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NFL quarterback power rankings: Why Joe Burrow deserves better from struggling Bengals

mark giannotto, usa today

It almost sounded like an apology after the Philadelphia Eagles flew past the Cincinnati Bengals in the second half of their Week 8 win that wasn't close.

Bengals coach Zac Taylor said the fans and players deserved better. He said the Bengals are better than their 3-5 record but acknowledged "we've earned that." He said it was time for the entire locker room to take accountability for not living up to expectations thus far. He said the sort of things you say when a struggling team reaches that point of the 2024 NFL season when struggling starts to become a crisis.

So here's the most confounding part: This week, with the Bengals in crisis, quarterback Joe Burrow ascended to No. 1 in ESPN's QBR for the season. At least according to one metric, he's currently playing as well as any quarterback in the league and playing better than at any other point in his career.

Whether that's all true – Burrow ranks sixth in passing yards, fourth in completion percentage, fifth in QB rating and third in touchdowns, among NFL starting quarterbacks – the notion that Cincinnati could miss the NFL playoffs with Burrow performing at or near an All-Pro level would be sobering if it were to become reality this season.

He probably deserves better from the Bengals.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow scrambles during the Week 8 game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Oct. 27, 2024.
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow scrambles during the Week 8 game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Oct. 27, 2024.

The rest of the QBR leaders are starting to take on a more familiar look now that teams are almost halfway through their schedule. Josh Allen dropped from the top spot to No. 4 despite the Buffalo Bills' big Week 8 win over Seattle, while Lamar Jackson stayed at No. 2 despite the Baltimore Ravens' loss in Cleveland. Kyler Murray jumped from No. 6 to No. 3 after leading the Arizona Cardinals past the Miami Dolphins, and Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes continue to trend upwards after another strong week.

Here's how the rest of the NFL's quarterbacks rank based on ESPN's QBR for the season, and how they did in terms of QBR during Week 8:

NFL WEEK 9 GAME PREDICTIONS: Expert picks for every matchup

ESPN's QBR, explained

Every week, ESPN gives each quarterback a QBR for their latest performance. According to ESPN, the rating is intended to "incorporate all of a quarterback’s contributions to winning, including how he impacts the game on passes, rushes, turnovers and penalties."

QBR measures each play's degree of success and how much credit the quarterback deserves for the play. The statistic also takes into account the strength of opposing defenses faced. The final result is an efficiency rating as a number on a 0-to-100-point scale. The cumulative rating is averaged out on a per-play basis across the course of the season.

Ranking NFL quarterbacks by total QBR ahead of Week 9

Here's how every starting quarterback with at least 100 pass attempts this season stacks up before Week 8 of the NFL season, based on their 2024 QBR:

  1. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals (QBR: 75.4)

  2. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens (74.9)

  3. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals (74.4)

  4. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills (73.7)

  5. Joe Flacco, Indianapolis Colts (73.7)

  6. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders (72.7)

  7. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles (69.3)

  8. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs (67.0)

  9. Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints (64.8)

  10. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars (65.7)

  11. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers (62.4)

  12. Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons (61.2)

  13. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams (61.1)

  14. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans (60.2)

  15. Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings (58.7)

  16. Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks (57.3)

  17. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers (56.0)

  18. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (55.8)

  19. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers (55.6)

  20. Andy Dalton, Carolina Panthers (54.9)

  21. Justin Fields, Pittsburgh Steelers (53.6)

  22. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos (53.6)

  23. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions (52.8)

  24. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers (50.4)

  25. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys (47.5)

  26. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears (45.8)

  27. Jacoby Brissett, New England Patriots (44.7)

  28. Daniel Jones, New York Giants (44.6)

  29. Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts (38.4)

  30. Gardner Minshew, Las Vegas Raiders (38.1)

  31. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins (36.0)

  32. Will Levis, Tennessee Titans (26.0)

  33. Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns (22.8)

  34. Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers (19.3)

NFL Week 8 QBR leaders

  1. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles (37-17 win at Bengals) — 95.6

  2. Drake Maye, New England Patriots (25-22 win vs. Jets) — 94.9

  3. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals (28-27 win at Dolphins) — 89.4

  4. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals (37-17 loss at Eagles) — 89.2

  5. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs (27-20 win at Raiders) — 88.0

  6. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams (30-20 win vs. Vikings) — 87.2

  7. Jameis Winston, Cleveland Browns (29-24 win vs. Ravens) — 84.5

  8. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens (29-24 loss at Browns) — 80.3

  9. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars (30-27 loss vs. Packers) — 79.0

  10. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos (28-14 win vs. Panthers) — 78.5

  11. Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings (30-20 loss at Rams) — 77.1

  12. Jacoby Brissett, New England Patriots (25-22 win vs. Jets) — 75.5

  13. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers (30-24 win vs. Cowboys) — 75.5

  14. Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons (31-26 win at Buccaneers) — 74.7

  15. Gardner Minshew, Las Vegas Raiders (27-20 loss vs. Chiefs) — 71.3

  16. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders (18-15 win vs. Bears) — 71.0

  17. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers (26-8 win vs. Saints) — 69.1

  18. Malik Willis, Green Bay Packers (25-22 win at Jaguars) — 68.9

  19. Mason Rudolph, Tennessee Titans (52-14 loss at Lions) — 66.4

  20. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans (23-20 win vs. Colts) — 60.2

  21. Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets (25-22 loss at Patriots) — 52.7

  22. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (31-26 loss vs. Falcons) — 52.2

  23. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins (28-27 loss vs. Cardinals) — 48.4

  24. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills (31-10 win at Seahawks) — 47.8

  25. Russell Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers (28-18 win vs. Giants) — 45.4

  26. Jake Haener, New Orleans Saints (26-8 loss at Chargers) — 43.5

  27. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys (30-24 loss at 49ers) — 39.3

  28. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers (30-27 win at Jaguars) — 39.0

  29. Daniel Jones, New York Giants (26-18 loss at Steelers) — 38.7

  30. Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers (28-14 loss at Broncos) — 38.3

  31. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears (18-15 loss at Commanders) — 36.1

  32. Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts (23-20 loss at Texans) — 30.4

  33. Spencer Rattler, New Orleans Saints (26-8 loss at Chargers) — 30.3

  34. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions (52-14 win vs. Titans) — 15.3

  35. Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks (31-10 loss vs. Bills) — 11.0

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL quarterback power rankings by QBR ahead of Week 9 games