Ten worst QB performances from NFL Week 2

The NFL Week 2 schedule offered a few games that looked like rough matchups for quarterbacks. It also offered a series of potential learning experiences for young passers.

Indeed, we learned a lot as well. A few predictable quarterback stinkers came to fruition, while some of the bad play from signal callers came as a surprise. Some were better than expected. Some were much worse.

But who had the worst quarterback performances of NFL Week 2?

Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

Rodgers was poor in nearly ever way on Sunday.

He was bad statistically. A 20-for-36 performance for 213 yards, one touchdown, and one interception is bad for anyone in this era. For a quarterback like Rodgers, it’s even worse. 

He was also bad on the eye test. Rodgers looked rattled in the pocket all game. The Minnesota Vikings forced three fumbles on the future Hall of Famer. In fact, Rodgers was lucky, as two of those fumbles were recovered by a Green Bay teammate. He consistently held the ball for far too long, seemingly unaware of a heavy Minnesota pass rush.

He was bad in crunch time. Trailing by only three points in the fourth quarter, consecutive Packers’ possessions were ended on Rodgers turnovers (one fumble, one interception).

Rodgers is an NFL legend, but his performance on Sunday was one of the worst in the NFL.

Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On the road against a good opponent, Winston had a chance to show how much he’s improved. He didn’t necessarily need to lead Tampa to a victory. But Winston could have made a big step in the right direction with a good performance against the Arizona Cardinals.

That did not happen.

Winston was a model of inefficiency Sunday. He went 27-for-52, passing for 243 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions. That all works out to a 39.2 passer rating.

The good news for the Buccaneers and their fans is that the team is 1-1, and nobody in the NFC South is 2-0. The bad news for Winston and Tampa Bay is that it was served a hefty dose of humble pie by the Arizona Cardinals.

The Bucs may be contenders, and Winston may be on his way towards being a top tier quarterback. But both journeys took a step in the wrong direction on Sunday.

Ryan Tannehill, Miami Dolphins

This one goes beyond a simple look at the box sore. Tannehill was 32-for-45 for 389 yards with two touchdowns, two picks and a 93.7 passer rating. One of those interceptions came on what was, effectively, a Hail Mary.

Not bad, right?

The problem is that Tannehill took far too long to get it going. The New England Patriots jumped Miami’s defense, scoring 14 points in the first quarter. Tannehill simply did not answer the bell in the early going. In fact, Tannehill had zero passing yards in the opening frame.

Led by Tannehill, the Dolphins’ offense did next to nothing until the third quarter. By then, the Pats were up 31-3.

Yes, he did a lot to close that gap in the end. Unfortunately, he also didn’t do enough to keep the deficit from getting so out of hand in the first place.

If Tannehill is going to be a franchise quarterback, he’s going to have to consistently come through in meaningful moments against teams like the Patriots.

Blake Bortles, Jacksonville Jaguars

It was a rough week for signal callers in the Sunshine State.

Fantasy owners everywhere loved Bortles for his fantastic garbage time performance in this one. But make no mistake, the Jacksonville signal caller was terrible.

https://twitter.com/ericvdunn/status/777626094656692228

Over the first three quarters of the game, the San Diego Chargers built an insurmountable 35-0 lead. While that was happening, Bortles was 19-for-31 for 195 yards, had zero touchdowns and two interceptions.

That, boys and girls, works out to a 52.5 passer rating.

Bortles might be the garbage time MVP through the first two week’s of the 2016 season. But like Tannehill, he needs to come through in meaningful moments if he’s to be considered a franchise quarterback.

Blaine Gabbert, San Francisco 49ers

Yes, everything seemed to point to a convincing victory for the Carolina Panthers over the 49ers. San Francisco was traveling across the country on a short week, playing a motivated vastly superior team on a long week.

For the 49ers to have a chance, they had to force turnovers and keep the pocket clean for Gabbert. That happened. Yet, San Francisco still lost, 46-27.

So, what went wrong?

Gabbert was 17-for-36 with two touchdowns and two picks.

As the numbers suggest, he was off target. The 49ers’ receivers were watching balls fall at their feet all game. This wasn’t because of a particularly strong Panthers’ pass rush, either. Yet by game’s end, Carolina’s rushers had managed five hits and two sacks on Gabbert. Most of those came late, though, when San Francisco was relegated to passing on nearly every down.

Gabbert’s problems were more persistent.

With a date in Seattle against the Legion of Boom coming next week, Gabbert is going to have to find his touch, and fast. If not, talk about Colin Kaepernick taking over are going to become prevalent.

Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks

Heading into this game, it sure seemed like Case Keenum would end up on this list. While Keenum didn’t perform terribly well, he was much better than Wilson.

It was bad enough in Week 1 when the Seahawks allowed only 10 points to the Dolphins but won by a measly two points. The Seattle defense upped the ante this week, surrendering only nine points to the Los Angeles Rams.

Thanks to a three-point output by the Wilson led offense, though, the Seahawks are 1-1.

To be fair, the Seattle offensive line has been abysmal for the first two weeks. Wilson has certainly been playing on his heels.

Unfortunately for the Seahawks, Wilson has not come close to resembling the MVP candidate that he was in 2015. He’s not handling the rush as well as in past years and isn’t converting the crippling scrambles and dump offs that we’re so used to seeing.

We can’t call Wilson the only struggling Seattle player right now, but he doesn’t look right. It could be the injury he sustained a week ago, but honestly he didn’t look especially sharp before that happened, either.

We have to remember that Gabbert and the 49ers picked this Los Angeles defense apart a week ago, scoring 28 points. Sure, the Rams might have been motivated after last week’s embarrassment, especially playing at home in front of a new crowd. Somehow, though, the offense didn’t look terribly motivated.

Even if Los Angeles was motivated, it’s no excuse for scoring only three points. Wilson needs to find his old magic.

Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts

The Colts have a lot of problems. The offensive line is a mess. Any able-bodied people in the Indianapolis area between the ages of 21-35 should stay near their phones, because a call about filling a vacancy in the secondary may be forthcoming.

But Luck needs to be better.

On the road against an elite opponent, a franchise quarterback needs to do better than 21-for-40 and 197 yards. A franchise quarterback simply can’t surrender one, let alone two defensive touchdowns.

Indeed, the Colts roster’ has a bevvy of problems. But the franchise quarterback hasn’t shown much improvement over the last two seasons. He was certainly a letdown on Sunday.

Josh McCown, Cleveland Browns

We know that McCown isn’t going to win games for the Browns. But on Sunday, McCown did something he absolutely can not do. He lost a game for his team.

McCown’s first interception set up a field goal from the Baltimore Ravens at the end of the first half. Instead of heading into the locker room up 20-9, Cleveland finished the half up 20-12. Still not bad, but that sequence gave the Ravens momentum and, of course, three points.

On the Browns’ final drive, McCown got them into position to score. But, thanks in no small part to the aforementioned field goal, the Ravens had a five point lead. Cleveland had to find the end zone.

On first down and with time on the clock, McCown put up an absolute duck into triple coverage.

C.J. Mosley pulled the interception down, and that was that.

If McCown is even healthy enough to play (a big if), these are the mistakes that can’t happen. He simply doesn’t make enough big plays to make up for the bad ones.

Alex Smith, Kansas City Chiefs

Smith finished Week 2 a paltry 20-for-37 with 186 yards. That works out to less than five yards per attempt.

Make no mistake. Smith’s bad game was not entirely his fault. The defensive front of the Houston Texans owned the Kansas City line, hitting Smith nine times and sacking him on four occasions. A quarterback has to be protected better.

But those problems were prevalent in Week 1, too. Remember, the San Diego Chargers leveled six hits on Smith, sacking him three times. But in Week 1, Smith still found a way to put up big numbers and lead the Chiefs to a win.

No such luck in Week 2.

While the poor numbers and loss can’t be blamed entirely on Smith, the quarterback does shoulder some of the blame. Whether it’s getting rid of the ball quicker, moving around more, or just trying to keep defenses off balance, Smith will have to adjust to the weak line that he has in front of him.

If he doesn’t, the veteran will find himself on this list more often than not.

Brock Osweiler, Houston Texans

Given how poorly Smith and the Chiefs played Sunday, this should have been a more convincing win. But a mediocre performance from Osweiler and the offense kept the game closer than it should’ve been.

Osweiler was underwhelming against Kansas City. He failed to manage even 20 points against the same defense that Philip Rivers torched a week ago.

The season is still young. But through two weeks, Osweiler hasn’t exactly been stellar.

Houston’s defense has been rock solid, and its playmakers have stepped up when needed. But Osweiler was a game manager in Week 1 and was just the slightly better of two bad quarterbacks in Week 2.

He has a long way to go.