The most important position in the NFL? Starting quarterback — of course. A QB’s performance on any given week can shape a franchise’s future and determine the fate of his teammates.
Using insights from the Stats Perform database, Yardbarker’s NFL writers break down the key stats defining every team’s starting quarterback.
NFC East
DALLAS COWBOYS | Dak Prescott | A good quarterback can make a defense pay for sending an extra man on a blitz, and Prescott, despite his lack of playoff success, is a good quarterback. Against the blitz, Prescott has a 64 percent completion rate and has been sacked on 6.1 percent of his dropbacks. He has also thrown for 8,454 yards and 80 touchdown passes when blitzed, so opponents should think twice about when to use extra pressure against the Cowboys.
NEW YORK GIANTS | Russell Wilson | Wilson was pressured on 13 of his 45 dropbacks in his first game as a Giant, making just one successful play while under duress in Week 1. The 36-year-old used to be able to rely on his legs to avoid pressure, but those days are long behind him.
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES | Jalen Hurts | Throughout his career, not including playoff games, Hurts has gained more yards scrambling (1,654) than on designed runs (1,541). When the defense gives him a lane to take off, he’s likely going to do it, and his average of gaining 7.84 yards on a scramble means he’s likely to get a first down. In fact, in 211 scrambles in his career, he has converted 97 first downs, and the reigning Super Bowl MVP shows no signs of slowing down.
WASHINGTON COMMANDERS | Jayden Daniels | The second-year QB attacks all parts of the field but favors the right side most. In his short NFL career, Daniels has attempted 255 passes to the right side, completing 177, compared with 129 and 44 completions on the left side and middle of the field, respectively. So, watch where his favorite targets, like wide receiver Terry McLaurin, line up — if they’re on the right, expect Daniels to look their way. — Conor Killmurray
NFC West
ARIZONA CARDINALS | Kyler Murray | In Week 1, the Cardinals beat New Orleans 20-13 despite Murray getting sacked five times. Before that, Arizona was only 1-15-1 when Murray was sacked at least four times in a game. The silver lining for the Cardinals is that Sunday’s win was their sixth consecutive game in which Murray did not toss an interception.
LOS ANGELES RAMS | Matthew Stafford | Stafford joined an exclusive list in a Week 1 14-9 win over the Houston Texans. He became the 10th player in NFL history to throw for 60,000 yards and accomplished the feat in his 223rd game, tied with former Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan for the second-fastest player to hit the mark. (Former Saints great Drew Brees accomplished the feat in 215 games.)
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS | Brock Purdy |
Head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed Wednesday that Purdy could miss “multiple weeks” and that he is a “long shot” to play Sunday at New Orleans because of injuries suffered to his left shoulder and left toe in Week 1. If he starts, Purdy will likely make history. Entering the 42nd game of his career, Purdy needs 205 passing yards to reach 10,000, which would surpass current Rams QB Jimmy Garoppolo by one game as the fastest to reach the mark in franchise history.
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS | Sam Darnold | Darnold threw for only 150 yards and no TDs in a Week 1 loss to the 49ers. He is tied with Bill Nelson for the third-most TDs in the NFL (98) among former USC players. With two more, he would join Carson Palmer and Matt Cassel as the only Trojans to pass for at least 100 TDs in the league. — Colby Colwell
NFC North
CHICAGO BEARS | Caleb Williams | If you’re a Bears fan searching for a silver lining after the Week 1 collapse against the Minnesota Vikings, we have you covered. Through 18 NFL starts, Williams has a higher completion percentage (62.3 percent), more passing yards (3,751), more passing touchdowns (21), a higher quarterback rating (87.7) and fewer interceptions (six) than draft busts DeMarcus Russell, Ryan Leaf and Zach Wilson.
DETROIT LIONS | Jared Goff | Goff and the Lions might need time to adjust to life without Ben Johnson, their former OC who’s now Bears HC. The Week 1 loss to the Packers marked just the third time since 2022 that Goff threw for fewer than 250 yards (he went 31-of-39 for 225 yards), tossed one or fewer touchdowns and took at least four sacks.
GREEN BAY PACKERS | Jordan Love | Green Bay’s passing game won’t be easy to slow down this season because it can attack defenses in many ways. Love completed 16 passes to 10 different pass-catchers in the season-opening win against the Lions.
MINNESOTA VIKINGS | J.J. McCarthy | After a weak start to his Vikings career, McCarthy led three touchdown drives in the fourth quarter to orchestrate an 11-point comeback win against the Bears in Week 1. McCarthy is the eighth NFL QB since 1950 to overcome a deficit of at least 11 points in the fourth quarter of his first career start. — Jack Dougherty
NFC South
ATLANTA FALCONS | Michael Penix Jr. | Despite suffering a deflating 23-20 home loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Penix gave Atlanta reason for optimism. In his first Week 1 start, he had two total touchdowns and no turnovers, becoming the first Falcons QB to post those numbers in Week 1 since Matt Ryan in 2016 (also in a loss to the Buccaneers), when Atlanta reached Super Bowl LI.
CAROLINA PANTHERS | Bryce Young | After a promising end to 2024, Young suffered a setback in Week 1’s 26-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, accounting for one touchdown and three turnovers. He fell to 6-23 for his career, the worst record through 29 starts by a QB selected No. 1 overall dating to 1950.
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS | Spencer Rattler | Rattler became the 26th QB in NFL history to begin his career 0-7 as a starter in Week 1’s 20-13 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. He’ll look to avoid becoming the first since Cleveland Browns QB DeShone Kizer (2017) to lose his first eight starts when the San Francisco 49ers invade the Superdome in Week 2.
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS | Baker Mayfield | Against the Falcons in Week 1, Mayfield threw his first winning touchdown with under a minute left in regulation since Week 14 of the 2023 season, finding rookie wideout Emeka Egbuka for a 25-yard touchdown with 59 seconds left. Since he entered the league as the No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft, Mayfield’s four winning touchdowns with under a minute left in regulation rank first. — Eric Smithling
AFC East
BUFFALO BILLS | Josh Allen | Allen made an early case for a second straight MVP award by passing for 251 yards in the fourth quarter of a 41-40 win in Week 1 over the Baltimore Ravens. That’s one shy of the NFL record for passing yards in a quarter, shared by former MVPs Tom Brady and Boomer Esiason.
MIAMI DOLPHINS | Tua Tagovailoa | With a 7-0 career record against the New England Patriots, Miami’s Week 2 foe, Tagovailoa has a chance to recover from an embarrassing 33-8 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1, but he has a poor shot of beating Buffalo on the road the following Thursday. Tagovailoa is 1-8 against the Bills as a starter, and his .286 winning percentage against winning teams is the third lowest among active QBs with 15 starts.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS | Drake Maye | When asked if he and OC Josh McDaniels put too much on Maye’s plate during a 20-13 loss in Week 1 to the Las Vegas Raiders, head coach Mike Vrabel said, “I think we have to evaluate that.” No QB had more attempts in Week 1 than Maye, who threw a career-high 46 passes. The second-year QB needed overtime to reach 41 passes against the Tennessee Titans last November, but he should throw considerably less in Week 2 against a Dolphins team that gave up two rushing touchdowns to Colts QB Daniel Jones in Week 1.
NEW YORK JETS | Justin Fields | With 12 carries for 48 yards in his Jets debut, Fields became the first QB in franchise history to have 12 or more carries in a game since Al Dorow rushed 18 times for 72 yards and a score against the Bills in 1960 as a member of the New York Titans. — Bruce Ewing
AFC West
DENVER BRONCOS | Bo Nix | Broncos head coach Sean Payton shouldn’t stray from the running game this season, especially now that the team has two capable RBs, J.K. Dobbins and rookie RJ Harvey. When Denver rushes for 100-plus yards, Nix is 9-4 and has a stellar 98.6 passer rating. He’s 2-3 and logs a below-average 73.6 passer rating when the team fails to do so.
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS | Patrick Mahomes | Mahomes ranks second in the league in TD passes (95) since the 2022 season, despite not playing with elite WRs. No Chiefs WR has made the Pro Bowl since Tyreek Hill in the 2021 season. Kansas City can still count on Mahomes, who threw for 258 yards and one TD in a 27-21 Week 1 loss to the Chargers.
LAS VEGAS RAIDERS | Geno Smith | The Raiders should encourage Smith to let it fly this season. Since the 2024 season, he has completed 45.2 percent of his passes of 20-plus yards (min. 25 attempts), the NFL’s fourth-best mark. This could help the Raiders maximize speedy WR Tre Tucker, who caught a 26-yard TD pass in a 20-13 Week 1 win over the Patriots.
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS | Justin Herbert | Herbert hasn’t won a playoff game, but his talent is apparent. The 2020 first-rounder threw for 21,093 yards in his first five seasons, the most in NFL history. He had 318 yards passing in a Week 1 win over the Chiefs. — Clark Dalton
AFC North
BALTIMORE RAVENS | Lamar Jackson | Even though the Ravens lost their opener in Buffalo, Jackson was still sensational with 209 yards passing, 70 yards rushing and two touchdown passes. It is already the 10th game in his career in which he has reached at least 200 yards passing and 70 yards rushing, the most of any QB in NFL history. The Ravens are 7-3 in those 10 games.
CINCINNATI BENGALS | Joe Burrow | Slow starts are nothing new for Burrow, and his Week 1 performance this season was no exception as he averaged just 4.9 yards per pass attempt in the Bengals’ 17-16 win over the Cleveland Browns. That is the second-lowest total of his career in a game and his lowest total in a win.
CLEVELAND BROWNS | Joe Flacco | Flacco, 40, is one of two starting QBs in the NFL this season who are 40 or older (joining Aaron Rodgers, his divisional rival in Pittsburgh) and is one of just 15 QBs to have thrown for more than 2,000 yards in the NFL after turning 39. He is also one of just 12 quarterbacks to throw for at least 290 yards in a game after turning 40.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS | Aaron Rodgers | Not only did Rodgers throw four touchdowns in his Steelers debut, but he also avoided turning the ball over. That is a huge part of HC Mike Tomlin’s requirement for a QB, so he has to love the fact that Rodgers has the lowest interception percentage (1.4 percent) in NFL history. — Adam Gretz
AFC South
HOUSTON TEXANS | C.J. Stroud | Stroud is hoping to repeat history in Week 2, as the third-year QB set multiple rookie records the last time he faced the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2023. Stroud threw for 470 yards in Houston’s 39-37 win that year, which still stands as the most passing yards in a game by a rookie QB. He also tied a rookie game record with five touchdown passes.
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS | Daniel Jones | After beating out Anthony Richardson Sr. for the starting QB job, Jones put the Colts on his back in their 33-8 win over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1. The biggest surprise was that he had not one but two rushing touchdowns. Since 1950, only four QBs have rushed for two touchdowns in their first game with a new team. One of the others is Justin Fields, who also accomplished the feat in his first game with the New York Jets in Week 1.
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS | Trevor Lawrence | The Jaguars have scored 10 or more points in all 25 of their franchise’s games against the Cincinnati Bengals, their Week 2 opponent. That is Jacksonville’s longest active streak against any opponent. The Jaguars won 13 of those games and have a winning record against every AFC North team, so Lawrence will look to keep both of those streaks alive.
TENNESSEE TITANS | QB Cam Ward | Tennessee’s offensive line had major holes in a Week 1 loss to the Denver Broncos, as Ward was sacked six times. The rookie QB became just the second No. 1 overall pick (David Carr with the Houston Texans in 2002) since sacks became a stat in 1970 to be sacked six or more times in his NFL debut. Ward is only the 16th QB — rookie or otherwise — to be sacked six or more times in a debut. — Steve DelVecchio
