This past week around the NFL was not great for some of the top-end quarterbacks in the league. Russell Wilson threw a game-changing pick-six, his first interception of the season. Deshaun Watson and his Texans dropped a bad game to the Indianapolis Colts.
On the other hand, some other signal callers stood out in a big way. Lamar Jackson led his Ravens to a win over Wilson and the Seahawks. Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers put up the best statistical performance of his career.
It’s in this that we give you the top-10 NFL quarterbacks heading into Week 8 of the regular season.
1- Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks
This top MVP candidate was in no way perfect in Sunday’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens. His pick-six into the hands of Marcus Peters was a rare unforced turnover from Wilson. He now heads into Week 8 leading the NFL with 15 touchdown passes compared to just one interception for an absurd 114.1 quarterback rating. With games coming up against lackluster defenses in that of the Falcons and Buccaneers before a Week 10 rodeo with the San Francisco 49ers, expect Wilson to pad his stats even more.
2- Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
The big jump. From No. 5 last week to the second-best NFL quarterback heading into Week 8. There’s a legitimate reason for this. Rodgers just put up the best performance of his career in a blowout win over the Oakland Raiders. He completed 25-of-31 passes for 429 yards with six total touchdowns. That came after Rodgers tallied eight touchdowns in the first six games of the season. Now that this former MVP has hit his stride in first-year head coach Matt LaFleur’s offense, watch out.
3- Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Regardless of his status moving forward following a scary-looking injury last week, Mahomes can’t possibly drop any further down this list. He remains one of the most-electric players in the entire NFL, as evidenced by the third-year quarterback still leading the league in passing yards (2,180) and touchdowns (15) while having thrown just one interception. Once Mahomes does return to action, he’ll take back his rightful place as one of the most valuable players in the NFL.
4- Deshaun Watson, quarterback, Houston Texans
Watson’s two-interception performance in last week’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts was concerning. He struggled big time with ball placement and was vastly outplayed by Indy quarterback Jacoby Brissett. It came within the confines of a game that saw Houston drop to second place in the AFC South. Despite this, Watson heads into Week 8 on pace for north of 4,900 total yards to go with 41 touchdowns. That’s not terrible.
5- Tom Brady, New England Patriots
New England has to be hoping the recently acquired Mohamed Sanu provides a spark for Brady. Simply put, this six-time Super Bowl champ has not been great thus far during an otherwise dominant season for New England. Brady has thrown interceptions in four consecutive games and had a fumble returned for a touchdown back in Week 6. The last time Brady had a stretch of this ilk was back in September of 2018. Even then, he leads an undefeated 7-0 team. That tells us what we need to know about the 42-year-old veteran.
6- Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
This is some absolutely absurd stuff right here. Fresh off a 116-yard rushing performance against Seattle last week, Jackson is on pace for 1,317 yards on the ground this season. In fact, he ranks right behind Ezekiel Elliott in that category. Unlike the narrative surrounding Jackson, he can also toss the rock. The second-year signal caller is currently on pace for nearly 3,800 passing yards to go with 25 touchdowns through the air. He’s revolutionizing the quarterback position as we know it.
7- Jacoby Brissett, Indianapolis Colts
Stunning. That’s the best way to describe what we’ve seen from Brissett this season. He completely outplayed Deshaun Watson last week, completing 26-of-39 passes for 326 yards with four touchdowns and zero interceptions. Those are some Andrew Luck-like numbers. And they have defined Brissett’s season thus far. After all, he’s thrown 14 touchdowns compared to three picks while completing 65% of his passes. That’s pretty darn good for a dude most figured topped out as a backup in the NFL.
8- Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings
Speaking of stunning, Cousins has turned around his Vikings career mid-flight. Seen as an overpaid enigma throughout his first 20 games in Minneapolis, Cousins has made history over his past three outings. That span has seen the former Pro Bowler complete 76% of his passes for 976 yards with 10 touchdowns and just one interception. Minnesota is averaging 36 points per game during that span, winning all three outings, en route to overcoming a pedestrian 2-2 start to the season.
9- Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
Like the rest of his Cowboys, Prescott turned around some major recent struggles with a near-flawless performance in a 37-10 blowout win over the division rival Philadelphia Eagles last week. It has Dallas in first place heading into the midway point of the season. It also has Prescott making another appearance in the top 10. The kid is now on pace to put up north of 5,000 total yards and 34 touchdowns. That seems pretty darn good.
10- Gardner Minshew, Jacksonville Jaguars
Following another workmanlike performance in a win over the Cincinnati Bengals last week, it’s going to be incredibly difficult for the Jaguars to turn back to Nick Foles once he comes off injured reserve. All Minshew has done thus far this season is rack up 10 touchdowns and two interceptions en route to leading the Jaguars into playoff contention at the midway point of the season. The rookie sixth-round pick has simply outshined those quarterbacks drafted well before him. Minshew Mania is alive and well in Duval, and it’s been a blast to watch.