Welcome to For the Win’s weekly quarterback rankings. You can read our preseason rankings here. For these power rankings, we’re wiping the slate clean for the 2016 season. This list is based entirely on 2016 results, so expect a few wonky results early on before the best players inevitably rise to the top.

Scroll down to No. 13 for the Dak Prescott/Carson Wentz debate.

1. Matt Ryan, Falcons

This season has officially gotten weird.

Matt Ryan — Yes, Matt Ryan — has been the best quarterback in the league through three games, and it really hasn’t been all that close. He’s stretched the field with accurate deep balls and been efficient on shorter throws. Most importantly, he’s turned the ball over just once. The Falcons lead the league in scoring and total offense thanks to Ryan’s mini resurgence.

Now, can Tom Brady please just come back and restore the natural order already?

2. Drew Brees, Saints

Brees drops from the No. 1 spot after a two-week reign. He had gone more than 300 attempts without an interception before throwing two bad ones late that cost the Saints a chance to mount a comeback against Atlanta. In fairness to Brees, he was the only reason they were even in the game.

3. Philip Rivers, Chargers

Rivers should have had a field day against the Colts’ depleted secondary. He didn’t due to some uncharacteristically bad accuracy. If Rivers hits a few more throws down the stretch on Sunday, San Diego is sitting at 2-1. Instead, the Bolts are in last place in the division at a disappointing 1-2.

4. Eli Manning, Giants

A week after I suggested Eli was looking like an elite quarterback he goes ahead and throws two bad interceptions in crunch time against the Redskins. Those decisions cost the Giants what could be a key result in the NFC East race.

5. Cam Newton, Panthers

How do you stop Cam Newton? By hitting him over and over again. There are only a handful of teams capable of pulling off that feat. He faced one of them in Week 1 and another on Sunday. The Vikings battered Cam, sacking him eight times and hitting him another 12 times. The hits took their toll as the game went along. After a strong start, Newton did little in the second half and turned the ball over three times.

6. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers

Maybe we should all apologize to Jay Cutler, who was ripped to shreds after a bad performance against the Eagles in Week 2. The Eagles defense is legit, as Big Ben learned that the hard way on Sunday. The pass rush was in his face all day and his receivers couldn’t shake the Eagles’ sticky coverage. Roethlisberger never had a chance.

7. Andrew Luck, Colts

Just your typical Luck performance: A few ridiculous downfield throws, a couple of turnovers and a fourth-quarter comeback. Luck has been good this season; he could be much better if he’d just stop handing the other team the ball.

8. Matthew Stafford, Lions

Stafford did a lot of good things in Green Bay. He tossed three touchdowns and racked up 385 yards passing. But there was a whole lot of bad mixed in there, too. The box score shows one interception, which doesn’t capture how many poor decisions he made. Fortunately for him, the Packers dropped at least three interceptable passes.

9. Aaron Rodgers, Packers

The Week 3 box score looks great, but this Packers offense is still too reliant on Rodgers’ ability to improvise. Many of the Green Bay’s biggest plays in the passing game came after Rodgers had escaped the pocket. When this offense is going good, Rodgers is hitting the back of his drop and getting rid of the ball on time.

10. Derek Carr, Raiders

Penalties set the Raiders offense back far too often against the Titans, and Carr’s willingness to check down against Tennessee’s soft coverage did not help matters. He settled for shorter passes and left some big plays on the field. Carr did make a handful of “wow” throws throughout the game.

11. Sam Bradford, Vikings

Bradford needed 30 minutes to get comfortable against the Panthers defense. After a bad first half, he looked more like the quarterback we saw last Sunday night against the Packers. It’s impressive that Bradford has looked so good with a terrible offensive line and a non-existent running game.

12. Andy Dalton, Bengals

Dalton did as well as you can expect a quarterback to do against this Broncos defense, which has made a habit out of making good quarterbacks look bad.

QBs vs DEN Defense

Last 5 Gms Dalton: 0 TD, 1 INT

Luck: 1 TD, 1 INT

Newton (Wk 1): 1 TD, 1 INT

Newton (SB): 0 TD, 1 INT

Brady: 1 TD, 2 INT — NFL Research (@NFLResearch) September 25, 2016

13. Dak Prescott, Cowboys

14. Carson Wentz, Eagles

Wentz and Prescott’s stats are nearly identical, so in order to accurately assess which rookie is playing better we have to look at the manner in which each guy is putting up their numbers. After reviewing and charting every completion Wentz and Prescott have thrown this season, I’m going with the Cowboys rookie.

I charted how many of their completions came on screens, how many came on the quarterback’s first read (there’s obviously some guesswork involved here), how many came on passes aimed less than five yards past the line of scrimmage and how many were thrown 15 yards past the line of scrimmage. I also tallied how many completions were both shorter than five yards downfield and thrown to the first read, which can be found in the fourth row on the following chart:

Prescott has gotten less help from the design of his offense and hasn’t thrown as many stat-padding screens and short throws. And though the Cowboys offensive line is viewed as the best in the league, Wentz has actually gotten better protection from his line. He’s been pressured on only 8.1% of his dropbacks, per Football Outsiders’ charting data. Prescott has been pressured on 16% of his dropbacks.

Prescott is also far less reliant on yards after the catch.

Shortest average throws thru Week 3 pic.twitter.com/6DZy8t2Zpj — Scott Kacsmar (@FO_ScottKacsmar) September 26, 2016

Really, you can’t go wrong with either guy, but Prescott currently holds a slight advantage due to the higher degree of difficulty.

15. Carson Palmer, Cardinals

Palmer just doesn’t look like the same player he was a year ago. He threw four interceptions against Buffalo — one was due to a mix-up with his receiver — and was generally inaccurate. The inaccuracy has been a problem throughout the season and one of the bigger reasons this loaded offense hasn’t taken off.

16. Jameis Winston, Buccaneers

Tampa Bay is asking a whole lot of Winston. He’s attempted more than 100 passes combined the last two weeks, both Bucs losses. Winston was very good late in the loss against the Rams but turned the ball over twice. That brings him up to seven turnovers in two weeks.

17. Russell Wilson, Seahawks

Even with the sprained ankle, Wilson was able to make plays on the move against a hapless 49ers defense. The injury does seem to be bothering him on some throws. His ball placement on shorter throws has been off these last two weeks. His deep ball, though… that has been on point.

18. Ryan Tannehill, Dolphins

It’s getting to the point where I can just copy and paste the same comment for Tannehill every week. After a slow start, the Dolphins QB got hot in the second half before making a costly mistake late. Only this time, the Browns went full-on Browns and missed a game-winning field goal after a Tannehill sack-fumble.

19. Joe Flacco, Ravens

Flacco’s performance against the Jaguars was emblematic of his career. He was brilliant for a stretch during which he completed 21 passes in a row. He wasn’t so great in the second half, but Jacksonville failed to capitalize on two tipped interceptions in the fourth quarter.

20. Trevor Siemian, Broncos

So much for Siemian being just a caretaker quarterback for the Broncos. Denver didn’t have much of a running game, so Gary Kubiak leaned heavily on the second-year pro. He delivered a four-touchdown performance. It wasn’t a perfect performance, though: Siemian did get away with two passes that should have been intercepted, and his accuracy left a lot to be desired. There was nothing wrong with his accuracy on this touchdown pass to Emmanuel Sanders, however:

21. Alex Smith, Chiefs

This was your typical Alex Smith performance. He did most of his damage on short, conservative throws to Travis Kelce and on quick receiver screens. The few times he did push the ball downfield (four times, by my count) he was unable to hit his target.

22. Kirk Cousins, Redskins

You have to give Cousins credit for bouncing back after rough two weeks. His deep accuracy had been poor in Washington’s two losses, but he rarely missed the mark against the Giants.

23. Marcus Mariota, Titans

The Titans passing game is fundamentally broken. Mariota looks uncomfortable in the scheme, the receivers aren’t getting open and defenders are able to jump shorter routes with no downfield threat on the roster. Mariota is forcing a lot of throws into coverage, but he doesn’t really have any other option.

24. Blake Bortles, Jaguars

It’s easy to blame the play-calling for Bortles’ regression in Year 3, but he just hasn’t been very good. Bortles’ mechanics have regressed, he’s making poor decisions and his accuracy has been bad. He is the biggest reason the Jaguars are 0-3 right now.

25. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jets

Six interceptions. Six! It could have been more, too. This is why Fitzpatrick went unsigned well into the summer.

26. Jacoby Brissett, Patriots

New England didn’t ask much of Brissett but he did just enough to keep the Patriots offense on schedule. That’s impressive considering the fact he was given just four days to prepare for his first NFL start.

27. Brock Osweiler, Texans

There’s no way around it: Osweiler has been bad during his first month as a Texan. His offensive line hasn’t helped, but the poor decision and shoddy accuracy is all on him. Osweiler’s interception in the first quarter against the Patriots was just a horrible read.

28. Tyrod Taylor, Bills

Taylor signed a prove-it deal in the offseason and has done little to prove to the Bills that he is, without a doubt, the team’s quarterback of the future. He threw for just 119 yards against the Cardinals, although he did do a lot of damage with his legs.

29. Cody Kessler, Browns

Kessler wasn’t even the best Cleveland quarterback playing on Sunday (Terrelle Pryor!), but he was surprisingly solid in his first career start. He was accurate for the most part and avoided a big mistake. That’s a win for the Browns — even if they lost he game.

30. Case Keenum, Rams

Keenum was actually pretty good against the Bucs. He threw his first two touchdowns of the season and led the Rams to a win that put them atop the NFC West. His early pick-6 was one of the worst throws we saw in Week 3.

31. Blaine Gabbert, 49ers

Let’s play “Who did Blaine throw it to?”

You have two choices: A or B.



If you chose B, you don’t know Blaine Gabbert. He threw it to A.

Classic Blaine Gabbert.

32. Brian Hoyer, Bears

I get that Cutler was horrible against the Eagles last Monday night, but if John Fox is seriously considering going with Brian Hoyer next week, Bears fans should revolt. The guy can’t throw the ball downfield. At least Cutler can do that.