. At 35 years old, he’s still athletic enough to deliver a pass on a play-action bootleg to an open target, and on Sunday, it produced Tennessee’s first touchdown of the afternoon. Just don’t ask him to carry the whole offense, or else you’ll get a result like the blowout loss the Titans suffered in Week 3.

2023 stats: 4 games | 64.5 pct | 763 pass yds | 6.2 ypa | 2 pass TD | 2 INT | 1 rush yd | 0 rush TD | 1 fumble

As Carr plays through a shoulder injury, he continues to vacillate between one of two characters in the novel that is the 2023 Saints season. He’s either a quarterback who delivers to underneath and intermediate targets for positive gains, or he’s trying to be the hero for whom no one asked. Carr holds onto the ball too long in search of the big play, and it hurt the Saints — or proved to be ineffective — on a handful of plays in Week 4. The Saints’ situational play-calling isn’t exactly helping him, either. In two third-and-6 or less situations in the first half, New Orleans dialed up plays that largely featured deep routes, leaving Carr nowhere to check down near the sticks. One ended in an incompletion of a deep pass toward no one in particular; the other ended in a sack. In total, the Saints flirted with competing against the Bucs, but just didn’t do enough — including Carr.

2023 stats: 4 games | 57.6 pct | 728 pass yds | 4.8 ypa | 2 pass TD | 2 INT | 3 rush yds | 0 rush TD | 1 fumble

After one month, it’s fair to wonder if the Bengals are ever going to reach their potential in 2023. Burrow is clearly operating the offense at less than 100 percent, and it’s hurting his ability to make a difference. He’s statuesque in the pocket, only moves around when he absolutely must, and hops around gingerly whenever he’s forced to put too much pressure on his ailing calf. Cincinnati’s play-calling isn’t helping him, as the team abandons the run too often. The Bengals are putting too much on Burrow right now, and so far, he’s proven he can’t handle it.

2023 stats: 1 game | 61.5 pct | 238 pass yds | 6.1 ypa | 0 pass TD | 1 INT | 3 rush yds | 1 rush TD | 3 fumbles

O’Connell made his first career start in place of Jimmy Garoppolo, who remains in concussion protocol as of this writing. The rookie played well enough to give his team a chance to win against the Chargers. He also dug them into a hole early by failing to protect the ball, losing two fumbles in the first half (which led to touchdowns). It was a mixed bag for the Purdue product, who dropped a beautiful dime on Davante Adams on a must-have fourth-down connection late in the game, but immediately followed that up by throwing an interception to Asante Samuel Jr. along the goal line. In total, though, it was easy to see why Raiders coach Josh McDaniels went with O’Connell over veteran Brian Hoyer.

EDITOR’S UPDATE: Jimmy Garoppolo has cleared the concussion protocol and will play Monday against the Green Bay Packers, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported Friday.

2023 stats: 4 games | 70.7 pct | 814 pass yds | 6.6 ypa | 4 pass TD | 0 INT | 141 rush yds | 1 rush TD | 4 fumbles

Unlike the first three weeks, the Cardinals did not start fast against the 49ers on Sunday. Dobbs was among those who got off to a slow start, struggling with accuracy while being tasked with trying to throw the offense down the field as the running game was kept in check. Dobbs eventually found his accuracy, completing a pair of deep passes to push Arizona into the end zone for the first time late in the second quarter, and he carried the positive momentum into the second half with another strong scoring drive. That wasn’t enough to keep up with San Francisco’s offense, though, leaving Dobbs in an unwinnable position in the fourth quarter. He was OK; not great enough to carry the Cardinals to a win, but not horrible.

2023 stats: 4 games | 58.5 pct | 712 pass yds | 5.8 ypa | 4 pass TD | 4 INT | 57 rush yds | 0 rush TD | 1 fumble

Wilson gave Jets fans a glimmer of hope on Sunday. His play in the first quarter looked a lot like his previous two starts, but Wilson deserves a ton of credit for picking himself up off the mat, digging deep and finding a place in which he could operate. It began with a sharp throw to Randall Cobb on an out route and continued with Wilson’s excellent run fake and well-placed pass to C.J. Uzomah on a fade route for a touchdown in the second quarter. Wilson settled into his comfort zone on the Jets’ first drive of the second half, when he ripped a pass down the seam over Drue Tranquill to Tyler Conklin for a gain of 25, sparking a seven-play, 75-yard drive that included another beauty to Jeremy Ruckert and ended with a bullet to Allen Lazard for the game-tying touchdown. Sure, the Jets fell short and Wilson’s fourth quarter fumble proved critical, but they never would have come close if Wilson didn’t find the courage to push through his well-documented struggles against the defending champs. The critics will be a lot quieter this week.

2023 stats: 3 games | 65.0 pct | 503 pass yds | 4.9 ypa | 2 pass TD | 2 INT | 61 rush yds | 0 rush TD | 3 fumbles

The Panthers might have lost in Week 4 because Young tried to do too much, but I came away from the game feeling as if he’d taken the first positive step — albeit a small one — of his career. Young appeared to be more comfortable in the offense against the Vikings, delivering nice intermediate passes to open targets and helping the Panthers reach field-goal range twice. Conversely, he also fumbled on a key possession in the third quarter, ending a promising drive via a strip sack (on a play in which he should have just taken the sack instead of trying to be the hero). His fumble was returned 51 yards for a touchdown. He’s not in a great situation, but I felt as if this was his first legitimate chance to win a game. Yet, his unfortunate mistakes contributed to the loss and left me wondering if the Panthers’ offense is ever going to be as productive and threatening as it was with Andy Dalton in the lineup in Week 3.

2023 stats: 4 games | 63.7 pct | 898 pass yds | 6.2 ypa | 5 pass TD | 4 INT | 60 rush yds | 0 rush TD | 1 fumble

Jones started well against the Cowboys and tossed a few well-placed passes over defenders, sometimes under pressure. But the mistakes were devastating. He got caught from behind when trying to make something out of nothing on a scramble, resulting in a fumble returned for a touchdown. He threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown by DaRon Bland, and Jones wasn’t done making mistakes in Bland’s zip code, throwing another ugly pass that was picked off by Bland. Jones’ biggest issue, it seems, is he trusts his ability too much. He’s throwing off platform and he’s trying to squeeze passes into nonexistent windows. Jones deserved to be benched in a blowout, and it will be interesting to see how Bill Belichick handles the quarterback situation going forward.

2023 stats: 4 games | 60.6 pct | 803 pass yds | 6.3 ypa | 4 pass TD | 4 INT | 18 rush yds | 0 rush TD | 0 fumbles

Things aren’t getting any easier for the Steelers, who remain waist-deep in the offensive mud through four weeks. It feels as if every third down attempt is coming from 12-plus yards away from the sticks, leaving Pickett with an unenviable task: Throw the Steelers to victory. After two weeks of success downfield, Pickett paid the price with a deep shot over the middle early against the Texans, resulting in an interception. As Houston steadily built a lead, Pickett and Co. didn’t have an answer outside of a checkdown to a backfield target (their top two receivers were running backs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren). For a team with talent in its pass-catching corps, the Steelers aren’t taking advantage of it. Pickett is to blame, at least partially, as he still doesn’t look comfortable in the offense. He doesn’t seem to trust his blockers. And when the line to gain seems as if it’s miles away, it’s easy to understand why he’s struggling so much. There’s no answer in sight, but Mike Tomlin did promise some changes are coming. We’ll see what they include — and whether Pickett, who suffered a knee injury on Sunday, is able to use them to his advantage.

2023 stats: 4 games | 68.7 pct | 765 pass yds | 5.8 ypa | 2 pass TD | 6 INT | 173 rush yds | 1 rush TD | 4 fumbles

Yikes. Monday night dug up the worst memories from the Daniel Jones era for Giants fans, who watched their quarterback come under constant fire from a relentless Seahawks defense that teed off on the $40 million-per-year signal-caller. Jones looked more like he did as an overwhelmed youngster in 2020 and ’21 than he did during last season’s surprise playoff run, failing to sense the rush (resulting in a strip-sack), making throwing errors (producing two interceptions, including a 97-yard pick-six) and resorting to running as his last, desperate option. This Giants’ offense is in a bad place right now, and Jones isn’t helping matters. To this point, he’s played two quarters of good football — out of 16. It seems he lacks a rapport with his pass-catchers and can’t buy enough time to operate on a weekly basis. Jones and the Giants have a mansion-sized mess to clean up, and there’s no sign it’s going to happen quickly.

2023 stats: 4 games | 62.2 pct | 744 pass yds | 6.3 ypa | 3 pass TD | 3 INT | 47 rush yds | 1 rush TD | 3 fumbles

Let the record show it only took until Week 4 for questions to start flying regarding Ridder’s job security. Ridder’s performance has devolved in the last two weeks, with his two-pick Week 4 outing standing as a new low point in his career. He’s forcing passes into contested areas, doesn’t look the least bit comfortable and can’t lean on the play-action pass when opposing defenses know Atlanta’s greatest threat is in the run game. It’s frustrating to watch because Ridder still rips a nice pass on occasion, like when he found Drake London for a touchdown on Sunday. He nearly connected with London for a second TD, but instead turned it over on downs because London couldn’t get both feet in the end zone. Don’t be surprised if Arthur Smith reverts to his run-first approach out of desperation next week, because after having Ridder throw 30-plus times in three straight games, he must realize it’s not the way to win with this group. 

2023 stats: 2 games | 52.8 pct | 121 pass yds | 3.4 ypa | 0 pass TD | 3 INT | 24 rush yds | 0 rush TD | 1 fumble

If we want to find an example of disadvantageous circumstances, Thompson-Robinson’s first career start certainly fits. It wasn’t clear he would start until Sunday morning, when Deshaun Watson was unable to play due to a shoulder injury. And the rookie clearly wasn’t ready for the speed of a regular-season game. Thompson-Robinson frequently looked overwhelmed, often resorting to chucking prayers downfield and throwing three INTs. When a jet sweep to Elijah Moore resulted in a loss of 20 yards and ultimately killed a once-promising drive, it became obvious Thompson-Robinson didn’t have much of a chance for success. He’s not ready for a starting role, and if the Browns luck out with Watson’s health, they won’t have to play him again after the bye week.