Fantasy Football QB Index: Week 14

As the weather gets colder and the pressure to make the playoffs intensifies, so the QB Index ratings are starting to fall back from the record heights seen earlier in the season. Week 14 saw the second straight week where the average rating dropped below 50%, coming in at 49.0% from the 33 qualifying passers. Season to date the rate is still strong at 53.2%, significantly above the 49.5% rating at the same point last season.

For the second straight week we haven’t seen a quarterback hit the magic 90%+ rating, with Week 14’s QB Index leading passer, Ryan Tannehill, achieving a 83.3% rating in the Dolphins’ last gasp win over the Patriots. Despite Tannehill technically throwing a 69 yard touchdown pass on that final play, it made different to his rating as he would still have posted a 83.3% rating without it. It’s the second time this season Tannehill has posted the top rating of the week (92.4% in Week 3), joining Baker Mayfield as the only quarterbacks to lead the weekly rankings twice this season.

Speaking of Baker Mayfield, he tied for second place this week with Ben Roethlisberger, posting an 81.8% rating in the Browns’ win over the Panthers. Mayfield is the hottest quarterback in the NFL over the past 4 weeks, posting a league-leading 77.8% rating over the past 4 weeks, ahead of Tom Brady (73.7%) and Andrew Luck (71.2%). He sits in 11th place in the season-long rankings with a 58.5% rating, though his fantasy ppg at 16.36 is only good enough for 20th in 2018.

Mark Sanchez was the lowest rated passer of Week 14, achieving an incredible 1.5% rating as the Redskins were steamrollered by the Giants at home. Not surprisingly its the worst rating of his career and the only performance with a lower rating in 2018 was Nathan Peterman’s 0.0% Week 1 performance. In fact, even Kyle Lauletta, who came in to relieve Eli Manning (71.2%), managed a higher rating (13.6%), and he went 0-5 and an interception.

The interception fest that was the Bears and Rams matchup at Soldier Field produced a pair of the worst ratings of Week 14 with Mitchell Trubisky (18.2%) and Jared Goff (9.1%) both posting their lowest ratings of 2018 and second lowest of their short careers to date. It’s the first time since 2013 that a pair of quarterbacks have combined for 7 interceptions in a game, when Joe Flacco (5) and EJ Manuel (2) had their own giveaway fest in Week 4.

QB Index Ratings - Week 14

QB Index Ratings - 2018 Season to Date (min 100 attempts)

In the season long ratings, it remains incredibly close between Patrick Mahomes and Drew Brees at the top of the rankings, with Philip Rivers just behind them. A strong performance from Rivers on Thursday Night Football against Mahomes’ Chiefs could see him oust Mahomes for top spot. At this stage its between these three to finish top of the QB Index, with the gap to Matt Ryan, Jared Goff and Andrew Luck pretty much insurmountable unless there’s a meltdown by the leading MVP candidates.

At the bottom, its dominated by the Josh’s, with the bottom three places held by Josh Rosen, Josh Allen and Josh McCown respectively. Josh Allen might be becoming a late season fantasy darling with him averaging 11 fantasy ppg over the past 3 weeks, but his passing rating of 31.8% will mean he will likely finish as one of the lowest rated passers in his rookie season.