2025 NFL Quarterback Rankings Week 6: The Mayfield-Darnold Passing Clinic and Every Great AFC Quarterback’s Team Takes a Loss
It was certainly a wild Week 5 in the NFL when underdogs were 9-5 straight up, we had six double-digit comeback wins (probably a record for a 14-game slate), and many of the top quarterbacks in the game lost, including Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Matthew Stafford, Justin Herbert, and Jalen Hurts. Lamar Jackson didn’t play, and some might say neither did his team as Baltimore was destroyed 44-10 by Houston.
We even watched Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield engage in one of the most efficient passing shootouts in NFL history. It’s becoming a crazy season when we’re five weeks in and Daniel Jones, Baker, and Darnold look to be among the best quarterbacks.
Week 5 also saw the first NFL game-winning drives for Drake Maye and Cam Ward, though their contributions to those wins were quite different.
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 5 rank: 1 (0)
The Chiefs played a wild game in Jacksonville that raises more concerns for the team’s season at 2-3 with plenty more tough games to go. But the only good news is the offense looks to be back to an elite level. The Chiefs had a high success rate and average yards per play number against a good defense on the road, they led 14-0 early, and they still scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Patrick Mahomes is back to making creative throws from all angles, including hitting the passes down the field to Tyquan Thornton. The only blemish on the night was when he got fooled in the red zone by a dropping linebacker who returned the pick 99 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. But Mahomes showed he’s still the most dangerous player with the ball in his hands late, including this scramble on another night where he led the team in rushing yards:
The Chiefs have a top five offense with Mahomes leading the team in rushing yards and Tyquan Thornton leading in receiving yards. They are one of only three offenses scoring on more than 50% of their possessions this year. They’ve done this without Rashee Rice, their best receiver, playing a down as he has one game left on his suspension.
These are all promising things, but the defense and special teams have regressed so much that it’s going to be an uphill battle against the rest of a tough schedule even with Rice back. We might see a return to the 2018 Chiefs where you either have Mahomes blowing teams out or losing their share of close shootouts.
But the thing that shined through with this game is something we’ve talked about in the past with the way the Chiefs expect Mahomes to have to take the lead multiple times in the fourth quarter as Steve Spagnuolo’s defense simply doesn’t do well at slamming the door shut late in games.
You’d rather see Mahomes with the ball trailing by one score in the final minutes than the Chiefs’ defense on the field with a one-score lead in the final minutes. That’s just the reality of this team and has been for years, but until they start playing with more discipline (13 penalties for 109 yards killed them), you’re going to see them continue losing close games.
But these aren’t the same close games they won last year. The difference has been Mahomes has been on the sideline late like when the defense couldn’t get him the ball back against the Chargers and Eagles in Weeks 1-2.
With the Lions up next, the Chiefs are in for another tough matchup. One where they need to hope they get the ball last because you know Dan Campbell has no problem going for it on fourth down to deny Mahomes the ball.
2. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
Week 5 rank: 2 (0)
The Bills were big favorites against New England on Sunday night, but the 23-20 loss ended a lot of streaks for the team:
- Buffalo lost the turnover battle (3-1) for the first time since the 2023 season, ending a 26-game streak that was the longest in NFL history of not losing the turnover battle.
- It was Josh Allen’s first game with multiple turnovers since Week 10 against the Colts last year, and only the second such game for him since the 2023 playoffs.
- Allen led the team in rushing (53 yards) as James Cook (49 yards) was held in check and held without a touchdown for the first time this year.
- Snapped a 13-game home winning streak.
Buffalo had some lapses during the 4-0 start but made a mountain of mistakes in Sunday’s performance to contribute to the loss. Tight end Dalton Kincaid looked good with 108 yards, but the “everybody eats” approach on offense didn’t look so alluring when no one was stepping up while Stefon Diggs was a stud for the Patriots with 146 yards.
We’ll see how the Bills respond to their first loss, but the schedule is still so favorable that there shouldn’t be that many more of them. But things are tougher when you shoot yourself with turnovers and penalties, which this team usually avoids.
3. Daniel Jones, Indianapolis Colts
Week 5 rank: 6 (+3)
The Raiders aren’t exactly the litmus test for great defense this year, but the Colts shredded them in another one of the most efficient games any offense has had this year. They went three-and-out on their opening drive if only because they chose to punt on 4th-and-1. But then Jones led them on six straight touchdown drives before sitting out the fourth quarter with a 40-6 lead.
Sure, half of the drives were short (6, 8, and 44 yards) because of things like blocked punt and turnovers, but the Colts also had touchdown drives of 83, 88, and 68 yards in this game. They were also 8-of-10 on third down, including eight straight conversions at one point.
The only bummer was the Colts kicker got injured, so the offense was only 1-for-4 on 2-point conversion attempts in the game. There’s something to work on but otherwise this is a fantastic offense right now and Jones still has the highest QBR (79.7) in the NFL.
4. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 5 rank: 7 (+3)
Baker Mayfield followed up his worst game of the season (Eagles) with his best (Seahawks). The Seattle defense had been playing pretty well, but Mayfield shredded them in one of the best passing shootouts in NFL history against Sam Darnold. Certainly one of the most efficient games that two passers ever had.
Back and forth all day, it ended as every Tampa game does this year in the final minute. The last game-winning drive was nothing special this time as the defense set that up with a pick in good field position, but don’t discount the effortless game-tying touchdown drive where Mayfield again went to work with rookie Emeka Egbuka looking like an elite veteran.
Mayfield already has a career-high four comeback wins in the fourth quarter this season and it’s only Week 5. I don’t know how many he’s got left in him for one season when the record is eight, but he’s got a real chance to shatter it with the way the Bucs play football in 2025.
And he should deserve serious MVP consideration if this keeps up.
5. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
Week 5 rank: 5 (0)
I’ll just say Jared Goff’s stat line in Cincinnati was better than he played the game. He took 4 sacks, he lost a fumble on one, and he got to start touchdown drives 58, 17, and 28 yards away from the end zone early in the game to build a big lead.
That’s not to say Goff played badly or anything. It just wasn’t as special as the 153.0 passer rating suggests. In fact, Detroit’s had a couple of games like this against the Ohio teams the last two weeks with the great field position as Detroit’s average drive is starting at the 36.0 this year, the best in the NFL by a good margin.
But we’ll see Goff on Sunday night in Kansas City as he tries to improve to 3-0 against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in his career. All three games in prime time too. It could be a rematch of 54-51 with the way the teams can score right now.
6. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
Week 5 rank: 8 (+2)
Stafford played very well against the 49ers. Unfortunately, his running game could not match his level of play. The running backs caused a couple of key fumbles in scoring territory, including one where Blake Corum couldn’t handle the pitch that gets charged to Stafford since he’s the last player to possess the ball.
Then in overtime, the Rams did the right thing by going for the 4th-and-1 in a 3-point game, but they tried to run it with wide receivers blocking and it didn’t work out. Might have wanted to put the ball in Stafford’s hands there to finish the 49ers off.
It’s a big loss in the tough NFC West race, but the 49ers have so many injuries that the Rams could survive dropping one at home to them.
7. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders
Week 5 rank: N/A (Marcus Mariota was No. 24)
After missing two games with a knee injury, Jayden Daniels returned with a knee brace on, and he did very well after a slow start that saw the Commanders fall behind 10-0. But he finished with 231 passing yards, a touchdown, and he still rushed for 39 yards while getting the road win.
The Commanders scored on five of their last six drives with only a running back fumble stopping them late. That’s the kind of efficiency that made Daniels the best rookie quarterback ever. Let’s see if he can keep it going this year too.
8. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
Week 5 rank: 4 (-4)
Attrition is doing the Chargers in quickly this season as Herbert is only averaging 5.7 yards per pass attempt over the last three games. He also has more interceptions (4) than touchdowns (3) in those games, and he was held to just 166 passing yards against an underwhelming Washington defense that held him to 10 points at home in another loss as a favorite.
With his starting tackles out, Herbert took 4 sacks, and he’ll also be without his top two running backs going forward as Omarion Hampton is the latest skill player to go on injured reserve after the team already lost Najee Harris.
He still has a good trio of wide receivers, but that position doesn’t click the same if you’re struggling up front and your backup tackles are short-circuiting drives with penalties that wipe out good gains.
Herbert also had a huge interception that was deflected at the line in the red zone in the fourth quarter when the Chargers were down 20-10 and desperately needed a score to make a game of it.
9. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
Week 5 rank: 9 (0)
Dak Prescott showed us the Dallas offense can in fact travel this year as it was by far the best game on the road for these Cowboys. Of course, the Jets haven’t allowed fewer than 27 points in any game, so it doesn’t come as a huge surprise things were clicking. The running game also cranked things up with a season-high 180 yards, so Prescott only had to throw 29 times to get his four touchdown passes.
He’s back to throwing touchdowns to Jake Ferguson after a long drought between the two, and he got a 100-yard receiving game out of Ryan Flournoy while CeeDee Lamb is still out.
10. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers
Week 5 rank: 10 (0)
The Packers (2-1-1) had their early bye week, but it should be a good offensive showing for Jordan Love at home against the Bengals this week. It better be after the team’s had a loss and tie the last two games.
11. Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks
Week 5 rank: 12 (+1)
You could argue Sam Darnold was getting the best of his duel with Baker Mayfield on Sunday, but all it took was one panicked throw under pressure that went off a defender’s head and was intercepted to flip the game in Tampa’s favor.
That’s definitely a tough way to lose a game on only your sixth incompletion in the game. Darnold finished 28-of-34 for 341 yards and 4 touchdowns, but that is the one he’d like to have back.
12. Drake Maye, New England Patriots
Week 5 rank: 14 (+2)
Drake Maye’s first prime-time game included his signature moment and first game-winning drive in the NFL, which he started in grand fashion with this talented play:
But let’s not put the cart before the horse on his season and launch him into superstar status after one win against a middling Buffalo defense on a night where the Bills played poorly.
Even in this game, Maye was nothing special in the first half unless you think scoring 6 points in Buffalo is a good strategy to win the game. But in the second half, Maye was nearly perfect, and his connection with Stefon Diggs looked fantastic. I would argue he’s outplayed Josh Allen twice in his own building if you go back to their December 2024 meeting as well.
Big win for the Patriots (3-2), but let’s see if they can start stacking them with this favorable schedule. Right now, the Patriots aren’t scheduled to face a single above-average defense this season except for Cleveland.
13. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
Week 5 rank: 11 (-2)
It really looks like the Eagles are clueless on how to run their offense this season. There’s no excuse for Jalen Hurts throwing 38 passes (and taking 6 sacks) and Saquon Barkley getting 6 carries in a game where they led 17-3 to start the fourth quarter.
Do they not understand the concept of “balance” in Philadelphia? You have a dream setup with a quarterback who can run and throw, a great running back, an elite offensive line (Landon Dickerson is injured though), two great wide receivers, and a competent tight end. You have everything, and yet you don’t know how to call a real offense that can play well for more than a half at a time.
Just like last week against the Bucs, the Eagles went into the tank offensively in the second half. This time it cost them a game. It won’t be the last time until they figure things out, but I don’t think the coaching staff has the capacity to figure it out.
14. Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 5 rank: 13 (-1)
What a great bye week for Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers as the Ravens, Browns, and Bengals all lost. The Steelers get the Browns and Bengals next, so it’s a huge opportunity to take a major lead in the AFC North. Hopefully the offense can find a real identity as it just hasn’t been there yet through four games.
15. Michael Penix Jr., Atlanta Falcons
Week 5 rank: 15 (0)
The Falcons were on their bye week, so that’s a good extra week of prep work for the Bills in Atlanta on Monday night. The Buffalo defense is mediocre, if not bad when it’s not forcing turnovers. So, we already saw Drake Maye have his moment against this Buffalo defense, and Monday night is a chance for Penix (and Bijan Robinson) to have his moment against a top Super Bowl contender.
16. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears
Week 5 rank: 16 (0)
Chicago was the fourth team on a bye week, so Caleb Williams has had a lot of time to prepare for this rematch with Jayden Daniels and the Commanders on Monday night. That was the game last year that derailed Chicago’s season with the Hail Mary finish, so we’ll see how Caleb has progressed a year later.
17. Mac Jones, San Francisco 49ers
Week 5 rank: N/A (Brock Purdy was No. 18)
We are in some strange times where Mac Jones is maybe the safest bet for a quarterback to throw for 275 yards and a touchdown in a win, something he’s done in all three starts for Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers this year.
Last Thursday was the most impressive win yet as the 49ers were shorthanded and an 8.5-point road underdog against the Rams. Jones didn’t have George Kittle or his top three wide receivers, and he cranked up the Kendrick Bourne time machine like they were still on the 2021 Patriots, and he threw for 342 yards on the night despite cramping badly during the game.
We’ll see what the 49ers do with Brock Purdy’s toe injury, but they won’t be in a rush to bring him back as long as Jones is playing like this. I still think he’s a liability in crunch time, but it’s worked out so far for him.
18. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans
Week 5 rank: 19 (+1)
Looks like the Ravens are going to be everyone’s get-right game as C.J. Stroud threw as many incompletions (4) as he did touchdowns in the 44-10 road win. He even broke off a 30-yard run just days after claiming his athleticism isn’t what it used to be before his 24th birthday.
We’ll see if this is the game that can get the Houston offense back on track and more consistent like it was in Stroud’s 2023 rookie season.
19. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos
Week 5 rank: 20 (+1)
Wasn’t sure Bo Nix had it in him, but the Broncos were able to shake off three impotent quarters in Philadelphia that saw them punt on 7-of-8 drives before scoring on three straight drives in the fourth quarter in an 18-17 comeback win.
Courtland Sutton cooked corner Quinyon Mitchell, and Sutton was the big target on 3rd-and-15 on the game-winning drive when the Broncos gained 34 yards, their only play in the game that gained over 20 yards. Then the Broncos converted a 2-point conversion to boot to take the lead for good.
It’s the signature win the team lacked in Nix’s rookie season.
20. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
Week 5 rank: 22 (+2)
You saw the full Trevor Lawrence experience on Monday night against the Chiefs. He threw the ball over the line of scrimmage for the second time this season, he fumbled on a leaping sneak at the goal line, he still scrambled all night for big runs and two touchdowns, he tried throwing multiple picks that the Chiefs kept screwing up, and he threw a few dimes on the game-winning drive too.
But this insane game-winning touchdown where he stumbled twice before still finding the end zone stands out as his trademark play in Year 5 of his career.
The Jaguars are 4-1, and I’m still not sold that Lawrence is the guy to get them to the promise land, but it was enough to upset the Chiefs on Monday night.
21. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals
Week 5 rank: 17 (-4)
As we’ll explain below with Cam Ward, it wasn’t quarterback play that decided this game in Arizona. But Murray’s lackadaisical approach to things is indicative of the way his team blew this one even if it was his running back (Emari Demercado) and the defense who had the huge mistakes in the fourth quarter after leading 21-6.
Demercado aside, the Cardinals failed to score on their last 8 drives, which doesn’t reflect well on Murray, who had a weird fumbled snap/injury moment in the third quarter in scoring range to again fail at extending the lead.
Then the offense got conservative and didn’t let Murray throw on a key 3rd-and-8 with 2:12 left. He never saw the ball again as the Cardinals became the first team ever to lose on a last-second score in three consecutive games.
22. Carson Wentz, Minnesota Vikings
Week 5 rank: 23 (+1)
Have to give Carson Wentz credit for surviving one of the league’s toughest defenses right now (Browns), getting the ball out quickly to negate the rush, and leading a game-winning drive in London. The bye week comes at a great time with Wentz suffering a shoulder injury, so it’s unclear if the Vikings even can stick with him going forward, or if J.J. McCarthy will be ready to play again, or if they need a third option.
23. Spencer Rattler, New Orleans Saints
Week 5 rank: 26 (+3)
Spencer Rattler has done a respectable job with a team expected to be one of the worst this year. But he got his first win as a starter against the Giants with a clean game. No sacks, no turnovers, and he dropped a perfect 87-yard touchdown pass to Rashid Shaheed.
I don’t know how many more wins he’ll have in New Orleans, but he’s got one under his belt after playing with some confidence in Buffalo last week too.
24. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
Week 5 rank: 27 (+3)
Tua Tagovailoa did a really good job to build a 17-0 lead on the road without Tyreek Hill as tight end Darren Waller’s comeback looks like the real deal. But the Dolphins struggled the rest of the way, and they never put a running game around Tua, finishing with 13 carries for 14 yards by the backs. That’s awful.
This was probably Tua’s best game of the season after he threw a 46-yard touchdown to Jayden Waddle to give his team the lead back with 4:42 left. But the defense didn’t hold it, then that was a rough three-and-out drive in a 27-24 game that actually ended with a punt after Tua was sacked on third down. He never saw the ball again.
25. Geno Smith, Las Vegas Raiders
Week 5 rank: 21 (-4)
Geno Smith’s Vegas stock is dropping so fast that fans are asking to play Kenny Pickett or trade for Shedeur Sanders. Smith leads the NFL with 9 interceptions this season, but you’d be okay with that if he was still putting up touchdowns too. Instead, the Raiders couldn’t crack the end zone once in Indy in an embarrassing 40-6 loss.
26. Justin Fields, New York Jets
Week 5 rank: 28 (+2)
Since the Jets have played poor defense, Justin Fields is getting into this habit of putting up decent numbers in garbage time after being so ineffective on the scoreboard early. The Jets were down 30-3 late in the third quarter of this one before Fields finished with some decent stats at face value. But once you dig into the game a little, you’ll see he wasn’t doing much until it was obvious the Cowboys were going to win.
27. Dillon Gabriel, Cleveland Browns
Week 5 rank: N/A (Joe Flacco was No. 30)
You have to give Dillon Gabriel credit for a decent first start in London against a complex Minnesota defense. He only took two sacks, he had no turnovers, and he threw two touchdown passes. He also had his team leading in the final minute before the defense blew it.
The Browns shouldn’t feel bad about their decision to bench Joe Flacco for the rookie.
28. Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers
Week 5 rank: 29 (+1)
Things were looking bleak with the Panthers down 17-0 at home to a bad Miami team. But Bryce Young got a lot of help from running back Rico Dowdle (206 rushing yards), then it was Young making a lot of the pivotal plays on the 83-yard game-winning touchdown drive.
Possibly a job saving type of comeback.
29. Jaxson Dart, New York Giants
Week 5 rank: 25 (-4)
Yeah, it’s going to be a struggle for the rookie without Malik Nabers. Dart threw for 202 yards in New Orleans, but he only averaged 5.05 YPA, and he had a horrible lost fumble where he just lost the ball himself while running. He also threw two picks as the Giants went scoreless on their final eight drives after taking an early 14-3 lead.
30. Cooper Rush, Baltimore Ravens
Week 5 rank: N/A (Lamar Jackson was No. 3)
The three interceptions during a 44-10 rout makes this look really bad for Cooper Rush, and it was. There’s no sugarcoating it. But at the same time, he had two incompletions (8-of-10 for 93 yards), 1 sack, and no turnovers while the Texans already led 24-3 at halftime. The picks came later with the Ravens trying to throw to catch up as Derrick Henry had just 15 carries for 33 yards in the game.
I’m not sure how many quarterbacks, let alone a backup, will look good in this situation where your defense is giving up points every drive, you have no running game to fall back on, and most your highest-paid players are out injured.
It doesn’t sound optimistic for Lamar Jackson returning this week either, which is why the Ravens are a touchdown underdog at home to the Rams with 1-5 looming. Just the potential for a lost year in Baltimore.
31. Jake Browning, Cincinnati Bengals
Week 5 rank: 31 (0)
Well, I guess Jake Browning’s production in garbage time didn’t save his job. The Bengals made their first in-state trade with the Browns 2.0 (since 1999) to acquire Joe Flacco after Browning killed the team with three interceptions against Detroit. The defense wasn’t doing that bad, but he kept putting them in terrible position with his mistakes.
The problem is Joe Flacco was doing the same things in Cleveland to get benched. In fact, he had the same baffling turnovers against Detroit in Week 4, which led to his benching for Dillon Gabriel.
So, the Bengals have a guy who can get the ball to Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase, but behind that offensive line, you are going to see Joe just throw some balls up for grabs that get picked, and he’s a risk to give up strip-sack fumbles too.
I find it hard to view this move for the Bengals as a season saver in a winnable division race.
32. Cam Ward, Tennessee Titans
Week 5 rank: 32 (0)
On October 16, 2006, the Arizona Cardinals led the Chicago Bears 23-3 late in the third quarter. They proceeded to give up a strip-sack touchdown, lost another fumble for a touchdown, then gave up an 83-yard punt return touchdown to Devin Hester to fall behind 24-23. Then they missed a 40-yard field goal on top of that, leading to coach Denny Green’s famous “The Bears are who we thought they were!” quote.
It’s one of the all-time improbable blown leads in NFL history, and almost 19 years later to the date in the same building, the Cardinals authored another all-time blown lead that reminds you of the day they let Rex Grossman get a win after playing a horrific game for Chicago.
Well, Cam Ward got his first NFL win here, and he also did a good job on his first game-winning drive to set up the field goal. But let’s be real: Arizona gave him this one multiple times over. Beyond the Emari Demercado fumble when Arizona should have led 28-6, Ward threw an interception in scoring territory that was somehow fumbled and recovered for an all-time crazy touchdown to keep the Titans in the game with 4:39 left.
Good on Ward to say he’s thrown for 265 yards in a 21-3 comeback win. But that is one of the luckiest wins in NFL history and one of the worst blown leads you’ll ever see. Not repeatable.
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