Grossest NFL QBs of Week 3: Michael Penix flops, Justin Herbert redeems

Week 3 was all about bonkers special teams. Sunday afternoon was littered with blocked kicks and dramatic finishes.

And also some terrible quarterbacking.

Jordan Love and Joe Flacco took turns getting beat up in the pocket and failing to find room downfield. Bo Nix and Justin Herbert traded dry spells that lasted just long enough for the Los Angeles Chargers to escape with a win. Bryce Young got to look superior against a young quarterback because Michael Penix Jr's wheels fell off.

But who was truly the grossest? Fortunately, we've got data for that.

The metric is simple. To start the season, I've compared every starting quarterback's expected points added (EPA, found here in real time thanks to some exceptional work from The Athletic's Ben Baldwin) to their 2024 per-game average. The players who sunk below their own standard the hardest? They're the ones who get written about. A player like Cam Ward, who is working through his growing pains and had a bad day that was somehow better than his first two weeks despite a negative EPA? He's not disappointing enough to make it.

Before we dig into the passing schadenfreude, let's talk about the quarterbacks who exceeded expectations in Week 3. And yes, that means another week of praise for actual 3-0 starter Daniel Jones and a first week of praise for Caleb Williams after ripping through the Cowboys' defense like tissue paper.

Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks

• 2024 EPA/game: 1.6
• Week 3 EPA: 17.0
• Difference: 15.4 points better

Geno Smith, Las Vegas Raiders (albeit with a healthy dose of garbage time)

• 2024 EPA/game: -0.9
• Week 3 EPA: 15.6
• Difference: 16.5 points better

Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears

• 2024 EPA/game: -4.1
• Week 3 EPA: 16.4
• Difference: 20.5 points better

Daniel Jones, Indianapolis Colts

• 2024 EPA/game: -5.3
• Week 3 EPA: 19.4
• Difference: 24.7 points better

Let's talk about who underwhelmed the hardest in Week 3.

5. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos

• 2024 EPA/game: 0
• Week 3 EPA: -6.
• Difference: 6.0 points worse

It's still too early to worry about Bo Nix, but it's safe to say he's failed to live up to last year's expectations. Rookie Bo averaged a shade under four deep balls per game. 2025 Bo had backed off that number early but tried to reclaim that glory against a tough two-high safety attack. When it worked it was lovely:

WIDE. OPEN.@SuttonCourtland | @paramountpluspic.twitter.com/35kOXaq5fF

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) September 21, 2025

But mostly it did not. Nix took advantage of a sucked-in defense on fourth-and-2 for that deep touchdown to Courtland Sutton. He threw seven more passes that traveled at least 15 yards downfield and only completed one. He had two drives after taking a 20-13 fourth quarter lead with which he could have drained the clock and erased Los Angeles' comeback hopes. His four pass attempts gained seven total yards. The Broncos went three-and-out twice to set the platform for a Chargers comeback.

Alarmingly, this backslide has happened despite elite blocking. Through two weeks, Denver's 16 percent pressure rate allowed was nearly five points lower than the next closest NFL offense. On Sunday he was sacked twice and hit only four times on 27 dropbacks (while adding 33 yards on eight carries). Despite that, he completed just 14 of 25 passes -- and only three of those completions came at least 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.

4. Joe Flacco, Cleveland Browns

• 2024 EPA/game: -1.5
• Week 3 EPA: -7.8
• Difference: 6.3 points worse

Flacco was a disaster, bailed out by a couple rookies (Quinshon Judkins, Harold Fannin Jr.) and a defense that locked Jordan Love up in hell (though he still managed a positive EPA). His lack of mobility allowed the Packer pass rush to limit his downfield looks. But even when he had time in the pocket he didn't seem especially interested in capitalizing on chunk plays.

That's the opposite of the guy who led Cleveland to the playoffs in 2023. 2023 Flacco was a free-wheeling, bomb-lobbing revelation. On Sunday, all but three of his 21 completions traveled more than eight yards downfield. It worked because the Browns' defense did things that will haunt Jordan Love's nightmares, but it's not sustainable.

Flacco has been a mess under pressure this season, which tracks for almost every NFL quarterback but especially for a 40 year old who was never especially mobile in the first place. Through three games his air yards per target are under 6.5 yards for the first time in his career. His deep ball rate coming into Sunday was a career-worst 4.4 percent. Cleveland may have hoped it was getting its freewheeling, nothing-to-lose chaos engine back in the lineup. Instead, Flacco is entering his caretaker era.

3. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers

• 2024 EPA/game: 3.2
• Week 3 EPA: 0.1
• Difference: 3.1 points worse

Herbert's 2024 numbers are a little misleading. In 2025's hot start he'd averaged a whopping 13.8 EPA per game. But he found himself staring down a Denver Broncos defense that rounded into the form we'd expected after two underwhelming weeks. Nik Bonitto led a pass rush that had five sacks, hit Herbert 14 more times and generally made life unpleasant as Herbert watched an early 10-0 lead become a 20-13 deficit with fewer than three minutes to play.

For example, Herbert tries to do the right thing and step up in the pocket but, whoops, road's closed. As a result, a long-but-makeable field goal attempt turns into a punt and a chance for Denver to ice the game.

John Franklin-Myers comes up with the sack on third down

DENvsLAC on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVntpic.twitter.com/k7MIHyIwR8

— NFL (@NFL) September 21, 2025

Pressure played a role in another point-erasing mistake. The Broncos swarm Herbert with multiple defenders in under 2.5 seconds. He's unable to switch reads and decides to try and thread a needle between double coverage to big play huckleberry Quentin Johnston. But the coverage is too tight, the ball is tipped and Denver corrals it deep in its own territory.

Tipped & picked!

📺: @paramountplus
pic.twitter.com/8wTzFnDGfB

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) September 21, 2025

Herbert didn't back down from the challenge. He still threw nine passes that traveled at least 15 yards downfield. He completed only two, but made the statement he was willing to be hoisted on his own petard. That allowed him to play through adversity and find salvation. Specifically with this completely ludicrous, game-tying fourth quarter touchdown escape act.

So yeah, as a whole Herbert's Week 3 was a bit of a letdown. The finish, however, was a reminder of how special he can be.

2. Jake Browning, Cincinnati Bengals

• 2023 EPA/game: 1.0
• Week 3 EPA: -15.2
• Difference: 16.2 points worse

We've got to cheat a bit here, as Browning didn't play in 2024. But when we saw him in 2023 he led the Bengals to a soft 4-3 landing following Joe Burrow's thumb injury. Last week, he entered the game in place of Burrow and led a game-winning two-minute drill to upend the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Beating the Jaguars' limited secondary is one thing. Overcoming the Minnesota Vikings' controlled chaos is another. It only took about 20 minutes for Cincinnati to trail by three possessions. This was a deficit that was both:

A.) thanks to Browning:

CRIBBED.@rodgers_isaiah

📺: @NFLonCBSpic.twitter.com/VRusxti1cT

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) September 21, 2025

and B.) would require him to blast his way out of it.

But even Burrow would have struggled with mismatch of the Bengals' line and Minnesota's aggression. Browning was sacked three times and hit nine more on 30 dropbacks. He was pressured on more than 57 percent of his passing plays -- the Vikings' highest single-game pressure rate since 2018. That's a big deal! Flores' units have ranked first in the NFL in blitz rate in each of the last two seasons but have never been as havoc inducing as they were Sunday afternoon.

Browning was tasked with mounting a comeback and had Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins at his ready. But his 2023 success was based on a lot of quick-release short-range throws (average throw distance: 6.4 yards downfield). Any effort to rewrite his narrative as a downfield thrower was stamped out as he attempted only five passes that went more than 10 yards downfield and had as many completions on such throws (two) as interceptions and one fewer touchdown thanks to Isaiah Rodgers' aforementioned pick-six.

This does not mean the Bengals' 2-0 start will be fully squandered. Give Browning a lead or room to operate -- he was pressured on only 27 percent of his dropbacks in Week 2's comeback -- and he can execute a gameplan and avoid game-changing mistakes. But Cincinnati's blocking will make both contingencies difficult to realize. Browning's first start of 2025 was almost a worst case scenario. Fortunately, there's nowhere to go from here but up.

1. Michael Penix Jr., Atlanta Falcons

• 2024 EPA/game: 2.6
• Week 3 EPA: -19.5
• Difference: 22.1 points worse

Penix threw for nearly 300 yards in his first start as Atlanta's unquestioned QB1. Then he took a backseat in Week 2 as the Falcons prevailed in a defensive battle over a lost and injured J.J. McCarthy, faring much better against Flores' defense than Browning would.

Week 3, however, saw the wheels come off.

Penix was given an opportunity to make a statement against the league's 21st-ranked passing defense against the 0-2 Carolina Panthers. Instead, Bryce Young left Sunday's matchup with more wins than Atlanta had points scored. Penix played badly enough he was forced to yield garbage time snaps to Kirk Cousins, doing a one-game speedrun through the opposite of what happened with the Falcons' quarterback room the year prior.

The good news? Penix didn't get sacked. The bad news? Despite a lack of pressure that led to just two Panthers' quarterback hits and created reasonable space in the pocket, the second-year quarterback was a mess. His average completion made it just four yards downfield. The green light to throw downfield remained lit, especially in a game the Falcons spent trailing for 49 minutes. Penix did his best to dim it.

The silver lining is his was Penix's sixth NFL start. He's going to have growing pains. And one of those interceptions came on fourth down and he still managed to make a touchdown-saving tackle (the Panthers would score later that drive anyway).

Another one

📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/vXF8JUdWHb

— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) September 21, 2025

Still, it's tough to put a positive spin on a pick-six in which Penix spent entirely too much time trying to look off a defense that clearly knew what was coming.

Took it CHAU the way to the house

📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/te3OJISzta

— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) September 21, 2025

That's two rough starts in a row for Penix. One more and he's in danger of it becoming a trend.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Grossest NFL QBs of Week 3: Michael Penix flops, Justin Herbert redeems