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2025 NFL Quarterback Rankings Week 13: Patrick Mahomes and Dak Prescott Set for Big Thanksgiving Showdown

Photo of Scott Kacsmar Scott Kacsmar26/11/2025 - 07:37 am
Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys
(Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)

Week 12 of the 2025 NFL season saw three overtime games and great comebacks by Dak Prescott and Patrick Mahomes, who will meet on Thanksgiving. That was after the rough start for Josh Allen in Houston, which is becoming a nightmare of a place to play for him with his first playoff loss and lowest completion percentage game both coming there as well as his career-high 8 sacks taken.

Meanwhile, Matthew Stafford and Drake Maye continued their winning streaks, Shedeur Sanders got the win in his first start despite some polarizing numbers vs. tape, and Brock Purdy and Bryce Young looked like quarterbacks you don’t want to pay big money to on Monday night. Unfortunately, one team already has paid while you could seemingly get the same production from Mac Jones.

But we can talk about the state of developing young quarterbacks another day. At least the 2024 class looks promising as long as we forget J.J. McCarthy exists or that Michael Penix Jr. is always injured.

Each week at 365Scores, we are going to rank all 32 NFL quarterbacks from top to bottom. The methodology is to start with our preseason quarterback rankings from July, which were based on a mixture of career value and recent play. Then each week, we will adjust the rankings to account for the latest game to get a sense of which quarterbacks are performing the best in the 2025 season.

1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

Week 12 rank: 1 (0)

Sunday may have been the best-case scenario win for Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs as they got to accomplish some things they haven’t done this year:

  • Overcame the adversity of a Kareen Hunt fumble in the red zone to still rally for an 11-point comeback in the fourth quarter, their first game-winning drive and one-score win this season after starting 0-5.
  • The offense dominated the ball for 42 minutes, running 91 plays, getting Hunt over 100 yards while Mahomes threw for a season-high 352 yards and ran for 30 more.
  • Mahomes only lost 6 yards on his 4 sacks.
  • Mahomes nailed some of those quick strikes with good YAC to Rashee Rice that were working early last season before his injury.
  • Against a team with good cornerbacks, the Chiefs got big plays from Rice and Xavier Worthy, with Worthy catching a 31-yard pass on a third down from Mahomes in overtime that saved the game and maybe the season.

For all of that effort, the Chiefs are still just 6-5 and the No. 10 seed. But it would have been a lot bleaker if they lost that game. Since they dominated the Colts in yardage, the Chiefs are now No. 1 in yards per drive, the only team above 40.0 yards this season. Mahomes is only 2.1 points behind Dak Prescott for the QBR lead, so a big game on Thursday in Dallas could help swing that too in KC’s favor if the whole team shows up.

They have some things to clean up in the red zone, but they made the crucial plays on Sunday they’ve been missing this year. Must keep winning though as there’s little margin for error left in a deep AFC where most tie-breakers are not on their side.

2. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams

Week 12 rank: 2 (0)

It’s rare to see an NFL game where a team literally could have taken knees on every play in the second half and still won comfortably. But that was the case on Sunday night between the Rams and Buccaneers. Matthew Stafford came out hot, he threw for 210 yards and 3 touchdowns by halftime, and the defense had a pick-six too. Had Tampa Bay showed any type of threat, Stafford probably throws for over 300 yards and 4 touchdowns in this game.

Just total domination that has the Rams at 9-2 and getting their flowers as the best team in the league. Stafford has jumped out to the MVP lead with -220 odds at FanDuel, but I wouldn’t dare take that bet at those odds. Still plenty of time for him to falter on this no-interception streak that is boosting his resume when we know for all of NFL history that such streaks are based on good fortune more than anything.

The Rams also have some huge advantages working for Stafford like the best starting field position in the league, the No. 1 scoring defense, and no quarterback uses play-action passing more often. With prime-time road games against the Seahawks (Thursday night) and Atlanta in Weeks 16-17 coming after a game with Detroit, those weeks will either lock up the MVP for Stafford or cause him to implode by the 2021 Tom Brady and 2023 Brock Purdy standard.

I’d never take him at -220 odds. Not when you could still see someone like Drake Maye, Patrick Mahomes, or Dak Prescott end the year hot and take it.

3. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens

Week 12 rank: 4 (+1)

I don’t know if the hamstring is 100% yet or not for Lamar Jackson, because since he’s returned, he hasn’t thrown for many yards, hasn’t been hitting the big plays like he did earlier this season, he’s gone consecutive games without a touchdown pass, and he has been held in check as a rusher.

But something tells me he’s about to perk up as he gets the Cincinnati defense in two of the next three games, including Thursday night on Thanksgiving. He’s owned the Bengals in his career, and I’d be surprised if he didn’t have a monster game or two in the coming days against them.

4. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills

Week 12 rank: 3 (-1)

If you ignore the career-high 8 sacks in Houston and the two interceptions, including a game-ending pick and a pick-six that was called back by penalty, then Josh Allen was 24-of-32 for 253 yards through the air. Sounds like a quarterback who just needed some better blocking, right? Not one who had one of his worst games since his breakout year.

But the problem there is even Allen’s regular stat line was juiced up by huge YAC plays, including a brilliantly executed hook and lateral play on the final drive that would have been a Play of the Year candidate if the Bills went on to win the game. But Allen’s running backs and a special teams touchdown really kept him in this game as the Bills scored just 12 points on 11 drives against the No. 1 defense.

The Bills are 0-4 this year when they don’t score at least 28 points as the offense has laid some duds. The Bills have also turned the ball over 3 times in three straight games, so the turnover regression we warned about all offseason has hit hard. Allen’s already up to 9 interceptions and 28 sacks after he had 6 interceptions and 14 sacks all of 2024.

That was never sustainable, but the Bills were supposed to be better than this. Allen has fallen to 15th in QBR (58.1), which would easily be his worst season since 2019. While it’s true that Houston pressured him well with a great defense, he also held the ball very long on his sacks and looked like the quarterback who lost the 2019 AFC wild card game in Houston instead of the reigning league MVP.

The Bills need to get back to some basics on offense.

5. Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks

Week 12 rank: 6 (+1)

Beating up on the 1-win Titans by halftime won’t move the needle for how Sam Darnold is viewed this year. But it was a good bounce-back effort as he continues to show his connection with Jaxon Smith-Njigba is out of this world this year. They just might get to 2,000 yards together if this keeps up.

6. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

Week 12 rank: 7 (+1)

It’s crazy to think the Cowboys survived a 21-0 deficit, two turnovers (one interception by Prescott), a missed field goal, some dropped passes, and two failed passes on fourth downs, including a play at the 1-yard line in a 21-21 game, and they still found a way to beat the Eagles on a last-second field goal.

Prescott has been money at home against the Eagles in his career, and he delivered again with 354 yards in this one. We’ll see what he can do against the Chiefs in another big game this Thanksgiving.

7. Drake Maye, New England Patriots

Week 12 rank: 8 (+1)

It was certainly a surprise to see a game where the New England offense, New England defense, Cincinnati offense, and Cincinnati defense each scored just one touchdown. Both quarterbacks threw a pick-six in this game, and I’d say Maye’s was the worst interception he threw all year as it wasn’t tipped or anything. Just sailed it right to the Bengals.

But he threw for 294 yards and took a single sack for the third week in a row. Defense closed it out in a 26-20 final, but I think you should have expected a cleaner game against the worst defense in the NFL.

One thing to keep an eye on: Left tackle Will Campbell left the game injured and we’ll see what his status is for the rest of the season. It sounds like he’ll miss some weeks but not the rest of the season, a good sign for Maye’s blindside protector.

8. Daniel Jones, Indianapolis Colts

Week 12 rank: 5 (-3)

Daniel Jones started very well in Kansas City with two touchdown passes to build a 14-3 lead, but things seemed to unravel for him after he tried to throw a deep pass on 3rd-and-1 shortly after the two-minute warning in the first half. Why would you do that when you can run the ball for a yard or throw short to extend the drive and keep the ball out of Patrick Mahomes’ hands?

The Chiefs got a field goal there. Then in the third quarter, the Colts scored two field goals but stalled on more third downs. Jones did not take any sacks and the Colts did not have any turnovers in this game, so that was not the issue this time like in the losses earlier this year or the near-loss overseas against the Falcons.

But the fact is the Colts got away from Jonathan Taylor, who only had one nice run, put the game on Jones’ shoulders, and he was ice cold. The Colts went three-and-out on their last four drives, including overtime, and that’s not expected of the No. 1 offense against a Kansas City defense that stinks at forcing three-and-outs. Just brutal offense that hung the defense that faced 91 plays out to dry.

Daniel Jones #17 of the Indianapolis Colts
(Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)

9. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions

Week 12 rank: 9 (0)

The Giants were getting after Jared Goff, who took 3 sacks and threw a pick as Detroit trailed by double digits. But Goff is lucky to have such a talented back in Jahmyr Gibbs, who broke off a 49-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, then after kicker Jake Bates saved the team’s hide with a 59-yard field goal to force overtime, Gibbs answered immediately with a 69-yard touchdown run to start the extra session. Then the defense closed it out with a stop.

Goff still threw for 279 yards against one of the league’s worst defenses, but Gibbs and his kicker saved his bacon in this one as Detroit narrowly avoided losing to a 2-win team.

In the process, the Lions are the first team in NFL history to win an overtime game by more than 6 points (34-27) thanks to the new format.

10. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers

Week 12 rank: 11 (+1)

Just a solid game manager type of day from Jordan Love against Minnesota. You don’t need to throw much when J.J. McCarthy isn’t doing much of anything on the other side. Just run the ball, convert some third downs (Packers lead the NFL on third-down conversion rate), and move onto Thursday’s big one with Detroit.

11. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers

Week 12 rank: 10 (-1)

The Chargers (7-4) had their bye week at a good time for Justin Herbert to heal up after taking all of these hits this year. He’s got a winnable game with the Raiders next, but it’s going to get much tougher with the Eagles, Chiefs, Cowboys, Texans, and Broncos to close the season. I can see why it’s not a given the Chargers make the playoffs.

12. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 12 rank: 12 (0)

Just a rough night for Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers in Los Angeles. Cade Otton sold him out on a bobbled pass that turned into a pick-six, and I’m still not sure how that counts when his knees were down while holding the ball. Just a fluke play that was the catalyst for a first-half blowout.

Then you throw in some coaching malpractice by having Baker try to throw a Hail Mary from extra distance and he was already ailing. Had to sit out the second half as we were treated to Teddy Bridgewater playing poorly.

The news is a shoulder sprain in Mayfield’s non-throwing arm, which is good news as that’s the kind of injury you can play through and he’s done similar things in Cleveland before. But injuries have really sapped the life out of this Tampa Bay team in the last month, and they may still end up with a home playoff game just because the division is bad.

13. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles

Week 12 rank: 13 (0)

It’s hard to fathom how the Eagles can take a 21-0 lead in 20 minutes in Dallas and never score another point to lose the game. Then again, this team scored 21 points in the first half against Dallas on opening night and only added a field goal in the last 30 minutes, so it’s been a problem all year.

It’s becoming painfully clear that Jalen Hurts needs Nick Sirianni to find him a good offensive coordinator (see: Shane Steichen and Kellen Moore in the Super Bowl seasons) to get the best results. In this game, it’s not his fault that Saquon Barkley fumbled in scoring territory in the fourth quarter, but he does have to step up on a 3rd-and-2 and not get sacked with a game-winning drive attempt. Never saw the ball again.

The 2025 Eagles (8-3) continue to be one of the most frustrating offenses we’ve ever seen.

Jalen Hurts #1 of the Philadelphia Eagles
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

14. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears

Week 12 rank: 17 (+3)

Save for a really bad strip-sack in the end zone that led to a touchdown, Caleb Williams played well against the Steelers. He made key throws to extend drives and threw 3 touchdown passes. He didn’t throw any picks for the fourth game in a row and that strip-sack was the only sack he took on the day.

Big test on Friday against the Eagles for what is suddenly a game with No. 1 seed implications for both teams.

15. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers

Week 12 rank: 14 (-1)

The 49ers won on Monday night against Carolina, but Brock Purdy looked quite bad with three first-half interceptions, and he could have easily had four or five picks in this game. It was basically like the 2023 Christmas game on Monday night against Baltimore but worse given the opponent and how bad some of these balls were.

With Purdy going to Cleveland to face that nasty defense next, it might not get any prettier in Week 13.

16. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos

Week 12 rank: 16 (0)

The Broncos (9-2) had their bye week and have some very winnable road games coming up with the Commanders and Raiders, two bad defenses that Bo Nix could perk up against after that win over the Chiefs.

17. Jacoby Brissett, Arizona Cardinals

Week 12 rank: 18 (+1)

Jacoby Brissett played well against the Jaguars, but he reminded us why he’s 7-25 at game-winning drive opportunities. Had a chance to win in regulation with a touchdown and it didn’t happen, then he was stopped on fourth down in overtime when he only needed a field goal to keep the game going.

He’s moving the ball well and putting up points every week, but story of his career has been a guy who comes up short on the last drive.

But that still might be better than being Kyler Murray and coming up short without all the passing production to point to.

18. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins

Week 12 rank: 21 (+3)

The Dolphins (4-7) had their bye week. With winnable games coming up against the Saints and Jets, we’ll see if Tua Tagovailoa can start mustering up false hope for 2026 that things will be any different from this constant mediocrity.

19. Joe Flacco, Cincinnati Bengals

Week 12 rank: 19 (0)

Joe Flacco had a brutal pick-six and really wasted a great performance by his defense and running game in this one. However, it’s a bad week for Ja’Marr Chase to be suspended for spitting on Jalen Ramsey last week in Pittsburgh. His absence was felt as Flacco was short on healthy wideouts on his final drive as he had a chance for a comeback in a 26-20 game in the closing seconds.

But he came up short on the final fourth down again. It sounds like Joe Burrow is back and aiming to play Thanksgiving night in Baltimore, so this might be the end of the Flacco run in Cincinnati.

20. Jameis Winston, New York Giants

Week 12 rank: 28 (+8)

Jaxson Dart is an impressive rookie and will likely be back in Week 13 from a concussion, but how fun is Jameis Winston to watch? We got the full experience in Detroit with him even catching a 33-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter that has to be one of the best unconventional quarterback highlights in NFL history.

Some team needs to make Jameis their starter in 2026. We need this kind of craziness on a weekly basis. He’s a better value than several players who make way more money and won’t win you a playoff game either.

21. Davis Mills, Houston Texans

Week 12 rank: 23 (+2)

Davis Mills will probably head back to the bench with C.J. Stroud (concussion) coming back. But what a job by him to go 3-0 with a couple of wins where he carried the passing game, then he just made some smart decisions and let the defense do the job against Buffalo in another upset last Thursday.

Mills has spent his whole 5-year career in Houston so far, but he’s got potential to be a Chase Daniel/Chad Henne/Brian Hoyer type and stick around for a long time in this league.

Almost as long as that neck.

22. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars

Week 12 rank: 24 (+2)

Maybe the only person more tired than me of Trevor Lawrence’s schtick is his coach Liam Coen, who watched his quarterback turn it over four times (once for a big man touchdown) and throw aimlessly on a fourth down late in the game when he had a chance to ice things.

The Jags still prevailed in overtime with Lawrence getting credit for a game-winning drive, but it’s hard to believe this team will win the AFC South with quarterback play like this.

23. Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons

Week 12 rank: N/A (Michael Penix Jr. was No. 20)

With Michael Penix Jr. out, Kirk Cousins was back in a starting role. He got the win in New Orleans, but you’d like to see the veteran backup not give up a pick-six to make things interesting. Otherwise, it was a solid game manager role played by the vet who also didn’t have Drake London available. He had to throw a touchdown to Darnell Mooney to ice the game.

24. Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers

Week 12 rank: 22 (-2)

Bryce Young had his best NFL game last week in Atlanta. But on Monday night against the 49ers in one of the biggest Carolina Panthers games in years, Young was back to struggling and failing to throw for 200 yards. He threw a horrible pick in the end zone early in the game, then was picked by a good play from a defender in the fourth quarter of a 20-9 loss that was just poor all around for Carolina.

It’s hard to believe this guy is a franchise quarterback.

25. Marcus Mariota, Washington Commanders

Week 12 rank: 25 (0)

The Commanders (3-8) had their bye week, and it doesn’t sound like Jayden Daniels has been cleared for contact yet with that elbow injury. So, we’ll probably see Marcus Mariota against that Denver pass rush, which is bad news for Washington in Week 13.

26. Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints

Week 12 rank: 26 (0)

Tyler Shough’s third start was a rough one in a 24-10 loss to the Falcons as he got his first taste of this NFC South rivalry. But his offense only scored 3 points on 10 drives as his defense scored a pick-six for the team’s only touchdown on the day.

However, I wouldn’t say Shough was that terrible or at main fault for this loss. His kicker missed two very makeable field goals, Taysom Hill was at quarterback when the team wasted half of the third quarter to fail on 4th-and-goal (then did something similar with a direct snap to Hill on 3rd-and-goal at the 1 to later settle for a field goal), and Shough’s only pick came in the final seconds of a 14-point game, a desperation heave on 4th-and-7 from the 29.

There should be better days than this to come for Shough, who basically dinked and dunked against a good pass rush and just couldn’t finish a drive for a touchdown.

27. Geno Smith, Las Vegas Raiders

Week 12 rank: 27 (0)

You kind of feel bad for Geno Smith because they gave him Brock Bowers and Ashton Jeanty as his weapons, then they forgot to build an offensive line and didn’t tell offensive coordinator Chip Kelly about it.

After 10 sacks against the Browns, Kelly fell on the sword and was fired on Sunday night. Not sure that’s going to lead to better blocking for Geno and Jeanty. The Raiders are a pure mess.

28. Tyrod Taylor, New York Jets

Week 12 rank: N/A (Justin Fields was No. 31)

The Jets benched Justin Fields for Tyrod Taylor, and they still lost a 23-10 game to the Ravens. But Taylor managed to throw for over 200 yards, and they may have had a shot in the fourth quarter if Breece Hall didn’t fumble in the red zone of a 10-point game at the time.

I’d stick with Taylor. It’s not like the Jets (2-9) have any evaluation of the position to do. Their next quarterback isn’t on the roster right now.

29. Mason Rudolph, Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 12 rank: N/A (Aaron Rodgers was No. 15)

It’d be a real kicker for the Steelers if they end up losing the AFC North by a game because they didn’t start Aaron Rodgers in Chicago, the team he’s owned his whole career. But the Steelers took the cautious approach to Rodgers’ non-throwing wrist injury, starting Mason Rudolph in his place.

Rudolph tried a deep ball on his first pass of the game and it was intercepted with a great effort by the defensive back. They largely took the air out of the ball after that with Rudolph dinking and dunking. He still lost a fumble on a big strip-sack, then came up short on his game-winning drive attempts in a 31-28 loss.

Rudolph is somewhat serviceable, but the Steelers (6-5) needed a little more out of the quarterback position with the defense struggling again on Sunday. I’d expect Rodgers back next week.

30. Shedeur Sanders, Cleveland Browns

Week 12 rank: N/A (Dillon Gabriel was No. 29)

The Shedeur Sanders discourse has been toxic since Day 1, and his first NFL start is unlikely to help the matter. Sanders got the road win in Las Vegas after his defense picked up 10 sacks, and he still had the lowest QBR (8.7) of any quarterback in Week 12, even lower than Teddy Bridgewater off the bench in LA (9.5).

How does this happen with a conventional stat line that didn’t look too poorly? Sanders was 11-of-20 for 209 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception, 1 sack, and no real rushing attempts.

It surprised me too to see an 8.7, though given what I know about QBR, it makes sense why he had a below-average number:

  • Sanders had 11 completions and six of them were a failed completion, meaning it didn’t produce at least 40% of needed yards on first down, 60% on second down, or 100% on third/fourth down.
  • Sanders’ 66-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Sampson was a screen pass where the blocking and huge YAC did all the work, a play he gets little credit for.
  • Sanders also got a nice YAC play for 17 yards on a 3rd-and-12 by rookie tight end Harold Fannin in the second half.
  • Sanders had a bad first-down pick early in the game that gave the Raiders good field position.
  • Sanders threw incomplete on a 3rd-and-26, keeping his team’s field goal attempt at 53 yards (it was successful) in the fourth quarter instead of getting the offense closer and running clock.
  • Sanders reportedly does not get dinged for Jerry Jeudy’s ludicrous fumble in the open field after a big catch.
  • Cleveland’s first touchdown drive was 13 yards and set up by a punt return giving great field position and Sanders had no dropbacks on it.

The Jeudy play is the kind of extend-the-play style that can help the Browns with Sanders at quarterback instead of Dillon Gabriel. But if you want to be excited about the kid, then you look at by far his best play on a 3rd-and-8 where he escaped pressure and created a big play with this 52-yard completion to Bond:

We’ll see Sanders against the 49ers next week, a tougher test than the Raiders.

31. Cam Ward, Tennessee Titans

Week 12 rank: 32 (+1)

Well, it’s about time Cam Ward isn’t ranked last. Granted, the Tennessee offense was sitting on 3 points late in the third quarter before Ward’s 6-yard touchdown run was their first trip to the end zone. Then he threw a touchdown with 43 seconds left to make it 30-24 and get the backdoor cover, though the Titans couldn’t get the onside kick recovery to give him a shot at an all-time miracle.

But Ward had some positive plays against a good defense. He was the team’s leading rusher again with 37 yards, but he didn’t throw any picks on 42 attempts despite trailing big all day.

It’s slow progress but it’s some progress this week.

32. J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings

Week 12 rank: 30 (-2)

J.J. McCarthy’s tenure has gone so poorly in Minnesota that fans are joking his concussion symptoms on the team’s flight home from the 23-6 loss in Green Bay were the result of his teammates (namely Justin Jefferson) bludgeoning him in his sleep. Ouch.

McCarthy’s 24.8 QBR is the worst in the NFL this season, and he only threw for 87 yards in Green Bay while tossing two picks for the third week in a row. It’s already the second time this season he finished the game leading the offense to just 6 points.

We’ll see if that concussion puts him back on the bench in Week 13, but maybe that’s where he belongs anyway.

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Photo of Scott Kacsmar Scott Kacsmar26/11/2025 - 07:37 am