Another week, another full slate of NFL games featuring more clutch performances and also more disappointments from quarterbacks.
Week 3 also included a wide range of performances from the myriad backup quarterbacks that were thrust into starting roles – from San Francisco 49ers quarterback Mac Jones’ game-winning drive to Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jake Browning’s day to forget.
Other highlights included Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield leading his team on a third consecutive game-winning drive in Week 3. Lowlights included a poor performance from New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson on Sunday night, opening the door to a potential benching.
Here’s how all 32 current starting quarterbacks rank ahead of Week 4:
NFL quarterback power rankings: Week 4 edition
1. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
Last week: 2
Allen and the Bills moved to 3-0 on Thursday, keeping them at the top of the division, conference and league standings. The reigning MVP showed up again in prime time with another nice performance: 22-of-28 passing for 213 yards and three touchdowns.
2. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
Last week: 3
Similar to how we haven’t been knocking Mahomes for the questionable performance around him, we can’t knock Jackson for the Ravens’ 1-2 record. The new No. 1 quarterback this week took out the Ravens with a clutch, game-winning drive in Week 1, and running back Derrick Henry’s back-breaking fumble against the Lions doomed Baltimore to another tough loss in prime time. Jackson did his part with a 288-yard, three-touchdown effort and 35 rushing yards in the loss.
3. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
Last week: 1
Herbert’s worst outing so far this year came in Week 3… and still included 300 yards passing, a gutsy touchdown pass to draw the score even late and a game-winning drive. The Chargers’ offense is currently running through its quarterback’s arm, and that may hold especially true after running back Najee Harris’ ruptured Achilles ended his season.
4. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
Last week: 4
Goff doesn’t get all of the credit for leading the Lions to a 38-30 win over the Ravens on Monday night, not when Detroit’s ‘Sonic and Knuckles’ running back duo tallied a combined 218 yards and four touchdowns. But he certainly deserves some of it, particularly for protecting the ball, leading three scoring drives in the fourth quarter and finishing 10 of 13 for 100 yards and a touchdown on third and fourth downs. No play was better than his beautiful pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown on the Lions’ final drive of the game, which helped put the game away for Detroit.
5. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Last week: 5
If you had a nickel for every time Mahomes threw a backwards pass for some reason in the second quarter of ‘Sunday Night Football,’ you’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice. His play to strip away his own fumble from Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke on what could have been a scoop-and-score touchdown the other way stopped any New York momentum in its tracks. Mahomes’ third quarter bullet touchdown pass and fourth quarter cross-field completion, both to Tyquan Thornton, are proof he’s still got ‘it.’
6. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Last week: 8
For three straight weeks, the Buccaneers have been losing when the clock showed 1:30 left in the fourth quarter, and for three straight weeks Mayfield has led a game-winning drive to bring Tampa Bay to 3-0. His latest effort flushed away the blocked field goal the Jets returned for a touchdown with just under two minutes left – setting New York up for their first win of the season. Instead, the Bucs’ quarterback put together a seven-play, 48-yard drive that set up a redemption opportunity kicker Chase McLaughlin, who did not miss.
7. Daniel Jones, Indianapolis Colts
Last week: 9
Cover your eyes, Giants fans, you won’t want to read this next sentence: If the 2025 season ended after three weeks, Jones would have to be in the MVP conversation. The Colts are 3-0, and Jones is third in the NFL in passing yards, first in yards per attempt and has taken the fewest sacks of any quarterback to start all three games this year. He also has the highest completion rate of his career and leads the league in ESPN’s QBR metric with an 85.8 mark, ranking better than Goff, Jackson, Allen and Mahomes.
8. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
Last week: 10
Hurts doesn’t get all of the credit for leading the Eagles to a 33-26 win over the Rams on Sunday, not when Philadelphia’s monstrous duo of defensive tackles Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis blocked two field goals in the fourth quarter. But he certainly deserves some of it. After losing a fumble on a hard sack from Jared Verse to start the second half, Hurts played the rest of the game like he had flipped a switch, throwing three touchdowns to come back from a 26-7 deficit.
9. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers
Last week: 6
It was an ugly day for the Packers’ offense in Cleveland, a statement perhaps best exemplified by running back Josh Jacobs finishing as Love’s top target. His nine targets were more than twice as many as the three other pass-catchers with the next-most (4). Love ended the day 18 of 25 for 183 yards, one touchdown, one interception and his first loss of 2025.
10. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
Last week: 7
Outside of a bad interception on the fourth play of the game, Stafford looked good for most of the first half against the Eagles. He continued to show off a strong connection with veteran Davante Adams while still getting the ball to rising star Puka Nacua. However, the second half exhibited the Rams’ struggles to turn red-zone opportunities into touchdowns, a concerning trend that led to LA’s first loss this season.
11. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears
Last week: 17
Williams’ Week 3 outing against the Cowboys was genuinely excellent. By passer rating, it was his best start to date. By eye test, it looked like everything the Bears and their fans hoped for when the team signed offensive guru Ben Johnson as its new head coach. Williams spread the ball around to different pass-catchers – each of his four touchdowns was to a different target – while completing 19 of his 28 pass attempts for 298 yards. He also did not throw an interception.
12. Drake Maye, New England Patriots
Last week: 11
Maye’s third start of the 2025 season was a third straight solid one, but a couple of turnovers by the Patriots’ second-year quarterback held it back from being a great one. Still, his start to the 2025 season is a promising follow-up to a nice rookie campaign.
13. Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks
Last week: 18
Darnold is ranked as the No. 1 graded quarterback by Pro Football Focus through three weeks, both overall and specifically as a passer. His performance against the Saints in Week 3 was his best of the season, with a 14-of-18, 218-yard, two-touchdown outing. ESPN’s QBR model gave him a 98.0 mark, two points short of a perfect score for his efforts in the 44-13 win.
14. Mac Jones, San Francisco 49ers
Last week: 19
Jones might not be making a third straight start for the 49ers in Week 4 with news of his re-aggravated PCL injury and starter Brock Purdy’s rapid recovery from turf toe and an injury to his non-throwing shoulder. In two starts, Jones gave the 49ers everything they could have asked for from a backup quarterback, with a game-winning drive in Week 3 capping off what could be the last showing in his relief appearance.
15. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals
Last week: 12
Murray and the Cardinals were dealt a significant blow when running back James Conner suffered a season-ending ankle injury near the start of the third quarter. The Cardinals quarterback kept his team in the game with a 65-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter, but his back-to-back short drives ending in a punt allowed the 49ers to come back in the end. Murray deserves some slack though as wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. fails to put together consistent production without bad drops at the NFL level.
16. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
Last week: 14
Prescott could only do so much to keep the Cowboys afloat in the first half as Williams and the Bears ran circles around the defense. Dallas relied heavily on Prescott’s arm while playing with a deficit for most of the game, but his stat line of 31-of-40 passing with 251 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions – including one that glanced off of wide receiver George Pickens’ hands – wasn’t enough to keep them in the matchup.
17. Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh Steelers
Last week: 16
The Steelers are 2-1, but Rodgers has graded out as a below-average quarterback in each of the least two weeks. PFF has the veteran ranked 35 of 36 quarterbacks, and his ESPN QBR is 44.8 on a scale where 50 is ‘average.’ Against a Patriots defense still missing top cornerback Christian Gonzalez, Rodgers was 16-of-23 with 139 yards, two touchdowns and a bad interception.
18. Spencer Rattler, New Orleans Saints
Last week: 20
Rattler’s rise up the power rankings has more to do with poor performances from the quarterbacks above him than with his own outing in Week 3. The Saints’ quarterback was just OK in his first road game of the season. He was definitely impacted by the inability of New Orleans to get its run game going against a stout Seahawks front.
19. Geno Smith, Las Vegas Raiders
Last week: 22
Smith’s follow-up to a bad Week 2 outing that raised concerns about his accuracy was a solid Week 3 outing. His 65.5% completion rate, 289 yards and three touchdowns were something of a return to form, but he and the Raiders still lost on the road.
20. Russell Wilson, New York Giants
Last week: 15
Wilson’s Week 3 outing against the Chiefs on ‘Sunday Night Football’ was bad enough to get him benched for rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart after the game. His worst moment? Three throw aways in four plays starting at the Chiefs’ 4-yard line, including a fourth down throw that clanged off the crossbar.
21. Michael Penix Jr., Atlanta Falcons
Last week: 13
Penix’s Week 3 outing against the Panthers on Sunday was bad enough to get him benched for veteran Kirk Cousins during the game. His worst moment? A Chau Smith-Wade interception returned for a touchdown with the Falcons already trailing the then-winless Panthers, 10-0.
22. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
Last week: 21
The Jaguars may be 2-1, but the former No. 1 overall pick has had less to do with Jacksonville’s success than its defense. Lawrence is struggling so far in his first year in head coach Liam Coen’s offense. He’s also playing with his third head coach in five years. It’s also not totally his fault that receivers have dropped five passes in each of his last two games.
23. Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers
Last week: 27
Young didn’t have to do much to help the Panthers secure their first win of the season, and that was OK. Carolina’s defense and run game helped carry the team to a 30-0 blowout divisional win over the Falcons, and Young kept the ball safe and only took one sack.
24. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans
Last week: 24
Stroud’s struggles with a re-tooled offensive line and new offensive coordinator continued in Week 3. He can’t be totally faulted for the Texans’ third straight loss. Nico Collins’ late fumble was bad, and left tackle Aireontae Ersery’s lost rep to Josh Hines-Allen on the penultimate play of the game resulted in a tipped pass and game-sealing interception.
25. Cam Ward, Tennessee Titans
Last week: 23
Ward threw a bad interception that was returned for a touchdown on the third play of Sunday’s game, putting Tennessee in an early hole. The flashes of talent are still there on a week-to-week basis, and there are signs he’s getting better at progressing through reads and trying to improve. It’s a small consolation for Titans fans, whose team is 0-3, but even some of Ward’s incompletions looked like decent throws.
26. Joe Flacco, Cleveland Browns
Last week: 28
The Browns are on the board with their first win of the season. Flacco wasn’t fantastic in the game, finishing with his worst passer rating of the year so far, but his leadership in the final 20 seconds of the game got the Browns in field goal range after they blocked the Packers’ attempt at a go-ahead kick.
27. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
Last week: 26
Tagovailoa and the Dolphins’ offense tried to play Thursday’s game extremely safe. His average depth of target was 5.7 yards – easily the lowest of the season – and it mostly worked until the final minutes of the game. Miami opened the fourth quarter with a touchdown drive to draw even with the Bills, then Buffalo responded with its own touchdown drive to take another lead. With the Dolphins just outside the red zone on their next drive, Tagovailoa threw a bad interception on a short throw that essentially sealed a victory for Buffalo.
28. Marcus Mariota, Washington Commanders
Last week: 31
Mariota had the second-best backup quarterback performance of the week. His first start with the Commanders included 207 passing yards, a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown. Washington’s running backs did a lot of the work, but Mariota’s efforts were enough to give Washington a 41-24 win.
29. Carson Wentz, Minnesota Vikings
Last week: 32
Wentz did not have to do a whole lot in his first non-Week 18 start since 2022. The Vikings’ defense – read: Isaiah Rodgers – scored two touchdowns, and running back Jordan Mason had a couple of extra scores on the ground. But Wentz was competent in his role, completing 14 of 20 pass attempts for 173 yards and two touchdowns. He made one turnover-worthy play, according to PFF, and took three sacks on 10 pressures, but he didn’t make any actual turnovers and he did his job well enough to help get the Vikings a win.
30. Tyrod Taylor, New York Jets
Last week: 30
Taylor was dealing with an offensive line that allowed 23 pressures on Sunday, but he only took four sacks and managed to scramble away seven times, per PFF. He also put together two touchdown drives in the fourth quarter that kept the Jets in the game late. However, his interception returned for a touchdown to end the first half hurts to think about at the end of a two-point loss, and it holds Taylor back from moving upwards on the power rankings.
31. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos
Last week: 25
Through three weeks, PFF has graded Nix as the worst quarterback in the NFL. His 41.8 QBR ranks 25th of 32 quarterbacks. In a divisional game that could easily have been a nice win for Denver, Nix’s inability to throw catchable passes on deep balls to wide-open receivers – multiple times – are legitimately why the Broncos lost.
32. Jake Browning, Cincinnati Bengals
Last week: 29
It took half of a game for Browning to tie for the league lead with three interceptions in Week 2. It took one more game for him to take sole possession of that lead with two more interceptions on Sunday, bringing his season total to five. After the Bengals’ 2-0 start, Browning’s ugly day in Week 3 feels like it could be the start of a troublesome stretch for Cincinnati.