NFL quarterback play was not at its best during Week 4 of the 2022 season. Sunday’s action saw Marcus Mariota struggle big time despite his Atlanta Falcons pulling off a win over the Cleveland Browns.
Also on Sunday, Justin Fields’ pathetic early-career performance continued in a loss to the New York Giants. Then on Monday night, reigning Super Bowl champion Matthew Stafford had no chance against the San Francisco 49ers. These are among the five worst NFL quarterback performances from Week 4.
Related: NFL quarterback rankings heading into Week 5
Marcus Mariota, Atlanta Falcons
Through the first four weeks of the season, Mariota doesn’t look like he’s returned to form as a starter-caliber signal caller. That was magnified in Sunday’s ugly 23-20 win over the Cleveland Browns. Mariota completed just 7-of-19 passes for 139 yards with zero touchdowns and one interception. He also fumbled the ball. It got so bad that Atlanta actually called 13 consecutive running plays after Mariota’s interception.
- Marcus Mariota stats (2022): 58% completion, 779 yards, 3 TD, 4 INT, 76.9 QB rating
With star running back Cordarrelle Patterson now on injured reserve, there’s no telling how Atlanta’s rushing attack is going to look over the short-term. The Falcons also have games coming up against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals. It doesn’t promise to get much better for Mariota here.
Related: Sportsnaut’s updated NFL defense rankings
Carson Wentz, Washington Commanders
After a somewhat strong start to his first season in Washington, Wentz is now proving himself to be a below-average NFL quarterback once again. He threw two interceptions and was downright horrible in a 25-10 loss to the division-rival Dallas Cowboys in Week 4.
“Well, I think one of the things we worked on this week was obviously trying to protect the quarterback and give him an opportunity to get the ball out. For the most part there were some things that were working pretty well, and we just got to sustain them at that point.
We get opportunities to score, we’ve got to score. We get down there, we’ve got to score touchdowns. Kicking field goals, especially in the second half, was not good enough.”
Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera on Week 4 performance
After throwing seven touchdowns and three interceptions in the first two games of his Commanders tenure, Wentz has tallied just one score over the past two games. It’s not a coincidence that Washington has scored a combined 18 points with the quarterback being sacked 11 times during that span. He now heads into Week 5 against the Tennessee Titans second in the NFL with five interceptions.
Justin Fields, Chicago Bears
The good news first. Fields actually completed double-digit passes in a game for the first time this season during Sunday’s 20-12 loss to the New York Giants. The bad news? This sophomore continues be over his head as an NFL quarterback. He completed 11-of-22 passes for 174 yards with zero touchdowns and zero picks while losing a fumble in the process. All said, it’s been an absolutely disastrous start to the season for Fields.
- Justin Fields stats (2022): 51% completion, 471 yards, 2 TD, 4 INT, 4 fumbles, 58.7 QB rating
Despite Chicago’s surprising 2-2 record, Fields just has not been good enough running this offense. He’s on pace to be sacked 68 times while throwing less than nine touchdowns. This comes after a rookie season in which the former Ohio State star threw a mere seven touchdowns with 10 interceptions. It has simply been brutal.
Baker Mayfield, Carolina Panthers
At least for the time being, Mayfield has kept his starting job for Carolina. Whether that lasts long-term after Sunday’s brutal showing against the Arizona Cardinals remains to be seen.
Despite holding a 10-3 lead at the half, Carolina’s offense couldn’t get it going. Making his fourth start as a member of the team, Mayfield completed 22-of-36 passes for 197 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He also lost a fumble and averaged a mere 5.5 yards per attempt.
- Baker Mayfield stats (2022): 55% completion, 747 yards, 4 TD, 3 INT, 6 fumbles, 75.0 QB rating
Despite this, embattled Panthers head coach Matt Rhule noted on Monday that Mayfield will start Week 5 against the San Francisco 49ers and their elite defense. That game should prove once and for all that Mayfield is not a starter-caliber NFL quarterback.
Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
Stafford entered the season with major questions over his throwing elbow. Nothing we’ve seen through the first four weeks of the campaign has changed this. The Super Bowl quarterback was completely overmatched against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 4, throwing a pick-six and losing a fumble in the fourth quarter alone.
- Matthew Stafford stats (2022): 71% completion, 1,015 yards, 4 TD, 6 INT, 81.4 QB rating
It didn’t help that Stafford was hit 11 times and sacked seven times by the 49ers. In fact, Nick Bosa had 14 pressures alone as Stafford had to go to work behind a make-shift offensive line. Even then, racking up nine points in an ugly loss on national television against your division rivals doesn’t paint Stafford in the best of lights.