Week 10 of the NFL season was not a vintage one for offensive performances. After an offensive explosion on “Thursday Night Football,” Sunday was a much more attritional day, and it shows in how the quarterbacks graded out. Let’s see how all of the starters ranked this week as we use the PFN QB+ metric to examine their performances.
Our QB+ metric looks at several statistics, including net yards per attempt (nYPA), third-down conversion rate, passing under pressure, and passing from a clean pocket. Additionally, we have quantified performances in clutch situations using statistics from different key scenarios within a game.
By no means is QB+ the perfect metric, and we will continue to develop it throughout the season and beyond. However, when we analyzed it against the past five years, the results were extremely indicative of what we saw on the field while providing enough nuance away from traditional statistics for measuring quarterback play.
All stats are from TruMedia unless otherwise stated.
Week 10 QB Grades
First, you will find a full list of all quarterbacks from Week 10, listed in order of their QB+ grade and score. Below, you will find an analysis of all qualified quarterbacks and the context for their grades.
They will be listed alphabetically by first name rather than by grade or score. This will allow readers to quickly find the QB they are looking for in the writeups.
- Kyler Murray, ARI | A (vs. NYJ)
- Lamar Jackson, BAL | A- (vs. CIN)
- Brock Purdy, SF | B (at TB)
- Justin Herbert, LAC | B- (vs. TEN)
- Joe Burrow, CIN | B- (at BAL)
- Russell Wilson, PIT | B- (at WAS)
- Derek Carr, NO | B- (vs. ATL)
- Jalen Hurts, PHI | C+ (at DAL)
- Will Levis, TEN | C+ (at LAC)
- Jared Goff, DET | C+ (at HOU)
- Patrick Mahomes, KC | C+ (vs. DEN)
- Bo Nix, DEN | C (at KC)
- Tua Tagovailoa, MIA | C (at LAR)
- Drake Maye, NE | C (at CHI)
- Kirk Cousins, ATL | C (at NO)
- Josh Allen, BUF | C (at IND)
- C.J. Stroud, HOU | C- (vs. DET)
- Joe Flacco, IND | C- (vs. BUF)
- Sam Darnold, MIN | D+ (at JAX)
- Baker Mayfield, TB | D+ (vs. SF)
- Matthew Stafford, LAR | D+ (vs. MIA)
- Mac Jones, JAX | D+ (vs. MIN)
- Jayden Daniels, WAS | D+ (vs. PIT)
- Bryce Young, CAR | D+ (vs. NYG)
- Aaron Rodgers, NYJ | D (at ARI)
- Daniel Jones, NYG | D (vs. CAR)
- Cooper Rush, DAL | D- (vs. PHI)
- Caleb Williams, CHI | D- (vs. NE)
Week 10 QB Analysis
Aaron Rodgers, NYJ (at ARI)
- Grade: D
The New York Jets really needed a big performance in Week 10, and unfortunately, Rodgers and the offense could not deliver. This was Rodgers’ second-lowest performance of the season, with only the debacle in the rain against Denver grading worse. This was an abject performance that has left the Jets’ playoff chances hanging by a thread.
Rodgers’ performance under pressure was inside the bottom 10% this season. He had just 3.7 nYPA and 3.8 yards after the catch per completion (YAC/Cp). This performance was not even the worst of the season in terms of his performance under pressure, but it was his worst since Week 2.
Baker Mayfield, TB (vs. SF)
- Grade: D+
Mayfield’s performance in Week 10 was not a vintage one. He posted his second-lowest QB+ grade and score of the season, just the third time he has been graded as a D+ or worse this season. It is also worth noting that two of Mayfield’s bottom four performances have come in the last two weeks as he continues to battle without his star receivers.
Mayfield’s nYPA stands out as being particularly concerning at 3.6. That is the lowest of the season so far and ranks in the bottom 5% of all performances this season. He also struggled when throwing under pressure and on third downs. Mayfield finished the week with just 116 passing yards, his lowest of the season.
Bo Nix, DEN (at KC)
- Grade: C
In the last two weeks, we have seen Nix put together his best two performances of the season. Since Week 5 he has generally been pretty consistent, with his worst grade in that time being the C- he posted in Baltimore last week. His development is a promising sign for the Denver Broncos and their offense.
Nix converted an impressive 50% of third downs, with some impressive numbers in the first half, including going 5-for-5 for 53 yards and two touchdowns on third downs. He also posted his career-best numbers when throwing from a clean pocket and was good in clutch situations. Frustratingly, his numbers when throwing under pressure were the worst of his career and among the worst this season.
Brock Purdy, SF (at TB)
- Grade: B
Purdy took full advantage of a questionable Tampa Bay’ defense to post his best performance of the season. He now has three B grades and a B-, with two of the B grades coming in his past two games.
Week 10 saw Purdy match his season-best numbers when throwing under pressure. He was also good in clutch situations. The drive to set up the game-winning field goal summed up his poise throughout the majority of the game nicely. Purdy also posted season-best numbers when throwing from a clean pocket and was not far off his best when it came to third downs, nYPA, and YAC/Cp.
Bryce Young, CAR (vs. NYG – Germany)
- Grade: D+
The Carolina Panthers may have gotten their second straight win, but Young’s performance will not leave them feeling great about things. This was his worst outing since he took back over the starting role, having posted a C- in Week 8 and a C in Week 9. However, Young’s performance in Germany was still considerably better than either of the games he had in the first two weeks before he was benched.
Young’s biggest struggle was on third downs, converting just 20% of the time. He also posted a nYPA of just 4.7, while his 3.0 YAC/Cp was inside the bottom 10% of performances this season. The YAC/Cp number was Young’s lowest this season when he started a game.
Caleb Williams, CHI (vs. NE)
- Grade: D-
Now the alarm bells are starting to ring for Williams, who posted his second grade of a D- or below. This performance was slightly better than his Week 1 F grade and is right on the F/D- border. This is now three straight games with a D grade or worse since the Chicago Bears had their bye in Week 7.
Williams converted just 7.1% of third-down opportunities, and his nYPA of 2.3 was among the bottom five this year. His numbers under pressure were only better than his three games, and he now has four games inside the bottom 25 performances this year. The Bears desperately need to see some improvement from their rookie QB in the coming weeks.
C.J. Stroud, HOU (vs. DET)
- Grade: C-
After a great first half that saw Stroud complete 14 of 20 for 164 yards and a TD and help his team to a 23-7 halftime lead, it was a nightmare second half for the second-year QB. Stroud threw two INTs and only completed three more passes the rest of the night, finishing with a C- grade and, more importantly, a loss.
Cooper Rush, DAL (vs. PHI)
- Grade: D-
Rush’s first start of the 2024 season was every bit as ugly as we feared it might be. We know Rush’s limitations, and the fact that he is starting over Trey Lance is very telling regarding the way the team views Lance right now. With the playoffs slipping away for Dallas, it will be intriguing to see if they turn the reigns over to Lance.
Daniel Jones, NYG (at CAR – Germany)
- Grade: D
Jones posted the 15th-worst performance of any quarterback this season, which was only slightly better than his worst performance of the season. Jones’ low for the season is a D, which was in Week 7 against Philadelphia. This is also the fourth-worst performance of Jones’ career, with two of his bottom four games occurring this season now.
Jones particularly struggled when throwing from a clean pocket, as well as in clutch situations. He finished with a nYPA number of just 4.7, while his 1.6 YAC/Cp was the worst number of the season among qualified quarterbacks so far. After this performance, there have to be questions about Jones’ job security going forward.
Derek Carr, NO (vs. ATL)
- Grade: B-
Carr took full advantage of the Falcons’ defense to earn his third grade of a B- or better this season. This was Carr’s first time with a grade above a C+ since the New Orleans Saints exploded into the season in the first two weeks.
Carr’s performance throwing from a clean pocket was the fourth-best this year, and he was inside the top 15 in terms of nYPA and YAC/Cp. However, he was only league average in clutch situations and when throwing under pressure, while he struggled in terms of converting on third downs, posting his worst third-down conversion rate of the season.
Drake Maye, NE (at CHI)
- Grade: C
The consistency we are seeing from Maye is a nice start to his NFL career. This was his third game with a grade of C or above out of four, and he has thrown enough passes to qualify. His one game below that was last week, and it was a C-, so it was not a disaster at all.
Maye continues to post really promising numbers in clutch situations, and the New England Patriots coaches will be highly excited about it if he can continue doing that when the team is more competitive as a whole. The rest of his numbers this week were nothing too exciting, but he did post career-best numbers in terms of nYPA and YAC/Cp.
Jalen Hurts, PHI (at DAL)
- Grade: C=
Hurts has continued to put together a good run since the bye week, with all four of his qualifying games being a C+ or above. This was the worst of those performances, but it was still a score just slightly below 80 and kept the train rolling. However, it is worth pointing out that they have all come against bad defenses except for Cleveland, teams we would expect him to play well against.
Hurts was good on third downs, in clutch situations, and in terms of nYPA. However, the results of his numbers were fairly average. Even so, it was a nice performance and he got to sit out the fourth quarter because the lead was that comfortable.
Jayden Daniels, WAS (vs. PIT)
- Grade: D+
Daniels will not be the first rookie quarterback to struggle against a Mike Tomlin defense, and he will not be the last, either. The Steelers’ unit gave the rookie quarterback all he could handle, and it resulted in the worst game of his short career so far.
Daniels posted career lows in third-down conversion rate, nYPA, throwing under pressure, and throwing from a clean pocket. He had some good moments, with his play to close out the first half being particularly impressive, but it lacked consistency. There will be no major cause for concern after one bad week, but he has struggled twice in three weeks against good defenses.
Jared Goff, DET (at HOU)
- Grade: C+
It won’t go down as one of Goff’s best games, and it might be one he wants to forget after a career-high five INTs, but a huge second-half rally got the Lions the win. Goff earned only the ninth NFL win in 126 instances since the merger of an NFL player with five picks.
For the night, he completed 15 of 30 passes for 240 yards and two scores. The C+ grade was his fifth C+ or better in nine games this season and helped the Lions to their first 8-1 start since 1950.
Joe Burrow, CIN (at BAL)
- Grade: B-
The situation Burrow is in requires near perfection due to the state of Cincinnati’s defense, and while his counting numbers on Thursday night made fantasy football managers smile (428 yards and four scores), he posted his lowest completion percentage in enemy territory (13-of-25, 54.2%) since Week 3 of last season.
In the middle of those two disappointing showings, he completed 70.6% of his passes in such spots, showing us that he is capable of grading well.
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The guiding of the Cincinnati Bengals on a 10-play, 73-yard touchdown drive on their final possession of the first half helped elevate Burrow’s grade, and, on the whole, he was great, but he wasn’t as perfect as you might assume given the traditional box score.
Joe Flacco, IND (vs. BUF)
- Grade: C-
We have now seen back-to-back mediocre performances from Flacco in the last two weeks, and it will raise some eyebrows over him starting in place of Anthony Richardson. It is worth noting that both of these performances were better than three of Richardson’s five qualifying games this year. However, if he is not considerably better, why are they not developing Richardson?
Flacco really struggled under pressure this week, posting his worst number of the season when throwing under pressure. He ended the week with 2.5 YAC/CP, showing that he was not throwing his receivers into space, an area in which he has struggled relatively this season.
Josh Allen, BUF (at IND)
- Grade: C
This performance from Josh Allen was in the bottom three of his 2024 games. It was not a major disaster, but there were enough mistakes that you question if he would have gotten away with it against a higher-level opponent. Allen has now posted back-to-back C grades and will be desperate to improve his performance against the Chiefs in Week 11.
Allen was unusually bad when throwing from a clean pocket this week, which we do not expect to be a trend going forward. His other numbers were not bad relative to other quarterback performances this year, but they were below his own high standard.
Justin Herbert, LAC (vs. TEN)
- Grade: B
We have now seen back-to-back B- or better performances from Herbert. All of his best performances this season have come since their Week 6 bye, and this Los Angeles Chargers offense appears to be building an identity beyond just the run game. With Herbert and the passing game starting to get clicking, this Chargers team becomes a real playoff threat if they can sustain.
This week was Herbert’s best performance of the season when throwing from a clean pocket and in terms of nYPA. He was also good on third downs and in clutch situations. It was a solid performance and backed up by a similarly impressive performance last week against another solid defense.
Kirk Cousins, ATL (at NO)
- Grade: C
This performance from Cousins is exactly what the grade tells you: average. Cousins did not elevate his team, but he did not cost them either. If Younghoe Koo does not miss three kicks, we are likely not thinking too hard against a simply average performance. However, the context of it coming against a middling defense does raise some concerns, but this is also a team reacting to the departure of their head coach this week.
Cousins’ worst attribute this week was his play in clutch situations, especially when inside the opposing half. He did not do a great job getting yards after the catch, with a 2.8 YAC/Cp, which is by far his worst of the season. The Saints’ defense played the Atlanta Falcons well this week, and Cousins struggled to adapt to a different look than he might have seen on film.
Kyler Murray, ARI (vs. NYJ)
- Grade: A
We have just witnessed the second-best game of Murray’s career, and both of those two games came in 2024. Murray now has two of the top four performances this season, backing up a huge Week 2 performance against the Rams. In this game, we saw all the things that make Murray an explosive quarterback, as he impressed with his arm and legs.
Murray put up top-10 numbers on the season in terms of third-down conversion rate and throwing under pressure. His 10.8 nYPA ranks 11th on the season, while his number in clutch situations is right up there with the best of them this season.
Lamar Jackson, BAL (vs. CIN)
- Grade: A-
Jackson is on a tear right now and didn’t slow down on Thursday night against the Bengals. For the third time in four weeks, the reigning MVP posted a passer rating north of 150 when kept clean (19-of-23 for 250 yards and four touchdowns). Job No. 1 in this offense is staying on the field, and with Jackson completing 10 of 11 third-down passes in Week 10, he’s checking every box we could ask of him.
Mac Jones, JAX (vs. MIN)
- Grade: D+
In his first start of the year, Jones did very little to make a case that he should challenge for a starting role in the NFL. However, it is worth noting that his play this week was better than Trevor Lawrence’s D- grade from Week 9.
Jones was really poor when throwing from a clean pocket, posting a number that is inside the bottom five this season. He also had poor numbers when it came to nYPA and YAC/Cp, but he did help his team keep drives alive by converting on 55.6% of third downs.
Matthew Stafford, LAR (vs. MIA)
- Grade: D+
It was not one of Stafford’s best games of the season, his fourth without a TD pass. His overall grade was a D+ on the evening, his third-worst outing of the campaign.
The Los Angeles Rams were particularly bad on third downs, converting only three of their 12 on Monday night and settling for five field goals (and six attempts).
Patrick Mahomes, KC (at BAL)
- Grade: C+
It was a long day for Mahomes, who was hit a lot by a tough Denver defense. It was far from his most convincing performance, but a C+ with a score slightly above average on a relatively bad day tells you a lot about where Mahomes’ level is. He has now had six performances with a C+ grade or lower, so there is plenty of room for improvement.
Where Mahomes was very good this week was in clutch situations, with an impressive drive to get his team back in the game before the half and a solid drive to take the lead in the fourth quarter. His other numbers were not bad, but they were just not up to the same high standard we have been used to throughout his career.
Russell Wilson, PIT (at WAS)
- Grade: B-
Whatever the Pittsburgh Steelers are doing with Wilson, they need to keep it going because he has been excellent since returning from injury. Wilson’s worst performance was a C+ in Week 8, and he now has two performances of a B- or above this season.
Wilson continues to be good in the clutch this season and when throwing from a clean pocket. He also converted on 54.5% of his third downs this week but saw his nYPA drop from over 9.0 on average in the first two starts to 6.1 this week. He continues to have issues when throwing under pressure, and it will be intriguing to see how teams try to capitalize on that in the coming weeks.
Sam Darnold, MIN (at JAX)
- Grade: D+
This has now been two frustrating weeks in a row for Darnold. The overall QB+ numbers are not that bad because, for the most part, Darnold has not been terrible, but then he throws back-breaking interceptions when the Minnesota Vikings are in scoring range. His D+ grade this week is his second-lowest of the season, and two of his lowest three have come in the last two weeks.
A season-low in terms of throwing from a clean pocket is the biggest concern, and the lack of yards after the catch in recent weeks is frustrating. All three of his interceptions came within sight of the goal line this week, and that has hurt his clutch numbers.
Tua Tagovailoa, MIA (at LAR)
- Grade: C
It was a back-and-forth night for Tagovailoa, who completed 71% of his passes with a TD but also had an interception and a lost fumble. Tagovailoa set the tone early, completing all four passes for 52 yards on an opening touchdown drive.
Tua earned a C grade, his fourth-best score of the five games he has played this season, but he earned the win, keeping the Dolphins’ playoff hopes alive in the process.
Will Levis, TEN (at LAC)
- Grade: C+
That is a good way for Levis to return with his best performance of the season. There is still a long way to go, but posting an above-average grade against a good Chargers defense is a promising return to the field. This was Levis’ third-best performance of his career and his best performance in a loss. There is a lot more we need to see from him, but there were somewhat encouraging signs.
Levis had a superb day throwing from a clean pocket, beating any numbers he had posted in that situation this season by some distance. His other numbers were very much league average, but league average is an improvement for Levis in terms of what we have seen previously.