2025 NFL Quarterback Rankings Week 5: Patrick Mahomes Outduels Lamar Jackson Again and the Wild Start to the Jaxson Dart Era
Some weeks in the NFL are more eventful than others, and Week 4 sure felt like one of those turning points in the 2025 season on the way to Super Bowl LX. Patrick Mahomes once again outdueled Lamar Jackson, who left the game with a hamstring injury after falling 1-6 to his main rival.
We also saw Justin Herbert (Chargers), Daniel Jones (Colts), and Baker Mayfield (Buccaneers) lose for the first time this season with their worst performances so far. Then it was a new quarterback era at MetLife Stadium with Jaxson Dart taking over for the Giants and getting a strange win against those Chargers.
That’s a wrap on September, but things are just heating up in the NFL this year.
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.
Table of Contents
1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Week 4 rank: 1 (0)
If anyone questioned what impact Xavier Worthy could have on this offense after dislocating his shoulder in Brazil, he only needed a quarter to demonstrate it. Worthy finished with 121 yards from scrimmage, his third-straight full game with at least 100 yards dating back to the AFC Championship Game.
That helped the Chiefs look more like the Chiefs of old, and it always helps when the opponent is Baltimore. Patrick Mahomes used to regularly shred better Baltimore teams than this for over 300 yards and 3-4 touchdowns in 2018-21, so it’s not that surprising he’d have a big day with 4 touchdowns against a defense that has been ravaged by injuries and hasn’t played well most of the season anyway.
But it’s more than just the return of Worthy, or getting right tackle Jawaan Taylor to avoid penalties, or using rookie back Brashard Smith more as a receiver to help the offense on Sunday. More than any touchdown pass, it’s this play from Mahomes that makes me think the Chiefs are going to be just fine in 2025 and beyond:
All five linemen do their job, and Mahomes is comfortable enough to slide away from the free rusher and loft a perfect pass to Travis Kelce for a nice gain. Like how things used to look.
Mahomes threw his 250th touchdown pass in his 116th regular-season game, the fastest to ever do so. He’s also the first quarterback to get to 20 games with at least four touchdown passes by his ninth season (playoffs included):
When Rashee Rice gets back, who is arguably their best receiver now, this offense will have the potential to be the best in the league this year.
2. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
Week 4 rank: 2 (0)
The Bills were favored to win by more than 15 points against the winless Saints, but this ended up being a battle that the 31-19 final score doesn’t really appreciate. It didn’t look like it’d be hard at all early when the Bills took a 14-0 lead after Allen’s screen pass to Khalil Shakir worked out for an easy 43-yard touchdown to get things started.
But Allen threw an interception that ended Buffalo’s eight-game streak without a giveaway, which tied the 2024 Chiefs for the longest streak in NFL history. Still no fumbles lost for this offense, but Allen did get sacked three times in this game, which is also a rarity in Buffalo. Still crazy to think Buffalo’s only two giveaways in the last 13 games were Allen interceptions thrown deep on third-and-long situations.
Allen saved his two best plays for the fourth quarter when the Bills only led 21-19. He scrambled for 27 yards on a third-and-5, then drilled a 28-yard touchdown pass to Dalton Kincaid.
We’ll see if the Bills get tested a bit more on Sunday night from the Patriots. Come back Thursday and we’ll go over Allen’s better than even odds for MVP along with the other award races through Week 4.
3. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
Week 4 rank: 3 (0)
Well, count me among the people who were wrong that Lamar Jackson saw the score and tapped out of Sunday’s game when the Ravens were down 30-13 late in the third quarter. He had a poor day, which was made worse by a hamstring injury that could keep him out of the next two games through the bye in Week 7.
But I think if you’ve watched the Ravens this first month, you have to be really concerned that this team just doesn’t have it this year. Yes, the injuries are really concerning right now, but these last two games against contenders (Lions and Chiefs) looked like your typical Baltimore offense in a big game where the mistakes are plentiful and Jackson can’t seem to counter the blitz. The Chiefs sacked him three times and he only threw 20 passes. He lost a fumble and also threw a pick just five drives into the game.
Sadly, this is what usually happens when Lamar plays the Chiefs. I’ve always felt they made the mistake in those games of buying into the quarterback duel with Mahomes instead of leaning on the running game as Derrick Henry needs more work than 8 carries for 42 yards.
But I guess we’ll be seeing a lot more of Henry the next few weeks if Cooper Rush has to start for the Ravens against the Texans and Rams before Jackson can return.
4. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
Week 4 rank: 4 (0)
If the Chiefs win the AFC West again, Sunday was obviously the turning point. The Chargers suffered their first loss in a game where left tackle Joe Alt was injured, and Justin Herbert had some interceptions that were returned to the 3-yard line, helping the Giants to 11 points in a game the Chargers trailed all day.
Not having your tackles against a defense with good pass rushers is a tough deal, but I think maybe the Chargers need to reconsider just how much they’re throwing the ball given the changes here. Omarion Hampton had 12 carries for 128 yards and probably should have gotten the ball more as the Giants never took a huge lead. Herbert finished with just 203 yards on 41 attempts, which is almost never going to be good enough for a win in a game where you turn it over multiple times like that.
Also disappointed that the Chargers couldn’t get in field goal range on any of their three drives in a scoreless fourth quarter.
5. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
Week 4 rank: 5 (0)
Sunday was hardly Goff’s best work this year, but he didn’t take any sacks, and he only threw one bad pick while watching Joe Flacco constantly turn the ball over to give the Lions short fields. The Cleveland defense is really tough right now, so you don’t mind a day with 168 yards passing in an easy win where the rest of the team deserves more of the credit this week.
6. Daniel Jones, Indianapolis Colts
Week 4 rank: 6 (0)
We’ve made it to Week 5 and Daniel Jones is still leading the league in QBR (79.7), so that’s wild. Sunday was the first loss for the Colts, and it came on the road against the best team they’ve faced (Rams), and Jones had his worst game of the four with his first two interceptions of the year.
You might start thinking he’s reverting back to his old ways already just like Sam Darnold did against the Rams last year. But I wouldn’t go that far yet. Wide receiver Adonai Mitchell absolutely sold this game for Jones and the Colts by throwing away one touchdown by celebrating too early with the ball, and then he also got penalized for holding to wipe out a long Jonathan Taylor touchdown run that would have put the Colts up.
Jones put the Colts up in the fourth quarter and was still 24-of-33 passing in this one. It’s not his fault the defense gave up a touchdown to Puka Nacua on fourth down that tied the game late, or that rookie Tyler Warren was flagged for OPI to mess up an earlier fourth-quarter drive after the Rams fumbled, and the Colts had to settle for a field goal.
I’m oddly encouraged by Jones even in defeat.
7. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 4 rank: 7 (0)
Baker Mayfield didn’t have his best stuff in Week 4, and he did throw a bad pick on first down in the fourth quarter while trailing 31-23, or we may have seen a fourth-straight week of late-game heroics from him.
But I thought Chris Godwin’s rust in his first game back since the middle of last year had a lot to do with it combined with Mike Evans being out with injury. Mayfield was 3-of-10 for 26 yards throwing to Godwin, so if the Bucs can get a rematch with the Eagles where all the weapons (and more offensive linemen) are healthy, I think they could still win that game as they play this team well.
8. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
Week 4 rank: 9 (+1)
I said last week that Matthew Stafford needed to spread the wealth more as Puka Nacua and Davante Adams had almost all of the receiving yards in this offense. Even though Nacua was again outstanding with 170 yards against the Colts, I think he heard me when Tutu Atwell was the target on the 88-yard game-winning touchdown pass as Stafford had his best game of the year with 375 yards and 3 touchdowns.
The comeback win gives Stafford his 40th fourth-quarter comeback win, which puts him in elite company historically.
9. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
Week 4 rank: 10 (+1)
I certainly have to give the edge to Dak Prescott in the shootout on Sunday night with Jordan Love and the Packers. Green Bay was supposed to have this elite defense for three games, and the Cowboys weren’t expected to do much with CeeDee Lamb out injured. It was going to be Micah Parsons’ night, but interestingly enough, the only sack by Green Bay was by Parsons for no gain on the next to last snap for the Dallas offense in overtime.
The Cowboys have struggled to score on the road this year but apparently scoring 40 points in overtime at home is their thing in 2025. But Dak got a great game out of George Pickens (8/134/2), who put the WR1 uniform back on from Pittsburgh to step up for Lamb’s absence.
Dak is playing some of his best football this month that makes it a little disappointing the Cowboys only have a 1-2-1 record to show for it. Incredibly, the tie gives him a 77-48-1 record in the regular season in games started. Tony Romo was 78-49 in Dallas, so they basically repeated that era.
10. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers
Week 4 rank: 11 (+1)
What a wild game to end in a 40-40 tie. Jordan Love started strong, but giving up that fumble before halftime was big to set up Dallas on a short field, then he nearly gave up the tie in overtime by taking too long on his only possession. Saved by one second left on the clock.
Love actually finished this game by completing 100% of his 28 passes that were thrown within 10 yards, which is impressive work even if the Dallas defense feels like you’re throwing against air in 2025. Still, it’s a bummer for Green Bay to go another week without getting a win in a game they were a big favorite and led by double digits.
11. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
Week 4 rank: 8 (-3)
Maybe the only person more annoyed with Jalen Hurts this season than me is A.J. Brown, his No. 1 receiver. It was another odd victory for the Eagles (4-0) after Hurts went into halftime with a strong stat line (15-of-16 for 130 yards, 2 touchdowns on flip passes, and 42 rushing yards). But hurts was 0-of-8 passing in the second half as the Eagles had to hang on for the win in Tampa.
Brown took to social media after the game and posted a cryptic message that may show his displeasure in the offense after he finished with 2 catches for 7 yards on 9 targets. If you look at the targets, a lot of them were bad throws and not good usage of this receiver.
The Eagles’ offense goes three-and-out at the highest rate in the NFL too this year, so I don’t see how this is sustainable for them. You can’t rely on blocked kicks and opponents to drop passes every week.
12. Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks
Week 4 rank: 12 (0)
Sam Darnold continues to do a solid job for the Seahawks, who are only asking him to throw 25 passes a game, so the volume is down from where he was with Minnesota last year. But he’s been efficient, and he didn’t panic when he had to complete a pass late to set up a game-winning drive in Arizona after the defense gave up two late touchdowns.
13. Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 4 rank: 13 (0)
Aaron Rodgers threw the eighth touchdown pass of at least 80 yards in his career to D.K. Metcalf. He only trails Brett Favre and Ben Roethlisberger, who both had nine touchdown passes of at least 80 yards, for the most in NFL history.
Other than that play, Rodgers didn’t do a ton against Minnesota, but he avoided throwing any interceptions (to the chagrin of my Week 4 picks). The Steelers also should have trusted him to throw another pass on fourth-and-goal when they had a chance to ice the game, but Mike Tomlin remains pretty conservative in those spots, and the offense still is searching for its identity.
But with Rodgers getting an early bye week to heal up at 3-1, maybe the Steelers can get better with a winnable division after the injuries to Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson.
14. Drake Maye, New England Patriots
Week 4 rank: 20 (+6)
Maybe he is a good one? I’m still not trusting the Carolina defense after last week’s shutout over Atlanta, but Drake Maye did what he wanted to with this defense, completing 14-of-17 for 203 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also had another rushing touchdown.
But we’ll see what to make of Maye after he takes on an average Buffalo defense this Sunday night in a game that could literally be the last hope for a competitive AFC East race this season.
15. Michael Penix Jr., Atlanta Falcons
Week 4 rank: 17 (+2)
Now that’s the “Crazy 8s” triplets offense I was expecting to see in Atlanta this year with Michael Penix throwing for 313 yards, Drake London going for 110 yards and a touchdown, and Bijan Robinson had 181 yards from scrimmage, including 106 as a receiver again.
Great bounce-back game for Penix, and let’s see if they can play like this more often.
16. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears
Week 4 rank: 16 (0)
Every week, you see examples of why Caleb Williams was the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft. Just look at this touchdown throw he rips in there in Vegas:
Of course, he has to work on his accuracy being more consistent, but I like that he’s taken one sack over the last two games and is always looking downfield to make a play with his arm first after using his legs to make something happen. Ben Johnson can work with this version of Caleb.
17. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals
Week 4 rank: 14 (-3)
Kyler Murray has not beat the Seahawks since 2020. For three quarters, he looked pretty ineffective, though to be fair, both of those interceptions can be blamed on Marvin Harrison Jr. Good thing he stepped up and made some plays late, because that was looking like a career-ending type of night (mentally) for the young receiver.
The Cardinals managed to tie the game before Seattle won on a field goal, but I guess coming up short is kind of Kyler’s thing in his career. Need to see better play early in games from this offense that still has talent after losing James Conner in the backfield.
18. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
Week 4 rank: N/A (Mac Jones was No. 21)
Brock Purdy returned to action but it wasn’t a good day in a 26-21 loss to the Jaguars. I think this interception off the hands of Chrisitan McCaffrey was still a bad decision/throw as it was too high for a short target and that caused the deflection. He also arguably passed up easier checkdowns on a play he didn’t need to force.
Then late in the game with a chance to drive for a go-ahead touchdown, Purdy was strip-sacked, and the 49ers never saw the ball again. We’ve seen him come up short a bit too often in those moments in his career. But we’ll see what he can do against the Rams on Thursday night, a quick turnaround for an offense, including Purdy himself, that is very banged up again.
19. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans
Week 4 rank: 22 (+3)
Stroud had his cleanest game of the season with only 2 sacks and no turnovers against the Titans, a team Houston lost to last year. After leading an 82-yard touchdown drive, Stroud got some short fields to add on more scores in the fourth quarter to get Houston in the win column this year with a 26-0 rout.
But big opportunity this week as he could get the Ravens without Lamar Jackson. The Ravens have owned Stroud’s team since 2023, including his first regular-season loss and first playoff loss. That’s the real test as the Ravens are decimated on defense and Stroud must step up to take advantage of that.
20. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos
Week 4 rank: 24 (+4)
Bo Nix threw for 326 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Bengals, but he could have easily been over 400 without some drops. Needless to say, Cincinnati still doesn’t play good defense, and Nix did a good job to take advantage of that save for a red-zone pick in the first half. But no harm in a 28-3 rout.
21. Geno Smith, Las Vegas Raiders
Week 4 rank: 15 (-6)
Sure, the Raiders had a 54-yard field goal blocked late in their loss to the Bears, but Geno Smith has to stop turning the ball over. He had three more interceptions and only threw for 117 yards, wasting a fantastic performance from Ashton Jeanty, who had 155 total yards and three touchdowns.
Smith now leads the NFL with seven interceptions, so if he can clean that up and they can run the ball more like they did Sunday, then maybe they’ll be able to compete.
22. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
Week 4 rank: 18 (-4)
Another week, another Jacksonville win where I’m not sure Trevor Lawrence did much to celebrate. This team’s success is largely stemming from their league-high 13 takeaways on defense (four on Sunday in San Francisco) and Travis Etienne running the ball better than ever.
At least Lawrence got over 40 yards to both Travis Hunter (42) and Brian Thomas Jr. (49) this week, but those connections still aren’t clicking as well as I thought they would for Liam Coen’s offense.
But big opportunity for Lawrence on Monday night against the Chiefs at home in prime time.
23. Carson Wentz, Minnesota Vikings
Week 4 rank: 23 (0)
It was kind of a classic Carson Wentz game in the way he put up some big numbers by the end of the fourth quarter, but he still took six sacks and threw two picks. But a lot of quarterbacks would struggle against talented pass rushers when the Steelers were just sending heat play after play with the Vikings losing multiple starters on the offensive line.
To his credit, Wentz almost pulled off an 18-point comeback in the final 11:00, but it would have been with an asterisk as he immediately came out and nearly threw a game-ending interception that the Steelers couldn’t catch cleanly on the sideline. Again, classic Wentz.
We’ll see when they bring back J.J. McCarthy but they’re probably not in a rush this week as Wentz will have to take on that Cleveland defense next.
24. Marcus Mariota, Washington Commanders
Week 4 rank: 19 (-5)
Marcua Mariota’s return to Atlanta did not go well as he was sacked on his first dropback of the day, and the Commanders were stuck playing from behind the entire game on offense. He led some scoring drives to continue Washington’s streak of scoring at least 18 points in all 24 games in the Dan Quinn era, but it just wasn’t enough on a hot day for Atlanta’s offense.
The good news is Jayden Daniels should be back in Week 5.
25. Jaxson Dart, New York Giants
Week 4 rank: N/A (Russell Wilson was No. 25)
Jaxson Dart, 22, might be the most “Gen Z” quarterback yet in the NFL. Maybe the Jake Paul of the NFL as he’s got some cockiness to him, which I guess the youths are calling “aura” these days. But it’s hard to deny Dart set an early tone to lift the winless Giants to an upset win over the Chargers (-6.5) on Sunday.
Let’s start with the positives:
- He scored on a 15-yard touchdown run on the 89-yard opening drive, making him the first quarterback since Patrick Mahomes to lead an 80-yard touchdown drive on the first drive in his first start.
- He had some key runs on the day and finished with 54 yards on the ground.
- He was only able to throw for 111 yards on 20 attempts, but he didn’t throw a pick and he had a touchdown pass in the third quarter to build the lead the Giants maintained the entire game.
However, before we go too crazy with Dart mania, there are some red flags too:
- He’s not going to last a full season running as recklessly as he did, and even in this game he had to check out for a few plays after his head hit the ground at the end of a 39-yard scramble brought back by a penalty.
- He got to start two scoring drives worth 11 points at the Los Angeles 3 both times after Justin Herbert interceptions.
- Throwing 20 passes with 10 runs and taking 5 sacks is simply not sustainable in the NFL for someone who isn’t built like Cam Newton.
- Losing Malik Nabers (torn ACL) is going to make it tougher on his passing game to develop as he was such a big part of what they do there.
But I think if you’re a Giants fan, you’re way more excited about their 2025 draft class (don’t forget Abdul Carter and Cam Skattebo) and future than you were a week ago at 0-3. And if you’re coach Brian Daboll, you feel better about keeping your job for next season.
But let’s see if they can figure out how to get a passing game going without Nabers.
26. Spencer Rattler, New Orleans Saints
Week 4 rank: 31 (+5)
Not to hype up Spencer Rattler too much since he’s still 0-6 at game-winning drive opportunities. But he’s hanging in there against clearly better teams like the Cardinals, 49ers, and Bills. The running game did a lot of the work in Buffalo, but Rattler had 49 of those yards too with some key runs.
The big play was in the fourth quarter when he missed a wide-open Brandin Cooks in the end zone with a pass that was just off that could have been a go-ahead touchdown. But I think he’s getting better as time goes by. I’m just not sure the Saints are in a position where they have another season or two to wait for him to fully develop.
It is also pretty wild that Rattler and rookie Tyler Shough shared the same birthday (September 28) on Sunday. It’s even wilder that Rattler is 25 while Shough is 26. Another factor working against him as the Saints will want to see what they have in their higher draft pick for this coaching staff.
27. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
Week 4 rank: 30 (+3)
Monday night was a fairly clean game for Tua Tagovailoa, who had no picks or sacks. He threw two touchdowns to Darren Waller, who played his first NFL game in a couple of years. Probably going to need more of that after Tyreek Hill dislocated his knee in a gruesome injury that could end his career, or at least his Miami career.
But I thought Mike McDaniel did a good job of getting some play-action passes, trickery, and getting Tua on the move to get him a lot of easy completions against a New York defense that has been pitiful for the last month.
28. Justin Fields, New York Jets
Week 4 rank: N/A (Tyrod Taylor was No. 27)
Justin Fields returned Monday night, but I think Tyrod Taylor would have given the Jets a better chance to win that game. Sure, it’s not Fields’ fault that his running back fumbled at the goal line at the end of a long opening drive, or that his teammate fumbled the opening kickoff in the third quarter. But the fumble by Fields was his fault, and his passing stat line (20-of-27 for 226 yards) was very hollow as there weren’t many effective completions in there.
The Jets (0-4) trailed wire to wire against one of the worst teams in the league. Fields is now 0-25 as an NFL starter when his team allows more than 20 points.
29. Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers
Week 4 rank: 29 (0)
The nicest thing I can say about Bryce Young’s 2025 season is that he’s cut his sack rate down to an elite level (4.00%), but it’s at the expense of just 5.2 yards per attempt and a miniscule 8.7 yards per completion. Worse than his rookie season numbers.
The Patriots took control of Sunday’s game early and Young never led much of a threat. If he can’t perk up these next three weeks against the likes of the Dolphins, Cowboys, and Jets, I think you have to add Carolina to the list of teams shopping for a new QB1 in 2026.
30. Joe Flacco, Cleveland Browns
Week 4 rank: 25 (-5)
Joe Flacco was as bad as any quarterback in Week 4 with several turnovers giving the Lions good field position, including this baffling interception early in the game that just screamed “I’m too old for this s**t” as the Browns should probably start mulling a quarterback change to spark this offense. It worked for the Giants (Jaxson Dart).
Sure enough, it sounds like rookie Dillon Gabriel is getting the start in London this week against the Vikings. Good luck to him, and adios to Flacco as you know they’ll go to Shedeur Sanders next if Gabriel doesn’t pan out. Flacco was awesome off the couch for the Browns in 2023, but at 40 years old, he just doesn’t have it anymore.
31. Jake Browning, Cincinnati Bengals
Week 4 rank: 28 (-3)
Look, there are a lot of things going terribly wrong in Cincinnati right now, including the play of Jake Browning in his two starts since replacing the injured Joe Burrow. But I’m not sure bringing in a more experienced quarterback is going to help with protection schemes like this:
32. Cam Ward, Tennessee Titans
Week 4 rank: 32 (0)
In Cam Ward’s own words, he was ass on Sunday in a 26-0 shutout loss to the Texans to fall to 0-4. Houston is a tough defense to play, but things are seemingly going the wrong way in Tennessee as the offense sinks lower.
But I think more than anything people are souring on coach Brian Callahan, who is 3-18 and has shown us no real proof that he can handle this job or has a vision for how to develop Ward.
Get a new coach in 2026, Tennessee.
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