Throughout the 2016 NFL regular season, we’re ranking the league’s top 10 quarterbacks. Here’s how we view things after Week 12…
1. Tom Brady, Patriots: To be clear, his lead is shrinking. Brady still leads the league with an 18-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio and a 116.7 passer rating, but his numbers have actually been rather pedestrian the last three weeks.
2. Drew Brees, Saints: The old guys are taking over. Brees shoots up in these rankings thanks to an insane four-touchdown performance against a very good Rams defense. He now leads the NFL when it comes to completion percentage (71.5), passing yardage (3,587) and passing touchdowns (30) and ranks behind only Brady and Matt Ryan with a passer rating of 109.1.
3. Derek Carr, Raiders: The NFL’s highest-rated fourth-quarter passer has 10 touchdowns and one interception in the fourth quarter and overtime. The problem is he ranks out of the top five in all of the key rate-based categories.
4. Dak Prescott, Cowboys: He has a lot of support and doesn’t have to take a lot of chances, but the dude has still put together the league’s fourth-highest passer rating (108.6) and a ridiculous 18-to-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio for a team that hasn’t lost since Week 1. He’s also tied for the league lead among quarterbacks with five rushing touchdowns.
5. Matt Ryan, Falcons: The NFL’s second-highest-rated passer has a 9.3 yards-per-attempt average. Not a single qualified quarterback this century has finished a season with a YPA number better than 9.2.
6. Matthew Stafford, Lions: His rate-based stats are solid, but what’s most amazing is he’s already tied a single-season record with seven fourth-quarter comebacks.
7. Kirk Cousins, Redskins: Out of nowhere, the red-hot, clutch Cousins is the league’s sixth-highest-rated passer. He’s been practically unstoppable the last three weeks, which suggests he’s going to have another huge second half, just as he did last year.
8. Marcus Mariota, Titans: The second-year Oregon product leads the NFL with a 117.7 passer rating since Week 5. During that span, he has 21 touchdowns to just three interceptions and the Titans are 5-3.
9. Aaron Rodgers, Packers: The two-time MVP put together a masterpiece of a performance on the road against a very tough Eagles defense in Week 12. His broad numbers remain uncharacteristically low, but you should expect a a strong finish.
10. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers: Same here. Big Ben has had an up-and-down season, thanks in part to injuries (to himself and his teammates). But he’s rolling right now after a second 125-plus-rated game in the last three weeks. The man carved up the Cowboys and Colts in November and is still the league’s eighth-highest-rated passer.
