After an opening week explosion of points, Week 2 of the 2026 NFL season was a return to more familiar pastures. The scoring was scaled back. Defenses found their footing and adjusted to gameday speed.
And, importantly for this column, good quarterbacks turned in some clunkers.
Our running ranking of each week's most frustrating passers landed on a handful of respected names as sloppy weather and concerning regression rained down upon the season's second Sunday. We're not worried about the guys we expected to be bad, however. This ranking is all about the good (or at least respected) quarterbacks who fell short of their standard.
There's no perfect metric for a quarterback's impact, but expected points added (EPA) helps measure their ability to
swing the outcome of a game through the air, on the ground and through avoiding negative plays. Last year, EPA told us Drake Maye and Matthew Stafford were a cut above the rest of the league's quarterbacks in the regular season, netting 151.3 and 120.3 EPA, respectfully. No one else in the league topped triple digits.
We can use EPA to help dissect which quarterbacks underwhelmed the hardest in their debut. By comparing their Week 2 EPA across their 2025 averages, we get a better idea of whose fans should be most annoyed. And so, we end up with a "worst QBs" list that doesn't include Jameis Winston or Cooper Rush, simply because their standards are subterranean. You have to be at least decent — or otherworldly awful — to wind up in the gross QB rankings.
We'll also look at completion percentage over expected (CPOE), which gives you a good idea of which quarterbacks are making tough throws (and, in some cases, being bailed out by exceptional catches). All data come from NFL Pro.
We'll also keep a running tally of the times each quarterback lands here. We'll score that placement track meet style — 10 points for first place, then eight, six, four, two and one — in order to figure out who was truly 2026's grossest passer.
Honorable mention: C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans
- 2025 EPA/game: 2.4
- Week 2 EPA: -5.6
- Difference: 8.0 points worse
- 2025 CPOE: 1.0 percent
- Week 2 CPOE: -3.5 percent
- Difference: -4.5 points
Stroud had little in the way of support in Week 2. His offensive line continues to be a mess. The useful run presence of David Montgomery turned out to be a one-week engagement. Nico Collins sat out with a hamstring injury. That limited Houston to a pair of field goals and an 0-2 start, but it wasn't enough for the uneven young veteran to crack the top five.
5. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
- 2025 EPA/game: 0.9
- Week 2 EPA: -7.3
- Difference: 8.2 points worse
- 2025 CPOE: -2.5 percent
- Week 2 CPOE: 0.7 percent
- Difference: 3.2 points better
The Denver Broncos threw cold water on one of the league's hottest offenses, pumping the brakes on Jacksonville's hype train and reminding us Lawrence still isn't quite in the circle of trust. The passing attack that found room to thrive following Jakobi Meyers' addition to the lineup became clogged. The play-action snaps that worked so well against the Cleveland Browns (44 percent of his dropbacks in Week 1) disintegrated against a Broncos run defense that wasn't worried about a Bhayshul Tuten/Chris Rodriguez platoon (12.9 percent play-action rate in Week 2).
Lawrence's average separation per target dropped as Denver crowded the backfield with defenders. His tight window rate rose. He completed only 58 percent of his passes, struggling to get the ball to Brian Thomas Jr. in particular (eight targets, three catches). This led to forced throws, including this drive-killing third down interception in Broncos territory.
Our ball 💪
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) September 20, 2026
📺: @NFLonCBS / @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/hKCPjxQs4S
Granted, it made some sense to force that throw — even Cam Little, at elevation, is a risky bet to connect on a 67-yard field goal — but Lawrence didn't play like he was protecting a lead against a star-filled defense. Week 2 was a difficult test for the Jaguars' offense. They couldn't play a complete game and failed, leaving Jacksonville's franchise quarterback to languish here.
4. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- 2025 EPA/game: -0.2
- Week 2 EPA: -9.9
- Difference: 9.7 points worse
- 2025 CPOE: -1.7 percent
- Week 2 CPOE: 3.8 percent
- Difference: 5.5 points better
Mayfield had his chance to exact revenge on the team that drafted, then exiled him in favor of mortgaging its future for the league's 47th-best quarterback. Deshaun Watson, formerly accused of more than 20 counts of sexual misconduct and what the NFL described as "predatory behavior," had come to Tampa with the Cleveland Browns, fresh off a Week 1 spanking by the Jaguars.
He even had the chance to lead a stirring, rain-delayed fourth quarter comeback, something he'd done so well early in the 2025 season. But instead of giving Cleveland a taste of what it was missing, he instead got outplayed by a quarterback whose average pass traveled only 3.7 yards downfield.
[Garafolo] The Browns head back to Cleveland for their home opener at 1-1. A weather-delayed victory for Todd Monken, his first as head coach. twitter.com/MikeGarafolo...
— NFL News Poster (@nflnewsposter.bsky.social) 2026-09-20T22:20:20.697Z
The Browns generated pressure and kept Mayfield's targets from creating space, forcing him into tight windows downfield and hero ball throws that didn't work out (12 throws went at least 15 yards downfield, leading to only three completions and an interception for a 28.5 passer rating). What should have been an opportunity instead resulted in the mercurial quarterback doing a bit too much and ultimately falling short of his revenge.
3. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers
- 2025 EPA/game: 6.3
- Week 2 EPA: -6.9
- Difference: 13.2 points worse
- 2025 CPOE: 3.9 percent
- Week 2 CPOE: -9.8 percent
- Difference: 13.7 points worse
The football gods were unkind to Love in what should have been a bounce-back performance following a Week 1 loss. Instead, rain poured down most of the day and he lost a key wideout (Jayden Reed) and his starting right tackle (Zach Bako-Bewele) on the second and third plays of the game. The line in front of him lost guard Aaron Banks and replacement Donovan Jennings soon afterward, further chipping away at a run game filled with replacement-level backs with Josh Jacobs on the exempt list after pleading no contest to battery chargers this offseason.
Love is a quarterback capable of standing in the pocket and delivering precise floaters to open downfield targets. But the Jets were ready for a thin receiving corps — they held Tucker Kraft to only two catches on three targets — and head coach Matt LaFleur was wise enough to understand play-action dropbacks would have no effect when your top rusher is Kaleb Johnson.
It's concerning that Love threw shorter passes, on average, in New York (well, New Jersey) than he did against a Vikings defense a week earlier that blitzed nearly 80 percent of the time. Some of that is related to the weather on a day where no one seemed to have a great handle on the ball. But it could point to a ceiling on the Green Bay offense without a useful run game to keep linebackers and safeties occupied. After a career-high 28.5 percent play-action share in 2025, that figure has been sliced nearly in half to 15.4 this fall.
2. Drake Maye, New England Patriots
- 2025 EPA/game: 8.9
- Week 2 EPA: -4.8
- Difference: 13.7 points worse
- 2025 CPOE: 9.0 percent
- Week 2 CPOE: 3.2 percent
- Difference: 5.8 points worse
There was enough bad quarterback play to keep Maye off these rankings in Week 1. Unfortunately for the Patriots, he persevered to finish second only to the quarterback he beat in Week 2.
The good news is Maye found the downfield range that escaped him against the Seahawks swarming defense in the season opener. He completed four of six throws that covered more than 15 yards in the air, including a huge chunk play to Romeo Doubs, who badly needed a win after stinking out loud in his New England debut.
oh man, Romeo Doubs really needed this one
— Christian D'Andrea (@trainisland.bsky.social) 2026-09-20T19:13:09.110Z
The bad news is that quarterback who was once the league's best under pressure suddenly looks rattled. He's only completed 47 percent of his passes with his pocket breached, even though his pressure rate is roughly equal to last season's (38.7 percent vs. 38.8). Here he is, erasing a potential scoring drive inside Pittsburgh territory.
We'll take that‼️
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) September 20, 2026
📲 Stream on NFL+: https://t.co/vqIDzYZB2x pic.twitter.com/OAYH21ZTcc
While he remains a viable dual threat option, he hasn't found a way to escape chaos and create magic like he had last season. Part of that could be attributable to new names at the top of his receiving corps and the ankle sprain that has limited A.J. Brown's first season in Foxborough to two quarters so far. But he's also been below average with a clean pocket as well, which is the genesis of three of his four interceptions this year.
Maye overcame a slow start last season, tossing a pair of interceptions across a 1-2 start. He could have a similar rise if his blocking comes together — though Morgan Moses remains an age-related concern, Mike Onwenu left Sunday's game with a broken ankle and Alijah Vera-Tucker played more than seven games only twice in his five seasons before joining the Patriots.
1. Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh Steelers
- 2025 EPA/game: -1.4
- Week 2 EPA: -27.4 (!)
- Difference: 26 points worse
- 2025 CPOE: -0.9 percent
- Week 2 CPOE: -1.9 percent
- Difference: 1.0 point worse
It's difficult to believe this is what Rodgers had in mind when he returned for a season in which he'll turn 43 years old.
Steelers-Patriots is perfect football
— Christian D'Andrea (@trainisland.bsky.social) 2026-09-20T17:59:55.276Z
Pittsburgh's lack of weapons, even with an upgraded receiving corps, was on full display Sunday. Christian Gonzalez locked down D.K. Metcalf, holding him to 27 yards on nine targets. The only players to average more than nine yards per catch were the team's running backs, Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle.
Rodgers remains static in the pocket and averse to taking hits, leaving Pittsburgh mired in a low-impact short-range passing game. 19 of his 23 completions in New England traveled only five yards downfield or fewer. The Patriots, trusting their coverage, blitzed regularly (41 percent of the time) and dropped his time to throw down from 2.95 seconds in Week 1's win over the Atlanta Falcons to 2.58. His average target distance was slashed in half, from 9.5 yards downfield to 4.7.
While the four-time MVP still has special arm talent he dusts off for a few remarkable throws each week, he's largely a game manager who can accurately deliver short-range passes but struggle when it's time to generate drive-sustaining throws beyond the sticks. His offense converted only two of 12 third downs, one on third-and-eight and another, via pass interference, on third-and-three. That equals the amount of times he was sacked on third down.
STRIP SACK SCOOP & SCORE‼️
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 20, 2026
📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/8iXt4tlZS4
The silver lining is his lone interception this season wasn't his fault. But even that's dimmed by the fact the Patriots fully understood a wide receiver screen was coming on second-and-goal from the 17-yard line — one play after Rodgers was sacked for a loss of 13.
WE WILL TAKE THAT PLS @Gabeosama
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 20, 2026
📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/5P4FINRIhk
It's all bad in a way that is very familiar to Steelers fans. Now, it's the reason they're 1-1.
Way too-early FTW Gross QB rankings after Week 2
t-1. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos: 10 points
t-1. Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh Steelers: 10
t-3. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams: 8
t-3. Drake Maye, New England Patriots: 8
5. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers: 7
t-6. Daniel Jones, Indianapolis Colts: 6
t-6. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 6
8. Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh Steelers: 4
9. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars: 2
10. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans: 1
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Aaron Rodgers, Drake Maye and the grossest NFL quarterbacks of Week 2
