12. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Rough starts for quarterbacks must have been the theme for Week 1, because even Baker Mayfield had his share of issues. And still, he somehow found a way to lead his team to a 4th quarter comeback and throw three touchdowns. Even if Mayfield barely completed 50 percent of his passes (17-of-32), he found a way to get the job done.
11. Geno Smith, Las Vegas Raiders
A couple of years ago, Geno Smith called everyone out who had written him off. I think it’s safe to say his debut with the Raiders was a sequel to that. Geno put on a really nice performance against the New England Patriots, throwing for 362 yards (most in the NFL) on 24 completions. The bigger story this week for the Raiders will be the health of Brock Bowers, but the talk this offseason was how clear of an upgrade this team got at QB. Smith delivered.
10. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
A healthy Matthew Stafford is going to have the Los Angeles Rams competing for an NFC title this year. Or pretty much any year. Stafford may be older now, but he’s still got it. He was still dropping no-look dimes out there for the Rams, connecting on 21-of-29 passes for 245 yards and a touchdown. He had no picks on the afternoon, and we have only scratched the surface of what he can do with Davante Adams.
9. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
As we all would have expected, Patrick Mahomes had his team in it late on Friday night against the Los Angeles Chargers, but the majority of his performance in Week 1 fell flat. Part of the problem is that Mahomes doesn’t have the best targets to get the ball to – again – but the Chiefs have been struggling with the same stuff for quite some time. Mahomes made some big throws in the game, but it fell short.