Greg Cote’s Passer Rankings: Brees wins Week 15, takes season lead
The Saints’ Drew Brees wins Week 15 honors with 54.75 points and overtakes Peyton Manning for the season lead in the Miami Herald’s Passer Success System (PASS) quarterback rankings. It’s the first time this year Brees has been No. 1 and, with two weeks to play, sets up a finishing duel between the most successful QBs in our chart’s history. Manning (6) and Brees (4) have combined for 10 of the 16 season titles. Dolphin Ryan Tannehill dips one spot to 11th. Our rankings are cumulative and use a simple formula unchanged since their 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. Find our updated season Top 20 in this space every Sunday:
MIAMI HERALD PASS RANKINGS
Player | LW | Week 15 | Season |
1. Drew Brees, NO | 2 | 54.75 | 534.90 |
2. Peyton Manning, DEN | 1 | 27.65 | 516.15 |
3. Ben Roethlisberger, PIT | 3 | 42.00 | 515.25 |
4. Andrew Luck, IND | 5 | 19.35 | 478.60 |
5. Tom Brady, NE | 6 | 29.35 | 473.35 |
6. Aaron Rodgers, GB | 4 | -4.75 | 459.85 |
7. Matt Ryan, ATL | 8 | 33.50 | 446.60 |
8. Philip Rivers, SD | 7 | 15.60 | 433.95 |
9. Tony Romo, DAL | 11 | 40.25 | 416.40 |
10. Jay Cutler, CHI | 9 | 9.70 | 406.00 |
11. Ryan Tannehill, MIA | 10 | 25.30 | 401.50 |
12. Joe Flacco, BAL | 12 | 29.05 | 393.95 |
13. Matthew Stafford, DET | 13 | 21.65 | 386.35 |
14. Eli Manning, NYG | 14 | 38.50 | 379.50 |
15. Alex Smith, KC | 15 | 31.85 | 352.70 |
16. Russell Wilson, SEA | 16 | 13.40 | 330.85 |
17. Andy Dalton, CIN | 17 | 11.85 | 312.90 |
18. Colin Kaepernick, SF | 18 | 10.05 | 294.55 |
19. Kyle Orton, BUF | 19 | 10.90 | 276.65 |
20. Derek Carr, OAK | 21 | 12.10 | 272.90 |
▪ Week’s best: Brees, NO, 54.75 (29-36, 375, 3-0 in win).
▪ Week’s worst: Rodgers, GB, minus-4.75 (17-42, 185, 0-2 in loss).
Note: Thursday and Saturday results included in following week’s chart.
This story was originally published December 20, 2014 at 8:05 PM.