The Falcons are winning ugly, and are currently on top of the woeful NFC South after Week 13. Their quarterback, Desmond Ridder, had a performance against the Jets aligned with the way Atlanta has played for much of the season. It was far from pretty yet not brutal.
And that says a lot on the road, in a rain-soaked contest against the Jets relentless defense.
There were a grand total of eight first- or second-year quarterbacks who qualified for this series in Week 13.
Let's dive deep into the individual efforts of each quarterback and assign a grade on a per-snap basis, taking every individual aspect of their performance into account. More than 10 attempts were needed to qualify for this piece, which runs every Tuesday.
High-Caliber Throws/Plays:
- Purdy had an impressive red-zone scramble in the second quarter, when he bounced off a tackler in space and scampered forward for six yards.
- Later in the third, he made a pinpoint throw close to sideline against tight coverage from the far hash.
Low-Caliber Throws/Plays:
- Early in the game, Purdy overthrew an open Christian McCaffrey on an out-route.
- In the third, Purdy forced a short in-breaker to Aiyuk that featured a safety right over the top of the route and was nearly intercepted.
Summary: After a rough start, Purdy and the 49ers offense started clicking, and never stopped clicking on the road in Philadelphia. Not much on Purdy's plate in this one, as San Francisco totaled a whopping 212 yards after the catch. Purdy hardly had to make any difficult throws in this one.
Grade: B
Season Grade: B
High-Caliber Throws/Plays:
- Young had an awesome sideline hole shot to D.J. Chark with under a minute to go in the first half.
Low-Caliber Throws/Plays:
- Late in the first half, Young threw well wide and too deep on a long shot down the left sideline.
- In the third quarter, he threw low and wide to Miles Sanders on a comeback that fell incomplete.
- While he was drifting right and was hit as he threw, Young didn't see Antoine Winfield Jr. ranging from the middle of the field on his interception that came on a scramble-drill throw to Adam Thielen in the fourth.
Summary: Young did not have many wide-open receivers in this game, yet he did not do much to elevate those around him. There were too many inaccurate throws or moments when the No. 1 overall pick noticed where he wanted to throw the football too late, leading to incompletions or pass breakups. He was limited as a scrambler too.
Grade: D
Season Grade: D+
High-Caliber Throws/Plays:
- Howell threw with perfect trajectory and touch on a 33-yard gain to Curtis Samuel early in the second quarter.
- On a 3rd and 3 in the first half, Howell made a defender miss as he attempted to scramble then threw to his right -- while running left -- to Samuel for what amounted to a 25-yard gain.
- In garbage time late, Howell shrugged off a pass rusher and scampered his way to a 13-yard touchdown.
Low-Caliber Throws/Plays:
- Howell's first throw of the game was skipped to Jahan Dotson on a short route.
- His late first-quarter interception was thrown directly to Andrew Van Ginkel on a quick screen attempt.
- Midway through the third, after bouncing off a defender in the pocket, threw a prayer into traffic that easily could've been intercepted.
Summary: Ugly, embarrassing performance for the Commanders against the new No. 1 seed in the AFC. The weather absolutely is factored into Howell's grade, because it was heavily raining for the duration of this contest. And while a few of the typical impressive throws from the second-year pro popped, he did take a litany of hits in the pocket, and made a few bad decisions.
Grade: C
Season Grade: B-
High-Caliber Throws/Plays:
- Pickett's second throw of the game wasn't incredibly difficult but well placed deep down the field on a corner run by George Pickens that amounted to a 38-yard gain.
Low-Caliber Throws/Plays:
- While running right in the red zone in the first quarter, Pickett threw at the feet of Pickens, and the ball fell incomplete.
Summary: Only 12 drop backs in this game for Pickett, one good throw, one bad one. Not much else before his ankle injury on a scramble in the red zone.
Grade: B-
Season Grade: C
High-Caliber Throws/Plays:
- In the first quarter, Levis elevated as he was hit in an attempt to get a first down and did on a 3rd and 5.
- Early in the second, off play-action, Levis ripped a fastball near the sideline to DeAndre Hopkins who just got both feet in bounds for an 18-yard gain against tight coverage.
- Early in the fourth, while rolling right, Levis threw a receiver open against the momentum of his route but the ball was dropped.
- Levis' fourth-quarter touchdown to Hopkins was a sidearm frozen rope from inside the pocket.
- With around one-minute to go in regulation, Levis found a hole near the sideline between two defenders on a fastball to Hopkins.
Low-Caliber Throws/Plays:
- From a clean pocket, he well overthrew DeAndre Hopkins deep down the right sideline.
- Late in the first, while rolling right, Levis hurried a throw into the front corner of the end zone and it was woefully short of its target.
- With under three to go in regulation, Hopkins threw low and wide on an underneath throw to an open Hopkins that fell incomplete.
Summary: Levis didn't have a fantastic start against the Colts but, as has normally been the case since he's been the Titans starter, he demonstrated flashes of his impressive arm talent. Now, there were times in which he misfired, and overall, his accuracy needs to be more consistent on a down-to-down basis. The one leaping scramble was flashy too.
Grade: C+
Season Grade: C+
High-Caliber Throws/Plays:
- Late in the first quarter, on his second or third read, after repositioning himself inside the pocket, Stroud found Nico Collins behind the defense for 59 yards.
- While on the move in the third, Stroud flicked a pass over the middle to Collins that amounted to a 39-yard gain.
Low-Caliber Throws/Plays:
- Midway through the second, he threw too far in front of John Metchie who was open over the middle.
- A few plays later, there was an even bigger miss on a target to Metchie that probably would've been a touchdown had the throw been on target.
- He fumbled on a bad sack in the third when he slowly moved away from a blitz.
Summary: The few long-ball connections -- which are becoming the staple of Stroud's rookie season -- were still there against the Broncos, but the Offensive Rookie of the Year favorite didn't have as many high-caliber throws as normal.
Grade: B-
Season Grade: B-
High-Caliber Throws/Plays:
- In the third quarter, Zappe threw a perfect deep back shoulder to DeVante Parker that was dropped.
- Later in the same quarter, there was another gorgeous back shoulder to Parker that was completed.
- The next throw was a teardrop down the field that was dropped.
Low-Caliber Throws/Plays:
- With under two to go in the first half, Zappe threw behind Ezekiel Elliott in the flat.
- He took a bad sack in the fourth quarter, waiting in the pocket as a free rusher got to him.
Summary: The weather played a factor here, as it rained for most of the contest against the Chargers. Zappe did put a few impressive throws on film, but was largely immobile inside the pocket and had his fair share of off-target passes too.
Grade: D+
Season Grade: D
High-Caliber Throws/Plays:
- Early in the second, Ridder turned around off an under-center play action fake and ripped a long throw to Kyle Pitts near the left sideline for 13 yards.
- His next throw was a gorgeously placed ball to a backup tight end in the back of the end zone for a touchdown from 20 yards out.
- In the third, with an offensive lineman being pushed into his lap, Ridder somehow fit an out-breaking route into Kyle Pitts near the numbers for 12 yards.
Low-Caliber Throws/Plays:
- Ridder threw behind a slant in the third.
- In the fourth, while on a designed roll to his right, he waited far too long to throw to Drake London and the pass didn't reach the wideout until he was out of bounds.
- There was an ill-advised throw on a corner route in the fourth that was broken up but really had no business being thrown.
Summary: Believe it or not, Ridder actually held his own, in the rain, against the Jets still ferocious, stingy defense that sends legitimate pass rushers at quarterbacks in waves. He took a few sacks and was forced to throw the ball away and wasn't sensational, but there was a higher number of impressive throws and solid completions than I was expecting.
Grade: B-
Season Grade: C-
