Leave it to Matthew Stafford to buck the trend of a league-wide scoring collapse. While most teams saw their scoring totals decline (and I\u2019m looking at you, Chicago), the Los Angeles Rams and Stafford had an incredible bounce-back week against the New York Giants. His four touchdown passes Monday night put him sixth on two all-time lists: career passing TDs and games with at least four passing TDs. Stafford is already back to the guy that we thought he\u2019d be. He\u2019s not the only one. (Looking at you, Patrick Mahomes.) So let\u2019s get into it. Welcome back to the QB Stock Market. This isn\u2019t your typical QB rankings. I\u2019m focused on monitoring the fluctuations of starters’ performances throughout the season. No one \u2014 not even Josh Allen \u2014 is safe at the top. No one \u2014 not even Cooper Rush \u2014 is stuck at the bottom. There is room for quick ascent \u2014 and rapid decline. One question holds most important: What have you done for your team lately? Previous: Offseason | Preseason | Week 1 | Week 2 Here\u2019s what I can say for Cam Ward in Week 2 versus the Eagles: He didn\u2019t make any egregious mistakes. That\u2019s progress. It\u2019s what you want from Ward in these circumstances. Granted, he made plenty of mistakes, with a long list of off-target passes, but he didn\u2019t commit any turnovers. In a game like Sunday\u2019s, which was a one-possession contest for all 60 minutes, that\u2019s a big deal for a young QB. It\u2019s a sign of maturity. He understood that a turnover would effectively ruin the Titans\u2019 chances. Ward found several open receivers in the Eagles\u2019 secondary, and I\u2019m 99% sure that he went so far as to\u00a0complete a no-look pass. His third-quarter scoring drive, which concluded with his rushing touchdown, was one of the more complete series that I\u2019ve seen him play, especially given that it came against the Eagles’ defense. Maybe they\u2019re not all-world, like last year. But they\u2019re still stellar. Alas, this is still Ward we\u2019re talking about, too. He will regularly surprise you with a throw that\u2019s completely off target. He did that when missing receiver Elic Ayomanor in the end zone during the first quarter. It should\u2019ve been an easy touchdown. Ward\u2019s throw was, frankly, awful. Some might say this is catchable. But it was a fastball behind the receiver \u2014 that\u2019s about as hard as an “on target” ball can get. Ward\u2019s game remains uneven \u2014 perhaps even jagged \u2014 in his second year. There\u2019s so much talent to shape into an elite quarterback. But there\u2019s so, so, so much work for him and the Titans\u2019 coaching staff to undergo together. Last year, it was easy enough to make sense of Justin Herbert\u2019s play, because he was holding up the whole offense \u2014 basically on his own. Even as it crumbled around him. We\u2019re seeing more of that this year. But it also seems like Herbert is buckling under the pressure. And it\u2019s almost hard not to blame the guy after seeing the abomination of an offense he\u2019s running. Here are some of the miscues. Worst of all, I didn\u2019t see Herbert look resilient or determined in the adversity this week. I saw him grow frustrated and, on that last pick, I can\u2019t help but wonder if there weren\u2019t hints of resignation with that second interception at the end of the game. It makes some sense. Like the rest of us, Herbert had been led to believe this year would be different for L.A. But the Chargers continue to Charger. It\u2019s now just Week 3. But it\u2019s hard to believe Herbert and Co. can turn this around. They travel to Buffalo and then Seattle. In Week 5, they host the Broncos before travelling to Kansas City. And then it\u2019s an “away” game against the Rams. I don\u2019t see the Chargers winning any of the games. Tyler Shough refused to take negative plays against the Ravens. And not in the foolish ways that plagued him in Week 1, where that refusal made bad plays worse. No, Shough threw away the ball. He scrambled for 1 yard when he seemed dead to rights in the pocket. Heck, he salvaged a yard or two when the rushers got him for sacks. And he checked down to his running backs and tight ends when there was nothing available downfield. But that downplays how well he handled the offense \u2014 particularly on third down. On that money down, he was 9 of 10 for 131 yards. And even though he finished with seven QB pressures and two sacks on third downs \u2014 facing a 46.2% blitz rate \u2014 he managed a completion rate of +19.7%. He also attempted a 30% tight-window rate on third down. That\u2019s legit. Best of all, he kept his eyes open for big plays. And he found them early and often, including this chunk play to breakout receiver\u00a0Devaughn Vele. This is the version of Shough that impressed me so much during his rookie season. He has an understated competence and toughness. And this year, rather than using his tools to hang around (as he did against the Lions), I wanted to see him elevate to the point where we expect the Saints to win close games. That\u2019s exactly what he demonstrated in Week 2. Welp, it seems Jordan Love is going to be mired in offensive dysfunction for the foreseeable future. That\u2019s going to muck up his production \u2014 and, this week, it really mucked up his film. Last week, we saw Love rise above his circumstances to generate impressive production. We didn\u2019t see the same thing In Week 2. It\u2019s sort of a miracle he pulled the Packers out of their nosedive for the win. He remained patient, even when the offense was largely falling apart around him. Along the way to a comeback win, he demonstrated some guile. Here\u2019s a great example (below) where Love identified a corner blitz coming in overtime, and he made the Jets pay. He did the hard work before the snap. He took a one-step drop and floated the ball to space, where Matthew Golden managed a nice catch-and-run on the team\u2019s last pass of the game. This is what Love told me about in the offseason\u00a0when it comes to beating the blitz with his football IQ. It\u2019s a new and crucial part of his toolbox. Ultimately, I came away more worried for Love in this win than I was in Green Bay’s Week 1 loss. The offense looked truly bad against the Jets. Some of that was a credit to their defense, which is pluckier than I expected given all the personnel turnover (from free agency and the draft). But for the Packers, it\u2019s abundantly clear that this is not going to be the season where coach Matt LaFleur can let Love cook, as he\u00a0playfully promised this preseason. No, they just have to do what they can to keep Love from getting burned. Bryce Young is second in the NFL in passing yards and first in passing touchdowns. He has completed 63% of his passes \u2014 with just one interception. Now, I\u2019m not much for counting stats as a pure measurement of a QB\u2019s quality of play. But my goodness, did anyone see this coming? He has been prolific, trying to stick with the Bears in the Week 1 shootout and then absolutely blowing out the Falcons in Week 2. He has been downright surgical. If you\u2019re rolling your eyes at those counting stats, let\u2019s look at two advanced stats. His EPA per dropback is .24, seventh in the NFL. And his completion percentage over expected is seventh-best at +8%. He\u2019s only had to run the ball three times, but he\u2019s gotten a touchdown and a first down, rounding out a 66% success rate. (Yes, small sample size \u2014 of course.) But he\u2019s not a dink-and-dunk merchant. He is pushing the ball downfield with careful ball placement. It has been quietly remarkable. Now \u2026 can he do it against a truly elite defense? That remains to be seen. But Young is maturing into one of the most efficient pocket passers in the league \u2014 and this extends into last season when he dueled with Matthew Stafford in the playoffs. Young can use his mobility, but he really hasn\u2019t had to this year. He\u2019s in the same category as Mayfield and Brock Purdy. The knock on those guys is that they\u2019re often only as good as their supporting cast. Which isn\u2019t totally true. But they\u2019re all of the same type. And it\u2019s one that almost always gets underrated. That\u2019s certainly true of Young, whom nobody expects will keep this up. What if he does? He has the Browns, the Lions, the Eagles and the Bucs in the coming weeks. This could be a memorable and surprising start for the young QB. It\u2019s rare to see an organization stick with a guy who looked like Young looked in 2024. And get him to where the Panthers have Young playing in 2026. He might not ever earn the title of “elite.” But he\u2019s starting to earn respect around the league. I think I owe Mahomes an apology. I didn\u2019t think he could do this. I didn\u2019t think, just nine months removed from an ACL injury, he would be helping the Chiefs look like a bona fide top-10 offense. But that\u2019s what he\u2019s done, with Kansas City reigniting its passing attack. It started with the run game and Kenneth Walker III. But that explosiveness has trickled into every element of the offense, which is incrementally testing defensive limits downfield. Now, to be clear,\u00a0Week 1 was a low-risk game plan. It was safe. It was conservative. But Week 2? The Chiefs let Mahomes cook. It culminated in a handful of downfield throws against the Colts. You want clutch? Look at what Mahomes did to convert a third-and-12 in overtime, threading the ball in between defenders to help receiver Tyquan Thornton make an easy conversion for 30 yard. You want arm talent? Look at what Mahomes did on third-and-11 in the third quarter: hitting Thornton on a 45-yard bomb that had pinpoint precision. One of the throws I liked most came in the second quarter. He threw a perfectly timed in-crossing route to Rashee Rice. The throw\u2019s velocity was extremely impressive. And Mahomes did it while climbing the pocket away from a rusher, which didn\u2019t impact his ability to deliver the ball on time. That looks like a healthy Mahomes, even with 12 pressures on his dropbacks. Now, the Colts stink. That\u2019s important context. I\u2019ve been saying for months that I expect them to finish at the bottom of the league. But even so, Mahomes was making throws \u2014 on the move and from mucky pockets \u2014 that he had no business making. He\u2019s back. He\u2019s really back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Leave it to Matthew Stafford to buck the trend of a league-wide scoring collapse. While most teams saw their scoring totals decline (and I\u2019m looking at you, Chicago), the Los Angeles Rams and Stafford had an incredible bounce-back week against the New York Giants. His four touchdown passes Monday night put him sixth on two<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33706"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33706\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}