2025 NFL QB Power Rankings Week 11: How is Matthew Stafford Better Than Ever?

There are games like Monday night that make you grateful for high-flying, efficient offenses. We know those two quarterbacks can play better than they did. And we know those defenses are special. That didn’t make it easy to watch.

So let’s discuss some other performances from last week’s action.

In these QB rankings, I’m focused on monitoring the fluctuations of a quarterback’s performance throughout the season. No one — not even Matthew Stafford — is safe at the top. No one — not even Justin Fields — is stuck at the bottom. There is room for quick ascent — and rapid decline. One question holds most important: What have you done for your team lately?

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Watching Matthew Stafford is like getting a birthday gift from that one person in your life who knows exactly what you want, sometimes before you even know it yourself.

He just doesn’t make mistakes. It’s one thing to make big plays and lead your team to the top of the conference. It’s another thing to do it with an almost spotless record on 310 passing attempts.

Just two interceptions. Just two lost fumbles.

Compare that to Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, a more fun and exciting candidate for the MVP — but after this week, a less deserving one. He has seven interceptions and two fumbles lost, almost double the turnovers.

There is such a dogged pursuit of the big play in the NFL that we sometimes lose sight of the guys who never cost their team a yard or a possession. In that respect, Stafford reminds me of the Buccaneers version of Tom Brady. Stafford has the answers to the test unlike any QB currently in the NFL. But he also has one of the best pass-catching units, from Puka Nacua to Davante Adams to Kyren Williams to the deep gang of tight ends. But then, Stafford will roll out to his right — and even elude pressure with his legs — and throw with a weird arm angle. That’s when you’ll see elements to his game that Brady didn’t have, not even as he seemed to get faster into his 40s. 

Stafford is just doing what he’s done for years, but he’s never had this much support. Maybe ever. It’s pretty easy to argue this year’s Rams team is better — and more talented — than the Super Bowl-winning roster from 2021.

There are times when Stafford looks wise, and there are times when he looks old. But there are never times when he looks washed up. That’s an accomplishment for a 37-year-old QB who entered the season with an aggravated disc injury in his back.

He has been as dominant — just not as healthy — as he was last year. And as far as defensive matchups go, the Vikings are among the least desirable for a QB. Brian Flores’ blitzes are exotic and aggressive and they highlight the outstanding cast of playmakers on that defense.

Jackson didn’t look electric this week, but no one does against Minnesota. The Ravens QB stuck around and avoided mistakes. So, when the Vikings handed him opportunities with poor offensive play and turnovers, Jackson and the Ravens capitalized for a comeback win. Now, Baltimore also opened the door for the Vikings to get back into the game, in part because of a few poor third-down plays. But Jackson and company did just enough.

If I’m going to wax poetic about the ways Stafford has played mistake-free football, then I should do the same for Lamar in a season where he has only one interception and one lost fumble. There’s still that blowout loss to the Chiefs, which is dragging down the quality of Jackson’s season as a whole. But given how well he and the Ravens are playing, he might get another shot at KC in the postseason.

Inconsistency has often been the story of Jordan love’s career, and that’s especially been the case in recent weeks. (Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)

Can Daniel Jones limit the turnovers enough to remain effective and keep the Colts in title contention? (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)

I fear Williams and the Bears are headed for a massive regression.

But first — before hating — I’ll acknowledge what’s going right. Williams has cleaned up the accuracy issues that plagued him at the beginning of the season, which has made a massive difference for the Bears offense — and for Williams’ trajectory as a quarterback. Chicago is no longer leaving as many yards on the field.

His final two fourth-quarter drives were a fantastic demonstration of what he can be. 

There was tight-window throwing. There was timely scrambling. There was arm arrogance but with fine-detail execution to back it up. My favorite throw was a timing-based route to Luther Burden where Williams let the ball go before Burden had even slowed to break off his route. It was crisp execution of a concept that looks simple but takes time, trust and practice to complete.

But.

But …

*sighs dramatically*

There’s still so, so, so much room for Williams to clean up his game.

It’s exasperating to see someone with this much potential struggle to know what to do with it. And even worse, his potential gets in the way of his own development.

Because remember: The Bears fell way behind against a dumpy Giants team (that just fired its head coach). And Chicago couldn’t get into the game until after rookie QB Jaxson Dart suffered a concussion, which thrust (washed-up) Russell Wilson into the game.

One of Williams’ biggest problems was one of his biggest assets: his fastball.

On third down, on deep passes, on crucial checkdowns, Williams’ pass-catchers dropped the ball against the Giants. They’re pro receivers — they need to catch the football. That said, Williams needs to take some speed off these easy plays to keep them easy. He’s unnecessarily upping the degree of difficulty.

There are too many instances where Williams looks like a one-read quarterback — sitting way too long on his first option and then abandoning the pocket for a hero ball. It’s especially painful to watch when he heaves the ball incomplete to the end zone on a third- or fourth down, when there’s a checkdown (and likely conversion) waiting, wide open.

Last year, Williams regressed to a version of himself that was worse than the guy who left USC. This year, he isn’t just back on track. He’s finally better than the guy who was tabbed QB1 before rookie minicamp in 2024 — before the Bears derailed his development. But if he’s going to be elite, he still has a long way to go.

Rodgers’ film almost looked like a QB who was injured. I know he’s not hurt. I know he didn’t suffer an injury and was not listed on the injury report. But Rodgers played poorly — well below his typical level of play — for reasons that I can’t quite explain. 

Immobile. Inaccurate. Ineffective. 

The Chargers played good coverage and applied plenty of pressure, this despite blitzing only once, per Next Gen Stats. They were content rushing four and dropping into coverage, where Rodgers either couldn’t find anyone or simply couldn’t hit them in the hands.

It’s hard to reconcile exactly what went wrong. Were the Chargers simply that much better? Was it simply an off day for Rodgers — leading to his worst outing as a Steeler? 

Or was this a sign of things to come, as the Steelers are on the verge of squandering their divisional lead over the Ravens?

One thing is certain: Rodgers isn’t the athlete that he thinks he is — not anymore. And so his tenure in New York, where he didn’t have the requisite protection, was a disaster. His tenure in Pittsburgh has been much better, because his pocket is much improved. Because his arm and his mind are still lively, even if his legs are not. But in this game, the Chargers were able to 1) get Rodgers off his spot and 2) do it without bringing any extra rushers.

It’s not a formula that everyone can follow — but it’s also not a complicated blueprint. Good defenses should be able to replicate what the Chargers just did. Rodgers and the Steelers will have to come up with some counters. 

It’s Year 5 and former No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence is having another middling season. (Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images)

If J.J. McCarthy continues to struggle, how committed are the Vikings to starting him? (Photo by Carlos Gonzalez/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images)

I feel about Gabriel much like I did about Spencer Rattler, which was that neither guy was doing much to get excited about. But also, given their situation, neither guy was culpable for losses. 

At this point, Gabriel is deeply committed to his checkdowns, ingrained no doubt by the constant pressure and lack of downfield separation from an underwhelming receiving corps. Jerry Jeudy has been off all year, with his separation declining to 2.2 yards per route (down from his career average of 3.1) and his receiving yards over expected sinking to -125. Coach Kevin Stefanski does what he can to help out Gabriel, with a lot of boots and rollouts — with tight ends trailing horizontally for short passes. But all in all, the Browns offense looks like one big shrug.

The root cause of their problems is … everything. The good news is that Gabriel does a respectable job of not making things worse. But he is a 5-foot-11, third-round quarterback who fits the bill. They can’t build around him. He will be a really good backup. 

He is only contributing to the future of this organization in that he’s unintentionally helping them lock up the No. 1 overall pick — or as close to it as possible.

But since I mentioned Rattler, I’d like to also mention that Tyler Shough immediately upgraded the Saints’ offense. It remains to be seen if that holds up long term. But it was an immediate upgrade nonetheless. So …

You know where I’m going with this, right?

Where. Is. Shedeur. Sanders? Why. Isn’t. He. Playing?

Stefanski must be seeing something truly awful in the meeting room or on the practice field to justify keeping Sanders off the field. And then, if Deshaun Watson comes back, maybe they’ll use that as an excuse to stop Sanders. 

It might just remain one of the NFL’s biggest mysteries of 2025.

Before joining FOX Sports as an NFL reporter and columnist, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.

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