NFL Power Rankings Week 5: Mark Sanchez Moves Up the Quarterback Ladder
Week 4 was another good week for the quarterbacks of the NFL, with the exception of a few.
Notably, Michael Vick suffered a rib injury and Jay Cutler was brutalized by the New York Giants' nine first-half sacks.
However, while those signal-callers languished on the ground, Mark Sanchez was piling up the points for the New York Jets offense. Sanchize just seems to be continuing his recent tear, and all indications point towards him being the next superstar quarterback in this league.
In other significant news, Peyton Manning finally threw an interception. If you're shocked by that, you're correct in feeling such emotions. His remarkable season is continuing.
Read on to find out just where each quarterback, including Ben Roethlisberger, lands in the Week 5 edition of the NFL Quarterback Power Rankings.
(For last week's Power Rankings, click here: NFL Quarterback Power Rankings Week 4)
No. 32 Max Hall (Last Week: Unranked)
1 of 34
Last Week:
10-41 loss to the Arizona Cardinals
8/14 82 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions
This Season:
9/16, 85 yards, 0 touchdowns, 1 interception
The Reaction:
After the latest shellacking of his Cardinals, Ken Whisenhunt may finally make a quarterback change.
Derek Anderson has started every game thus far, but he hasn't been very good. The story was not different in Week 4 as Anderson only completed 7/14 passes for 64 yards and two interceptions. That doesn't cut it.
Whisenhunt won't name a starter yet, but that must be for a reason. It's time to turn this team over to Hall and see what happens.
No. 31 Jake Delhomme (Last Week: Unranked)
2 of 34
Last Week:
Did not play
23-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals
This Season:
20/37, 227 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions
1 carry, 1 yard
The Reaction:
Despite the more-than-capable play of backup Seneca Wallace, it seems as though Eric Mangini is going to roll the dice and start Delhomme in Week 5 against the Atlanta Falcons.
Delhomme wasn't so great in Week 1 and has the misfortune of facing a good Atlanta defense in his return.
However, this has quickly become Peyton Hillis' team and I don't expect Delhomme to throw too many passes. At least not until his Browns are trailing the Falcons by a significant margin.
No. 30 Jimmy Clausen (Last Week: No. 32)
3 of 34
Last Week:
14-16 loss to the New Orleans Saints
11/21, 146 yards, 1 touchdown, 0 interceptions
2 carries, 11 yards
This Season:
34/69, 393 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions
9 carries, 21 yards
The Reaction:
Jimmy Clausen had a much better week than he did in Week 3 and it was almost enough to knock off the defending Super Bowl Champions.
Clausen didn't play particularly well, but he did enough to keep them in the lead for the majority of the game. His highlight was definitely a 55-yard touchdown pass to Jonathan Stewart.
The Notre Dame product was also given the opportunity to lead a game-winning drive, but after converting a fourth down he took two straight sacks on the next set of downs.
However, just a week after he was verbally lit up by outspoken wide receiver Steve Smith, his teammates had great things to say about him. For example, offensive tackle Jordan Gross said, "For Clausen to make that fourth-down play late in the game, that speaks volumes for what I think is inside of him."
Clausen is going to have a steep learning curve, but he at least showed flashes of potential during this tough loss.
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No. 29 Alex Smith (Last Week: No. 27)
4 of 34
Last Week:
14-16 loss to the Atlanta Falcons
21/32, 188 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions
1 carry, 1 yard
This Season:
93/151, 920 yards, 3 touchdowns, 7 interceptions
5 carries, 29 yards
The Reaction:
Alex Smith started off hot, quickly getting his team a 14-0 lead over the heavily favored Atlanta Falcons.
However, in a result that surely left head coach Mike Singletary seething, that was it and the 49ers blew a one-point lead late in the game.
Alex Smith had a chance to seal the deal, but instead failed to score in a drive that he described by saying, "On that last drive, I thought we did a good job. We were moving the ball, but then we stalled. It was frustrating not to be able to get points."
49ers fans have to feel the same way about Alex Smith. Frustration with the former No. 1 overall draft pick surely has to be the predominant emotion in San Francisco.
No. 28 Kevin Kolb (Last Week: Unranked)
5 of 34
Last Week:
12-17 loss to the Washington Redskins
22/36, 201 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception
2 carries, 21 yards
This Season:
27/45, 225 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception
2 carries, 21 yards
The Reaction:
After Michael Vick went down with torn cartilage in his rib cage, Kevin Kolb took over the starting job again as it appears that No. 7 won't be returning next week.
Just like in Week 1, Kolb wasn't all that effective, but it'll be more fair to judge him on his next performance when he properly prepares for the game as a starting quarterback.
Although the way the Eagles' quarterback carousel has been spinning, I wouldn't be surprised if Mike Kafka ended up starting.
No. 27 Bruce Gradkowski (Last Week: No. 30)
6 of 34
Last Week:
24-31 loss to the Houston Texans
24/39, 278 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions
3 carries, 16 yards
This Season:
52/95, 695 yards, 4 touchdowns, 4 interceptions
11 carries, 29 yards
The Reaction:
The first half off the loss to the Texans was almost over and it seemed as though Gradkowski was well on his way to having a decent game.
Then Gradkowski fumbled the ball away deep in Houston territory while the score was tied.
After halftime, Gradkowski threw two crucial interceptions that really blew any shot he had at winning the game for his team.
It's never a good game when the head coach says afterwards, "You can't sugarcoat it. When you get your rear end kicked like that it is what it is. You don't sugarcoat that, you don't talk around that. You have to deal with that."
Gradkowski is significantly better than Jamarcus Russell was, but that's not saying too much.
No. 26 Shaun Hill (Last Week: No. 28)
7 of 34
Last Week:
26-28 loss to the Green Bay Packers
34/51, 331 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions
4 carries, 53 yards
This Season:
97/161, 991 yards, 5 touchdowns, 7 interceptions
12 carries, 69 yards
The Reaction:
Shaun Hill was actually quite good in this game and almost knocked off the 3-1 Green Bay Packers.
After the game, head coach Jim Schwartz said, "This team doesn't need me to stand up here and say how close we are. I think it's obvious to anybody that watches our game, anybody that follows us, the people in the locker room, everyone else. It's our job to get over the hump. We're right on it, we just can't get over the hump."
On of the ways to get over that proverbial hump would have been getting touchdowns instead of field goals. That's where Hill struggled.
He couldn't find the paydirt on Sunday.
No. 25 Matt Cassel (Last Week: No. 25)
8 of 34
Last Week:
Bye
This Season:
42/77, 494 yards, 4 touchdowns, 3 interceptions
8 carries, 16 yards
No. 23 Ryan Fitzpatrick (Last Week: No. 21)
9 of 34
Last Week:
14-38 loss to the New York Jets
12/27, 128 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions
7 carries, 74 yards
This Season:
32/55, 375 yards, 4 touchdowns, 2 interceptions
10 carries, 92 yards
The Reaction:
Fitzpatrick was okay, but he couldn't get anything on the scoreboard in a lopsided loss to their fellow AFC East foe.
The quarterback had originally looked good enough for the Bills to cut former starter Trent Edwards, but failed to move the offense at all in this game.
The Bills managed 30 yards in their first four possessions. They had a first down on just five of their 13 drives and they put up a goose egg in their 10 third-down attempts.
In fact, Chan Gailey even admitted that he thought about benching Fitzpatrick for Brian Brohm once the game got out of hand. That's never a good sign, even if the benching wasn't going to be a direct result of poor play.
No. 24 Matt Hasselbeck (Last Week: No. 20)
10 of 34
Last Week:
3-20 loss to the St. Louis Rams
20/36, 191 yards, 0 touchdowns, 1 interception
1 carry, 3 yards
This Season:
77/126, 814 yards, 4 touchdowns, 6 interceptions
9 carries, 33 yards, 2 touchdowns
The Reaction:
It's never a good thing when you can't even lead your team to a single touchdown against the St. Louis Rams.
Enough said.
No. 22 Brett Favre (Last Week: No. 22)
11 of 34
Last Week:
Bye
This Season:
60/97, 597 yards, 2 touchdowns, 6 interceptions
2 carries, -2 yards
No. 21 David Garrard (Last Week: No. 31)
12 of 34
Last Week:
31-28 win over the Indianapolis Colts
17/22, 163 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions
5 carries, 44 yards, 1 touchdown
This Season:
61/96, 611 yards, 6 touchdowns, 5 interceptions
20 carries, 85 yards, 1 touchdown
The Reaction:
It takes a lot of guts to rebound from two straight awful performances, but David Garrard did exactly that.
Garrard didn't get sacked, was incredibly efficient, and accounted for three of the Jaguars' four touchdowns. But most importantly, he got what could prove to be a season-altering win against the hated Indianapolis Colts.
The quarterback is now officially off of the hot seat.
No. 20 Carson Palmer (Last Week: No. 23)
13 of 34
Last Week:
20-23 loss to the Cleveland Browns
25/36, 371 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions
1 carry, 0 yards
This Season:
94/158, 1078 yards, 5 touchdowns, 3 interceptions
13 carries, 16 yards
The Reaction:
Carson Palmer played like the Carson Palmer of old on Sunday. He was helped by the fact that Terrell Owens did the same.
Palmer and Owens connected 10 times for an astounding 222 yards, but only a single touchdown.
It's all fine and dandy to throw for bunches of yards, but at some point you have to get touchdowns as well. Palmer still didn't do that and his Bengals lost to a previously 0-3 Browns team.
No. 19 Donovan McNabb (Last Week: No. 17)
14 of 34
Last Week:
17-12 win over the Philadelphia Eagles
8/19, 125 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception
5 carries, 39 yards
This Season:
70/121, 958 yards, 3 touchdowns, 2 interceptions
8 carries, 81 yards
The Reaction:
Donovan McNabb walked into his old stomping grounds and was cheered by the notoriously fickle Philadelphia Eagles fans, for whom he'd won so many games.
That ovation didn't last long and quickly became boos as he led his Redskins to a win over his former team.
That said, McNabb was not very good in this game. He completed less than half of his passes and only threw for 125 yards.
The ground attack of Mike Shanahan worked and McNabb was content to simply serve as a game-manager.
No. 18 Ben Roethlisberger (Last Week: Unranked)
15 of 34
Last Week:
Did not play
14-17 loss to the Baltimore Ravens
This Season:
Has not played
The Reaction:
Big Ben will return from a four-game suspension this week and he's been handed a somewhat unexpected 3-1 record to play with.
Roethlisberger has always been one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL when he's played, so expect him to rocket up the rankings once we have some numbers to work with.
No. 17 Vince Young (Last Week: No. 18)
16 of 34
Last Week:
20-26 loss to the Denver Broncos
17/28, 173 yards, 1 touchdown, 0 interceptions
1 carry, 18 yards
This Season:
47/71, 511 yards, 4 touchdowns, 2 interceptions
13 carries, 66 yards
The Reaction:
VY was good but not great in this contest with the Broncos.
Unless the Titans start to gain back confidence in Young's throwing abilities, this is just about the stat line that we should get used to seeing from Young.
He's shown in the past that he can throw well, so Jeff Fisher and the Titans brass need to unleash him yet again.
No. 16 Josh Freeman (Last Week: No. 15)
17 of 34
Last Week:
Bye
This Season:
49/83, 534 yards, 4 touchdowns, 2 interceptions
12 carries, 92 yards
No. 15 Eli Manning (Last Week: No. 14)
18 of 34
Last Week:
17-3 win over the Chicago Bears
18/30, 195 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions
3 carries, -2 yards
This Season:
85/132, 1005 yards, 5 touchdowns, 6 interceptions
9 carries, 4 yards
The Reaction:
To be perfectly honest, I watched the entire Sunday Night Football matchup between the Giants and the Bears and I don't remember Eli Manning making a single memorable play. In fact, I had to rack my brains to even remember him throwing the ball.
The Giants dominated the game because of a great ground attack and an even better defense that produced 10 sacks of the Bears quarterbacks.
Eli may have had a decent game, but he's not doing anything to stand out this season.
No. 14 Joe Flacco (Last Week: No. 13)
19 of 34
Last Week:
17-14 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers
24/37, 256 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception
2 carries, 1 yard
This Season:
83/145, 920 yards, 5 touchdowns, 6 interceptions
13 carries, 8 yards
The Reaction:
Flacco was statistically good but not great, in this defense-dominated game.
But when it counted, he was great.
With just 32 seconds left in the game, Flacco hit T.J. Houshmandzadeh for an 18-yard score to get the W. As he said, "You go and win it on the last drive, there's no better way to win. There's not too many better ways to win in Pittsburgh."
The Ravens needed this win, and Joe Cool got it for them. That's what counts most.
No. 13 Sam Bradford (Last Week: No. 19)
20 of 34
Last Week:
20-3 win over the Seattle Seahawks
23/41, 289 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception
2 carries, 8 yards
This Season:
92/158, 944 yards, 6 touchdowns, 6 interceptions
3 carries, 10 yards
The Reaction:
The Oklahoma wonder-boy just keeps on getting better and better. That's two straight wins now! Could the Rams be Super Bowl bound?
Okay, that may be jumping the gun a little bit, but Bradford has still been much better each game he's played.
Most impressively in this game, Bradford bounced back from an ugly interception in the endzone to have a great game.
No. 12 Chad Henne (Last Week: No. 12)
21 of 34
Last Week:
14-41 loss to the New England Patriots
29/39, 302 yards, 2 touchdowns, 3 interceptions
This Season:
85/132, 961 yards, 5 touchdowns, 4 interceptions
5 carries, 0 yards
The Reaction:
Despite the lopsided loss and the three interceptions, Henne was excellent in his Monday Night debut.
With the exception of two bad throws that resulted in interceptions (the third was on a blown route by Brandon Marshall), Henne seemed to make every throw whenever he wanted to.
The reason the Dolphins lost by so much was because of a ridiculous special teams performance by the Patriots.
This has been an excellent season so far for the Michigan product and this was another step in the right direction.
He should learn from his mistakes and continue to show off his great arm and excellent pocket presence.
No. 11 Matt Ryan (Last Week: No. 9)
22 of 34
Last Week:
16-14 win over the San Francisco 49ers
26/43, 273 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions
4 carries, 15 yards
This Season:
93/149, 978 yards, 6 touchdowns, 3 interceptions
18 carries, 51 yards
The Reaction:
Matty Ice wasn't really all that good in a last-second victory over the 0-4 San Francisco 49ers.
If it wasn't for Roddy White, who chased down a defender and caused a fumble, the Ryan interception in the fourth quarter would have ended the game.
Ryan still came through in the clutch and led his team down the field to set up a game-winning field goal, but he went through a very rough stretch in the middle of the game.
No. 10 Matt Schaub (Last Week: No. 10)
23 of 34
Last Week:
31-24 win over the Oakland Raiders
16/29, 192 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions
3 carries, 1 yard
This Season:
86/130, 1037 yards, 7 touchdowns, 4 interceptions
7 carries, 0 yards
The Reaction:
Minus the services of Andre Johnson, Matt Schaub really wasn't anything special in this game.
He and Arian Foster though have led this Houston team to the best start in franchise history, and in doing so, Schaub has now set the franchise record with 60 touchdown passes.
He's an elite quarterback and he's playing like one.
No. 9 Jay Cutler (Last Week: No. 8)
24 of 34
Last Week:
3-17 loss to the New York Giants
8/11, 42 yards, 0 touchdowns, 1 interception
This Season:
68/102, 912 yards, 6 touchdowns, 3 interceptions
13 carries, 62 yards
The Reaction:
Would you be at all surprised if I told you that the only pictures of Cutler that I could find from last week either pictured the quarterback wrapped up by a Giants defender or already on the ground?
While that may not be true, it sure seemed like that's all that happened to Cutler on Sunday night. He was sacked nine times in the first half, and a concussion was the result.
It's really not even fair to judge Cutler on this performance.
It's almost as if his offensive line was mad at him.
No. 8 Tony Romo (Last Week: No. 7)
25 of 34
Last Week:
Bye
This Season:
88/128, 940 yards, 4 touchdowns, 2 interceptions
2 carries, -2 yards
No. 7 Kyle Orton (Last Week: No. 16)
26 of 34
Last Week:
26-20 win over the Tennessee Titans
35/50, 341 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception
3 carries, 11 yards
This Season:
118/175, 1419 yards, 6 touchdowns, 3 interceptions
10 carries, 29 yards
The Reaction:
Talk about gun-slinging. Orton threw 50 times, completing 35 of his attempts, and carried his team to victory against a tough, and according to both he and Josh McDaniels, somewhat cheap Tennessee Titans defense.
Orton summed up the game as follows: "I don't think we played our best football the whole time, but anytime you can give yourself a chance to win in the fourth quarter on the road against a good football team, we'll take it. When it got down to it, we made the plays."
He's been making the plays all season.
No. 6 Mark Sanchez (Last Week: No. 11)
27 of 34
Last Week:
38-14 win over the Buffalo Bills
14/24, 161 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions
1 carry, 0 yards
This Season:
60/103, 711 yards, 8 touchdowns, 0 interceptions
8 carries, 6 yards
The Reaction:
The wins just keep on coming for this ever-improving quarterback of the New York Jets. So do the touchdowns, but not the interceptions.
In fact, Sanchez is now the last quarterback to have started every game and avoid throwing a single pick.
Sanchez seems to be taking the league by storm, and even though he didn't throw for a boatload of yards in this yawner of a game, he didn't need to.
The USC product may not have been ready for the NFL last season, but now it seems like the NFL isn't ready for him.
No. 5 Philip Rivers (Last Week: No. 5)
28 of 34
Last Week:
41-10 win over the Arizona Cardinals
15/20, 241 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions
This Season:
88/141, 1328 yards, 9 touchdowns, 4 interceptions
4 carries, 7 yards
The Reaction:
Ho hum. Another week and another dominant performance from Philip Rivers.
Once again, he was quite good in a blowout of the Arizona Cardinals.
Moving on now...
No. 4 Aaron Rodgers (Last Week: No. 2)
29 of 34
Last Week:
28-26 win over the Detroit Lions
12/17, 181 yards, 3 touchdowns, 2 interceptions
3 carries, 20 yards
This Season:
84/122, 940 yards, 8 touchdowns, 5 interceptions
15 carries, 69 yards, 2 touchdowns
The Reaction:
Aaron Rodgers had quite the confusing stat line in Week 4. He was efficient and threw for three touchdowns, which came on beautiful, dare I say Favre-ian, throws. But, he also threw two picks.
Which means that he let the ball hit the ground a grand total of three times the entire game.
He also got the win, but it was only by two points over the 0-4 Detroit Lions.
Hmmm...because of his impressive year, I'm going to give Rodgers the benefit of the doubt here and assume the two picks were simply a statistical aberration.
No. 3 Drew Brees (Last Week: No. 3)
30 of 34
Last Week:
16-14 win over the Carolina Panthers
33/48, 275 yards, 1 touchdown, 0 interceptions
1 carry, -1 yard
This Season:
118/160, 1131 yards, 7 touchdowns, 2 interceptions
5 carries, -7 yards
The Reaction:
Once more, Drew Brees was quite good in a hard-fought win over the Carolina Panthers. Yes, you read that right. The Carolina Panthers.
The Saints did struggle to move the ball at times and they definitely failed to punch the ball into the endzone as often as they would have hoped to.
That's four straight games where the Saints and Brees failed to meet expectations.
If there's ever a city to suffer from a Super Bowl hangover—it would definitely be New Orleans.
No. 2 Tom Brady (Last Week: No. 2)
31 of 34
Last Week:
41-14 win over the Miami Dolphins
19/24, 153 yards, 1 touchdown, 0 interceptions
5 carries, 6 yards
This Season:
85/122, 911 yards, 9 touchdowns, 2 interceptions
9 carries, 12 yards
The Reaction:
Tom Brady, the beneficiary of a special teams performance for the ages, probably could have done sat out this game and still gotten the win, but he played and was remarkably efficient. Surprise surprise.
Brady made the throws when he needed to, scrambled when he needed to, and was generally flawless.
Congratulations go out to this quarterback for getting his 100th career victory. He's an incredible player and will go down in history as one of the best of all time.
No. 1 Peyton Manning (Last Week: No. 1)
32 of 34
Last Week:
28-31 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars
33/46, 352 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception
1 carry, -1 yard
This Season:
120/172, 1365 yards, 11 touchdowns, 1 interception
6 carries, -5 yards
The Reaction:
Peyton Manning was amazing yet again. He was absolutely unbelievable and shredded the Jaguars defense, but it still wasn't enough for the win.
Just so you know, the interception came on the goal-line when the ball bounced off of his receiver's hands and was scooped up just inches from the ground by the Jaguars.
So for all intents and purposes, he's still been flawless.
Overall Rankings
33 of 34
1. Peyton Manning
2. Tom Brady
3. Drew Brees
4. Aaron Rodgers
5. Philip Rivers
6. Mark Sanchez
7. Kyle Orton
8. Tony Romo
9. Jay Cutler
10. Matt Schaub
11. Matt Ryan
12. Chad Henne
13. Sam Bradford
14. Joe Flacco
15. Eli Manning
16. Josh Freeman
17. Vince Young
18. Ben Roethlisberger
19. Donovan McNabb
20. Carson Palmer
21. David Garrard
22. Brett Favre
23. Ryan Fitzpatrick
24. Matt Hasselbeck
25. Matt Cassel
26. Shaun Hill
27. Bruce Gradkowski
28. Kevin Kolb
29. Alex Smith
30. Jimmy Clausen
31. Jake Delhomme
32. Max Hall
The Big Movers
34 of 34
Jumping Into The Rankings:
No. 32 Max Hall
No. 31 Jake Delhomme
No. 28 Kevin Kolb
No. 18 Ben Roethlisberger
Falling Out Of The Rankings:
Derek Anderson (Last Week: No. 29)
Seneca Wallace (Last Week: No. 26)
Charlie Batch (Last Week: No. 24)
Michael Vick (Last Week: No. 6)
Biggest Risers:
David Garrard: up 10 spots from No. 31 to No. 21
Kyle Orton: up nine sports from No. 16 to No. 7
Sam Bradford: up six spots from No. 19 to No. 13
Mark Sanchez: up five spots from No. 11 to No. 6
Biggest Fallers:
Matt Hasselbeck: down four spots from No. 20 to No. 24
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