Who says the stock market isn’t open on Sundays?
The value of various NFL quarterbacks continued their fluctuations in Week 7.
It’s time once again to take a look at the ticker.
Rising: Andrew Luck
Andrew Luck pulled the Colts out of the AFC South cellar, throwing three touchdown passes in a 34-26 win at Tennessee.
Luck has led the Colts (3-4) back from fourth-quarter deficits in all three of their wins. He engineered a 12-play, 70-yard drive Sunday that ended with a seven-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jack Doyle, who caught a career-high nine passes. Luck had to dig deep for targets because Donte Moncrief missed his fifth straight game and Phillip Dorsett was out against the Titans.
Despite facing a top-10 passing defense with depleted resources, Luck threw for 353 yards and wasn’t intercepted. He did this with an offense that averaged just 3.4 yards per carry.
Luck was sacked just twice after being sacked 14 times in the last three games, which suggests he’s learning how to get rid of the ball quicker.
Falling: Blake Bortles
One step forward, five steps back for Blake Bortles.
Last week’s comeback from a nine-point, fourth-quarter deficit at Chicago could have been a building block for Bortles.
The Jaguars were home against the NFL’s worst passing defense, but Bortles completed just 23 of his 43 passes for 246 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in a 33-16 loss to the Raiders.
The game might have turned out differently if Bortles hadn’t thrown an interception in the end zone with less than five minutes left in the first quarter. The Jaguars (2-4) trailed the Raiders 3-0 at the time.
Most Games With Multiple Interceptions – Since 2014
Blake Bortles 13
Peyton Manning 11
Joe Flacco 10
Andrew Luck 10— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 23, 2016
And the one touchdown pass Bortles threw came with less than five minutes left in the game and pulled the Jaguars to within 26-16. Not exactly garbage time, but the Raiders answered with a touchdown to put the game away.
Bortles has thrown nine touchdown passes and nine interceptions this season. His 18 interceptions last season were the most in the league. And through six games this year he’s on pace to blow past that mark.
In his third season, the No. 3 overall draft pick in 2014 is 10-25 as a starter. That bright future for Bortles and the Jaguars was supposed to start happening now.
Rising: Aaron Rodgers
So maybe Aaron Rodgers was like a bully picking on the pitiful Bears in a 26-10 win at Lambeau Field on Thursday night.
After two straight subpar performances, however, he needed to curb the panic and did just that by completing 39 of his 56 passes for a season-high 326 yards and three touchdowns.
Rodgers directed an offense that gained 406 yards, converted nine of 16 third downs and held the ball for 39:36. The Packers did all this without a running back. Eddie Lacy and James Starks were both injured, so wide receivers Ty Montgomery and Randall Cobb handled most of the duties.
With all the unrest following the Packers’ loss to the Cowboys last Sunday, Rodgers ushered in 10 days of relative peace in Green Bay.
The news got even better for the Packers (4-2) when the Vikings lost on Sunday. Now they’re a game behind in the NFC North.
Falling: Kirk Cousins
Kirk Cousins didn’t have an awful game. He completed 30 of 39 passes for 301 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions in a 20-17 loss at Detroit.
Cousins did run 19 yards for a touchdown to give the Redskins a 17-13 lead with 1:05 left in the game, but Matthew Stafford had the final say. He threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Anquan Boldin with 16 seconds left.
The Redskins (4-3) trailed 10-3 and had the ball at the Lions’ 34 with 3:28 left in the third quarter when Cousins fumbled the ball away. The Lions (4-3) turned that takeaway into a field goal and a 13-3 lead.
Add that mistake to the fact that Cousins threw just one touchdown pass against a team that allowed the most passing touchdowns entering Week 7. The Lions also were 23rd in passing yards allowed and Darius Slay, their top cornerback, left the game with a hamstring injury in the second quarter.
This wasn’t a huge dip for Cousins, but most quarterbacks who make more than $20 million a year know how to slice and dice a mediocre defense.
Rising: Philip Rivers
Philip Rivers led the Chargers back from a 17-point deficit in a 33-30, overtime win at Atlanta Sunday.
It was starting to look like a lost season for the Chargers (3-4) when they fell behind 27-10 in the second quarter. They had lost 11 of their last 12 road games, and it wouldn’t have been surprising to see them fold their tents after Adrian Clayborn returned a fumble for a touchdown to give the Falcons that 17-point lead with 4:31 left in the first half.
But Rivers answered by completing three passes for 75 yards on a drive that culminated in Melvin Gordon’s three-yard touchdown run to pull the Chargers to within 27-17 at halftime.
Down 30-20 early in the fourth quarter, Rivers overcame two sacks on a drive and found Gordon for a five-yard touchdown to make it 30-27 with six minutes left. Then right after the two-minute warning, he completed a three-yard pass to Antonio Gates on fourth-and-2 to keep alive the game-tying field goal drive.
The Falcons pretty much handed the Chargers the game by going for it on fourth down in their own territory in OT, and Rivers’ 11-yard pass to Gates got the Chargers into range for Josh Lambo’s game-winning 42-yard field goal.
Rivers completed 27 of 44 passes for 371 yards, the most he’s thrown for in more than 12 months, with a touchdown and an interception. The Chargers beat the Broncos in Week 6, so Rivers has helped the Chargers beat two straight teams that had their eye on Super Bowl LI.
Falling: Joe Flacco
In two games under new offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg, Joe Flacco has yet to throw a touchdown pass and the Ravens are 0-2.
Perhaps Flacco’s shoulder is more injured than everyone’s letting on. Whatever it is, something is up with Flacco.
He completed 25 of his 44 passes and threw two interceptions in Sunday’s 24-16 road loss to the Jets. Flacco generated just 5.6 yards per attempt and at 6.0 for the season he’s the worst in the NFL in that category among starting quarterbacks.
Steve Smith Sr. was injured and rather than three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust the Ravens’ running game was a-half-yard-and-a-speck-of-dust. Ravens backs ran the ball 12 times for six yards.
This was, however, the NFL’s 30th-ranked pass defense Flacco was dealing with. Ryan Fitzpatrick and Geno Smith combined to out-duel him. The Ravens (3-4) have lost four straight and Flacco has more interceptions (six) than touchdowns (five).
Rising: Jameis Winston
When Jameis Winston figures out how to win at home, the Buccaneers are going to be a tough team to beat.
Winston improved to 3-1 on the road this season by leading the Bucs to a 34-17 win at San Francisco. He completed 21 of 30 passes for 269 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
Bucs QB Jameis Winston finished 21 for 30 for 269 yards, 3 TDs vs. 49ers. His 70 percent completion rate is his 3rd-best in 22 career games.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) October 24, 2016
After throwing eight interceptions in the first four games, Winston has thrown just one in the last two. His one interception Sunday set up the 49ers to take a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
Then Winston showed that Dak Prescott isn’t the only quarterback who can overcome a 14-point deficit at San Francisco. He answered the 49ers’ second touchdown with an 11-play, 94-yard drive that resulted in a four-yard touchdown pass to Mike Evans.
Winston led the Bucs (3-3) to scores on their next two possessions and they had a 17-14 halftime lead. He orchestrated a 513-yard effort on offense, the most the Bucs have had since they scored 45 points at Philadelphia last season.
Now the Bucs are just a half-game behind the Falcons in the NFC South and they have a win over them.
Falling: Case Keenum
Remember last week when Case Keenum set a Rams franchise record with 19 straight completions?
It seems so long ago now that the Rams might as well have been in St. Louis.
Keenum threw four interceptions in Sunday’s 17-10 loss to the Giants in London, and the Giants came into the game with two interceptions, tied for the fewest in the league.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, Keenum completed nine of 10 passes with a touchdown in the first quarter. The rest of the way, he connected on just 23 of 43 passes and threw those four picks.
The Rams (3-4) blew a 10-0 first-quarter lead and have lost three straight. Keenum drove them 60 yards to the Giants’ 15-yard line in the final minute, but was intercepted.
Case Keenum has thrown an INT on the Rams last offensive play in 3 straight games.
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) October 23, 2016
According to Pro Football Talk, Rams coach Jeff Fisher said that Keenum will remain the starter. Apparently No. 1 draft pick Jared Goff still isn’t ready.
Goff is probably prepared to go out there and throw four interceptions if that’s what Fisher wants.
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