The NFC East’s quarterback picture took another sharp turn in Week 5, and not in the clean, polished way teams like to draw it up. Dak Prescott is still sitting on top of the division’s QB rankings for Week 6, but the grip is loosening. Jayden Daniels cost Washington a win, Jalen Hurts keeps running into the same offensive dead ends, and Jameis Winston has climbed into the middle of the conversation by keeping the Giants afloat in his own unpredictable way.
Start with Dallas, because Prescott remains the standard here even after an uneven day against Tampa Bay. He wasn’t sharp throughout the game.
A few throws sailed on him, and a broken play with CeeDee Lamb ended with a dirted pass when Lamb had broken free for what should have been an easy touchdown if Prescott had held it just a beat longer. The Cowboys’ offense then disappeared for two quarters after a strong opening drive.
Prescott did show up in the fourth quarter, helped along by Brian Schottenheimer finally adjusting to Todd Bowles’ heavy blitzing. His two interceptions also came on tipped balls, the kind of ugly turnovers that can make a quarterback line look worse than the full picture.
And the full picture matters here, because Prescott’s season has been strong enough that one shaky outing doesn’t knock him off the top. Before last week, he was third in EPA per play, fourth in success rate, ninth in big-time throws, and seventh in passer rating.
Dallas is 2-3, and the Cowboys are staring at a tough Sunday night game against the Green Bay Packers to avoid falling two games under .500, but Prescott is still the main reason this team isn’t winless.
Winston lands in the No. 2 spot more by momentum than clean efficiency, but the Giants have gotten real production out of him over the last three weeks. He was especially sharp in the second half of New York’s comeback from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit last Sunday.
According to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, Winston finished 12-of-15 for 113 yards and two touchdowns with zero turnovers. That came in driving rain and wind, too.
His Week 5 success rate of 54.0 percent ranked behind only Drake Maye, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, and Matthew Stafford. The Commanders brought pressure in the second half, and Winston handled it.
That’s the kind of stretch that gives New York borderline top-20 quarterback play, even if the Jameis Winston Experience still comes with the usual volatility. He gets a workable Week 6 matchup against a Saints defense that is currently 26th in dropback EPA.
Hurts sits below him, and the Eagles’ issues are bigger than one player. The run game has been a non-factor, the offensive line has ushered in a new era, and DeVonta Smith and Saquon Barkley have missed the last two games because of injury.
Still, Hurts did not move the offense well in Philadelphia’s last-second loss to Jacksonville in London. He finished 21 of 40 for 220 yards and one touchdown.
His 52.5 percent completion rate was the second-worst among Week 5 quarterbacks, and his 5.5 yards per attempt ranked 26th.
For the season, Hurts is 23rd in EPA per play, trailing Jacoby Brissett, Tyler Shough, Deshaun Watson, and the quarterback listed ahead of him here. He’s also 30th in success rate at 38.4 percent. If Daniels hadn’t melted down in overtime, Hurts would have a strong case for fourth.
Daniels drops to the bottom after the kind of late-game mistake that sticks. If this ranking were based strictly on overall play, he might still be No.
- But Washington’s tie against the Bengals turned on one unforgivable snap in overtime.
On the final play, Daniels dropped back, gave himself up, and let the clock run out when Washington had no timeouts left and no chance to spike the ball. The game ended 27-27.
There was still enough time to run another play and get closer, but the ball had to come out quickly. Instead, Daniels either forgot he had no timeout or lost track of the situation entirely.
Either way, it was brutal clock management from a quarterback with 82 starts between the NFL and college. For one week, that’s enough to send him to the back of the line.
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