Ravens have problems against Raiders, Vikings win over 49ers
Prince Grimes analyzes all the ups and downs of the second week of the 2024 NFL season.
Sport in Seriousness
If there’s a theme going into the first two weeks of the 2024 NFL season, it might be stories of quarterback redemption. At least, that’s the story ESPN’s QBR is telling after Week 2.
Of the league’s top five quarterbacks by that metric, only Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills finished in the top five in QBR last season. Derek Carr takes the top spot for the season after his best QBR performance in the New Orleans Saints’ 44-19 win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2. He’s joined by Kyler Murray, Geno Smith and Sam Darnold – a quartet of names that no one would have expected to be among the league’s passing leaders at any point this season.
Here’s how the rest of the NFL’s starting quarterbacks rank based on their QBR before Week 3 and their performance in terms of QBR in Week 2:
WINNERS AND LOSERS OF NFL WEEK 2: Bears have protection problem with Caleb Williams
ESPN’s QBR explained
Each week, ESPN awards each quarterback a QBR (quarterback rating) 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.
Ranking of all NFL quarterbacks by total QBR before Week 3
Here’s how all starting quarterbacks are doing before Week 3 of the NFL season based on their 2024 QBR:
- Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints (QBR: 96.2)
- Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals (91.2)
- Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills (84.0)
- Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks (71.2)
- Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings (71.2)
- Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccanneers (69.3)
- Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles (68.8)
- Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers (62.9)
- CJ Stroud, Houston Texans (62.6)
- Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts (62.4)
- Jacoby Brissett, New England Patriots (62.1)
- Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals (57.9)
- Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers (57.8)
- Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars (56.2)
- Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens (55.2)
- Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams (48.9)
- Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets (47.4)
- Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs (46.7)
- Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders (46.4)
- Justin Fields, Pittsburgh Steelers (45.9)
- Gardner Minshew, Las Vegas Raiders (43.8)
- Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys (42.4)
- Daniel Jones, New York Giants (40.1)
- Jared Goff, Detroit Lions (37.1)
- Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons (35.8)*
- Tua Tagovailova, Miami Dolphins (35.6)
- Bo Nix, Denver Broncos (35.4)
- Will Levis, Tennessee Titans (35.3)
- Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers (25.1)
- Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns (24.0)
- Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears (23.9)
- Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers (8.9)
NFL Week 2 QBR Leaders
Here’s how all starting quarterbacks performed in Week 2 of the 2024 NFL season based on their QBR:
- Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints (44-19 win at Dallas Cowboys) – QBR: 99.4
- Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals (41-10 win over Los Angeles Rams) – 98.2
- Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers (26-3 win over Carolina Panthers) – 87.9
- Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles (22-21 loss to Atlanta Falcons) – 87.2
- Malik Willis, Green Bay Packers (16-10 win over Indianapolis Colts) – 82.4
- Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills (31-10 win at Miami Dolphins) – 78.9
- Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks (23-20 OT win at New England Patriots) – 72.8
- Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals (26-25 loss at Kansas City Chiefs) – 65.9
- Daniel Jones, New York Giants (21-18 loss at Washington Commanders) – 63.3
- Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings (23-17 win over San Francisco 49ers) – 62.9
- CJ Stroud, Houston Texans (19-13 win over Chicago Bears) – 57.7
- Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars (18-13 loss to Cleveland Browns) – 54.5
- Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys (44-19 loss to New Orleans Saints) – 52.9
- Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens (26-23 loss to Las Vegas Raiders) – 52.7
- Gardner Minshew, Las Vegas Raiders (26-23 win at Baltimore Ravens) – 51.4
- Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccanneers (20-16 win at Detroit Lions) – 50.7
- Justin Fields, Pittsburgh Steelers (13-6 win at Denver Broncos) – 48.5
- Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets (24-17 win over Tennessee Titans) – 46.3
- Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers (23-17 loss at Minnesota Vikings) – 46.1
- Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders (21-18 win over New York Giants) – 45.9
- Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns (18-13 win at Jacksonville Jaguars) – 42.4
- Jacoby Brissett, New England Patriots (23-20 OT loss to Seattle Seahawks) – 39.9
- Will Levis, Tennessee Titans (24-17 loss to New York Jets) – 37.9
- Jared Goff, Detroit Lions (20-16 loss to Tampa Bay Buccanneers) – 36.1
- Bo Nix, Denver Broncos (13-6 loss to Pittsburgh Steelers) – 32.1
- Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs (26-25 win over Cincinnati Bengals) – 30.6
- Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts (16-10 loss at Green Bay Packers) – 28.7
- Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams (41-10 loss at Arizona Cardinals) – 23
- Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears (19-13 loss at Houston Texans) – 21.4
- Tua Tagovailova, Miami Dolphins (31-10 loss to Buffalo Bills) – 17.8
- Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers (26-3 loss to Los Angeles Chargers) – 6.4
