Greg Cote’s Pass Ranking: Matt Stafford wins week; season race looks like Tom Brady vs. Philip Rivers
Detroit’s Matthew Stafford takes the Week 12 crown with 52.85 points in the Miami Herald’s Passer Success System (PASS) NFL quarterbacks rankings, while New England’s Tom Brady maintains a healthy season lead. It’s looking liker a race between Brady and San Diego’s Philip Rivers with five weeks to play. Miami’s Ryan Tannehill dips one spot to 13th place overall. Our rankings are cumulative but now that byes have ended the playing field has leveled for the stretch run. 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. Find our updated Top 20 in this space every Sunday.
Player | LW | WK12 | Season |
1. Tom Brady, NE | 1 | 27.00 | 439.00 |
2. Philip Rivers, SD | 2 | 47.00 | 406.55 |
3. Carson Palmer, ARI | 4 | 26.55 | 368.85 |
4. Drew Brees, NO | 3 | 14.40 | 365.30 |
5. Andy Dalton, CIN | 5 | 35.65 | 358.55 |
6. Matt Ryan, ATL | 6 | 21.50 | 340.60 |
7. Eli Manning, NYG | 7 | 14.05 | 331.05 |
8. Kirk Cousins, WAS | 9 | 34.10 | 326.35 |
9. Derek Carr, OAK | 10 | 41.50 | 325.75 |
10. Russell Wilson, SEA | 13 | 49.25 | 314.45 |
11. Matthew Stafford, DET | 14 | 52.85 | 313.20 |
12. Aaron Rodgers, GB | 8 | 11.10 | 311.20 |
13. Ryan Tannehill, MIA | 12 | 31.55 | 297.65 |
14. Alex Smith, KC | 15 | 31.75 | 289.05 |
15. Joe Flacco BAL | 11 | DNP | 279.55 |
16. Jay Cutler, CHI | 17 | 25.00 | 262.50 |
17. Cam Newton, CAR | 16 | 19.15 | 258.30 |
18. Blake Bortles, JAC | 20 | 30.45 | 255.60 |
19. Teddy Bridgewater, MIN | 19 | 22.70 | 253.00 |
20. Ryan Fitzpatrick, NYJ | 24 | 37.85 | 241.80 |
▪ Bubble: Tyrod Taylor, BUF, 238.00.
▪ Week’s best: Stafford, DET, 52.85 (27-38, 337, 5-0 in win).
▪ Week’s worst: Tony Romo, DAL, minus-2.70 (11-21, 106, 0-3 in loss).
Note: Thursday results included in following week’s chart.