Quarterback Joe Flacco made easy work of the New York Jets last Thursday night as the Cleveland Browns went on to clinch their first playoff berth since the 2020 season. He had nearly 300 yards passing by halftime and even managed to sneak in a nap on the sideline, showing his age a bit.
This marks four games in a row that Flacco has thrown for over 400 yards in five starts for the Browns. As they hold the fifth seed in the AFC and cannot drop any lower or rise any higher in the playoff seeding, the Browns will rest Flacco and the starters this week. This will give most of them their first bout of rest since their Week 5 bye week.
Before we jump ahead to the pseudo-preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals this week, let’s take one more look at last week’s outing.
Here is how Flacco’s showing against the Jets stacked up with the performances of the other 31 starting quarterbacks in the NFL. We will be using ESPN’s QBR as the metric to rank by.
32
Jaren Hall, Minnesota Vikings: 1.1
31
Bryce Young: 12.1
30
Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 19.4
29
Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills: 19.8
28
Sam Howell, Washington Commanders: 21.7
27
Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee Titans: 21.8
26
Bailey Zappe, New England Patriots: 26.7
25
Jarrett Stidham, Denver Broncos: 31.3
24
Jared Goff, Detroit Lions: 31.9
23
Trevor Siemian, New York Jets: 35.0
22
Taylor Heinicke, Atlanta Falcons: 39.2
21
Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams: 41.6
20
Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins: 46.4
19
C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans: 50.2
18
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs: 50.2
17
Easton Stick, Los Angeles Chargers: 52.3
16
Tyrod Taylor, New York Giants: 52.5
15
Joe Flacco, Cleveland Browns: 53.8
14
Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys: 63.4
13
Aidan O'Connell, Las Vegas Raiders: 65.1
12
Justin Fields, Chicago Bears: 66.0
11
Mason Rudolph, Pittsburgh Steelers: 70.9
10
Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks: 76.1
9
Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles: 77.4
8
Jake Browning, Cincinnati Bengals: 79.0
7
C.J. Beathard, Jacksonville Jaguars: 79.0
6
Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers: 82.7
5
Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals: 84.4
4
Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers: 88.2
3
Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints: 88.9
2
Gardner Minshew, Indianapolis Colts: 89.7
1
Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens: 95.9
