Drew Brees is ’15 champ, ekes past Tom Brady for 6th Herald title
New Orleans’ Drew Brees won Week 17 with a 46.15-point game and it proved just enough to leapfrog New England’s Tom Brady for the 2015 season championship in the Miami Herald’s Passer Success System (PASS) NFL quarterbacks rankings. The title was Brees’ sixth, tying Peyton Manning for the most in the 18-year history of the Herald chart. Brady, seeking his first crown since 2007, led 12 of the 17 weeks but faded late, and his poor finish in Miami in the season finale was the opening Brees seized. The Dolphins’ Ryan Tannehill finishes in 13th place overall. 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 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. The final Top 35 for the 2015 season:
Player | LW | WK17 | Season |
1. Drew Brees, NO | 2 | 46.15 | 575.80 |
2. Tom Brady, NE | 1 | 9.70 | 565.50 |
3. Kirk Cousins, WAS | 5 | 30.80 | 521.30 |
4. Philip Rivers, SD | 4 | 21.40 | 520.60 |
5. Carson Palmer, ARI | 3 | 5.45 | 516.55 |
6. Matthew Stafford, DET | 7 | 45.90 | 509.10 |
7. Russell Wilson, SEA | 6 | 33.85 | 504.50 |
8. Matt Ryan, ATL | 8 | 31.70 | 484.55 |
9. Eli Manning, NYG | 9 | 26.10 | 470.80 |
10. Cam Newton, CAR | 13 | 41.65 | 437.85 |
11. Aaron Rodgers, GB | 10 | 26.55 | 432.05 |
12. Derek Carr, OAK | 12 | 18.70 | 418.35 |
13. Ryan Tannehill, MIA | 18 | 40.50 | 417.50 |
14. Ben Roethlisberger, PIT | 17 | 37.45 | 417.15 |
15. Alex Smith, KC | 14 | 16.80 | 412.30 |
16. Blake Bortles, JAC | 15 | 7.95 | 401.40 |
17. Ryan Fitzpatrick, NYJ | 11 | 1.05 | 401.25 |
18. Sam Bradford, PHI | 21 | 46.00 | 396.25 |
19. Andy Dalton, CIN | 16 | DNP | 390.50 |
20. Jay Cutler, CHI | 19 | 20.25 | 381.95 |
21. Teddy Bridgewater, MIN | 20 | 7.95 | 367.55 |
22. Tyrod Taylor, BUF | 23 | 22.10 | 342.75 |
23. Jameis Winston, TB | 22 | 21.25 | 342.20 |
24. Joe Flacco BAL | 24 | DNP | 279.55 |
25. Marcus Mariota, TEN | 25 | DNP | 271.90 |
26. Brian Hoyer, HOU | 26 | 27.45 | 267.30 |
27. Josh McCown, CLE | 27 | DNP | 214.45 |
28. Blaine Gabbert, SF | 31 | 34.70 | 199.55 |
29. Brock Osweiler, DEN | 29 | 15.60 | 196.35 |
30. Peyton Manning, DEN | 28 | 8.45 | 192.45 |
31. Matt Hasselbeck, IND | 30 | DNP | 174.50 |
32. Nick Foles, STL | 32 | DNP | 156.60 |
33. Andrew Luck, IND | 33 | DNP | 144.05 |
34. Colin Kaepernick, SF | 34 | DNP | 137.75 |
35. B. Weeden, DAL-HOU | 35 | DNP | 126.70 |
▪ Last week’s best: Brees, NO, 46.15 (32-42, 323, 1-0 in win). Season’s best: Brees, NO, 78.55 (Week 8). Record: Ben Roethlisberger, PIT, 80.10 (2014).
▪ Week’s worst: Zach Mettenberger, TEN, minus-4.10 (5-13, 38, 0-1 in loss). Season’s worst: P. Manning, DEN, minus-20.25 (Week 10). Record: Tim Hasselback, WAS, minus-23.20 (2003).
MIAMI HERALD ALL-TIME PASS CHAMPIONS
Year | Champion | Total |
2015 | Drew Brees, NO | 575.80 |
2014 | Drew Brees, NO | 583.60 |
2013 | Peyton Manning, DEN | 714.85 |
2012 | Peyton Manning, DEN | 593.35 |
2011 | Drew Brees, NO | 713.80 |
2010 | Drew Brees, NO | 557.00 |
2009 | Drew Brees, NO | 565.35 |
2008 | Drew Brees, NO | 535.45 |
2007 | Tom Brady, NE | 664.30 |
2006 | Peyton Manning, IND | 512.85 |
2005 | Carson Palmer, CIN | 487.80 |
2004 | Peyton Manning, IND | 579.85 |
2003 | Peyton Manning, IND | 522.35 |
2002 | Rich Gannon, OAK | 555.45 |
2001 | Kurt Warner, STL | 557.50 |
2000 | Peyton Manning, IND | 467.65 |
1999 | Kurt Warner, STL | 517.95 |
1998 | Steve Young, SF | 462.50 |
▪ Record: P. Manning, DEN, 714.85 (2013). Dolphins record: Ryan Tannehill, 481.25 (2014). Highest Dolphins finish: Fifth place by Dan Marino (1998) and Chad Pennington (2008).
This story was originally published January 9, 2016 at 10:48 PM.