Greg Cote: Kirk Cousins wins week; Brady or Brees for the Miami Herald QB rankings season crown
Washington’s Kirk Cousins wins his season-leading third title of the year with a Week 16-winning 51.25-point game in the Miami Herald’s Passer Success System (PASS) NFL quarterbacks rankings. However the big story now is who’ll win the season championship. New England’s Tom Brady has led much of the year and carries roughly a 26-point lead into the final week as he seeks his second career crown and first since 2007. It seems second place Drew Brees of New Orleans is the only QB in the passing lane and positioned to possibly overtake Brady. Meantime Miami’s Ryan Tannehill holds steady in 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. Look for expanded season-ending Top 35 in this space next Sunday.
Player | LW | WK16 | Season |
1. Tom Brady, NE | 1 | 24.55 | 555.80 |
2. Drew Brees, NO | 2 | 48.60 | 529.65 |
3. Carson Palmer, ARI | 3 | 30.25 | 511.10 |
4. Philip Rivers, SD | 4 | 29.85 | 499.20 |
5. Kirk Cousins, WAS | 6 | 51.25 | 490.50 |
6. Russell Wilson, SEA | 5 | 26.45 | 470.65 |
7. Matthew Stafford, DET | 8 | 47.05 | 463.20 |
8. Matt Ryan, ATL | 9 | 39.30 | 452.85 |
9. Eli Manning, NYG | 7 | 6.70 | 444.70 |
10. Aaron Rodgers, GB | 10 | 9.55 | 405.50 |
11. Ryan Fitzpatrick, NYJ | 16 | 39.80 | 400.20 |
12. Derek Carr, OAK | 13 | 23.20 | 399.65 |
13. Cam Newton, CAR | 12 | 11.10 | 396.20 |
14. Alex Smith, KC | 14 | 22.25 | 395.50 |
15. Blake Bortles, JAC | 17 | 43.40 | 393.45 |
16. Andy Dalton, CIN | 11 | DNP | 390.50 |
17. Ben Roethlisberger, PIT | 15 | 18.75 | 379.70 |
18. Ryan Tannehill, MIA | 18 | 27.45 | 377.00 |
19. Jay Cutler, CHI | 20 | 28.80 | 361.70 |
20. Teddy Bridgewater, MIN | 19 | 21.40 | 359.60 |
▪ Bubble: Sam Bradford, PHI, 350.25.
▪ Week’s best: Cousins, WAS, 51.25 (31-46, 365, 4-0 in win).
▪ Week’s worst: Johnny Manziel, CLE, minus-2.20 (13-32, 136, 0-1 in loss).
Next week: Our expanded, season-ending Top 35