Greg Cote’s Passer Ranking: Cousins wins week; Rivers-Brady on top of Miami Herald QB rankings
Washington’s Kirk Cousins wins the Week 7 title with a 55.85-point game — that’s no misprint, folks — in the Miami Herald’s 18th season of Passer Success System (PASS) NFL quarterback rankings. Philip Rivers and Tom Brady remain a solid 1-2, comfortably out front, in the overall season standings. Miami’s Ryan Tannehill climbs seven big spots up to No. 16 on the wing of his 48.10-point game, the week’s second best, vs. Houston. Our rankings are cumulative so players on a bye take a temporary hit that evens out over the course of the year. We use a simple formula unchanged since its inception in 1998, factoring accuracy, yardage, TD/interception ratio and team result. Most rating systems including the NFL’s and ESPN’s are complicated and percent based, allowing players who miss half a season to still win a title. Our rankings place a premium on consistently productive passers who avoid injury or benching. Watch for our updated Top 20 in this space every Sunday.
Player | LW | WK7 | Season |
1. Philip Rivers, SD | 1 | 37.80 | 275.60 |
2. Tom Brady, NE | 2 | 42.75 | 272.70 |
3. Carson Palmer, ARI | 7 | 35.75 | 226.60 |
4. Andy Dalton, CIN | 3 | BYE | 221.05 |
5. Matt Ryan, ATL | 5 | 20.55 | 216.10 |
T-6. Aaron Rodgers, GB | 4 | BYE | 209.55 |
T-6. Drew Brees, NO | 8 | 29.75 | 209.55 |
8. Eli Manning, NYG | 6 | 15.50 | 206.80 |
9. Kirk Cousins, WAS | 14 | 55.85 | 204.85 |
10. Russell Wilson, SEA | 9 | 25.75 | 187.40 |
11. Matthew Stafford, DET | 10 | 28.80 | 186.30 |
12. Josh McCown, CLE | 16 | 33.50 | 178.30 |
13. Alex Smith, KC | 17 | 30.55 | 175.20 |
14. Joe Flacco BAL | 13 | 24.60 | 173.85 |
15. Derek Carr, OAK | 20 | 45.45 | 173.00 |
16. Ryan Tannehill, MIA | 23 | 48.10 | 169.40 |
17. Sam Bradford, PHI | 11 | 13.25 | 166.30 |
18. Ryan Fitzpatrick, NYJ | 19 | 25.75 | 153.60 |
19. Blake Bortles, JAC | 18 | 14.10 | 152.60 |
20. Peyton Manning, DEN | 12 | BYE | 152.20 |
▪ Bubble: Teddy Bridgewater, MIN, 146.95.
▪ Week’s best: Cousins, WAS, 55.85 (33-40, 317, 3-0 in win).
▪ Week’s worst: Colin Kaepernick, SF, 8.20 (13-24, 124, 0-0 in loss).
Note: Thursday results included in following week’s chart.