Greg Cote’s Passer Rankings: Big Ben Roethlisberger chimes in with Week 14 title; Tom Brady in jeopardy?
Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger wins his first title of the season with a 52.00-point game for the Week 15 crown in the Miami Herald’s Passer Success System (PASS) NFL quarterbacks rankings. But the bigger story is the season race and the lead New England’s Tom Brady has owned for much of it. Brady enjoys roughly a 50-point lead over both Drew Brees and Carson Palmer with two weeks to play. That would be a safe lead if Brady played both games, but could be in jeopardy if he sat out the finale. Meantime Miami’s Ryan Tannehill tumbles three spots, to 18th place overall. Our rankings are cumulative and use a simple formula, unchanged since their inception in 1998, that factors accuracy, yardage, TD/interception ratio and team result. Most ratings 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 | WK15 | Season |
1. Tom Brady, NE | 1 | 35.35 | 531.25 |
2. Drew Brees, NO | 3 | 42.05 | 481.05 |
3. Carson Palmer, ARI | 2 | 29.70 | 480.85 |
4. Philip Rivers, SD | 4 | 39.55 | 469.35 |
5. Russell Wilson, SEA | 5 | 38.45 | 444.20 |
6. Kirk Cousins, WAS | 8 | 48.95 | 439.25 |
7. Eli Manning, NYG | 6 | 33.25 | 438.00 |
8. Matthew Stafford, DET | 11 | 45.70 | 416.15 |
9. Matt Ryan, ATL | 9 | 26.30 | 413.55 |
10. Aaron Rodgers, GB | 10 | 20.20 | 395.95 |
11. Andy Dalton, CIN | 7 | DNP | 390.50 |
12. Cam Newton, CAR | 13 | 42.00 | 385.10 |
13. Derek Carr, OAK | 12 | 12.80 | 376.45 |
14. Alex Smith, KC | 14 | 33.55 | 373.25 |
15. Ben Roethlisberger, PIT | 18 | 52.00 | 360.95 |
16. Ryan Fitzpatrick, NYJ | 16 | 32.95 | 360.40 |
17. Blake Bortles, JAC | 17 | 22.85 | 350.05 |
18. Ryan Tannehill, MIA | 15 | 16.80 | 349.55 |
19. Teddy Bridgewater, MIN | 20 | 42.55 | 338.20 |
20. Jay Cutler, CHI | 19 | 29.55 | 332.90 |
▪ Bubble: Sam Bradford, PHI, 310.25.
▪ Week’s best: Roethlisberger, PIT, 52.00 (40-55, 380, 3-2 in win).
▪ Week’s worst: Matt Cassel, DAL, minus-3.15 (3-8, 37, 0-1 in loss).
Note: Thursday and Saturday results included in following week’s chart.