NFL quarterback power rankings: Dak Prescott tumbles, Joe Flacco here to stay?

Josh Allen is playing better than any quarterback in the league even though he's two weeks removed from one of the worst performances of his career. Joe Flacco ‒ at age 39 ‒ is playing better than at any point in his career. Dak Prescott is playing some of the worst football of his career.

Those are among the unexpected ‒ and even strange ‒ realities to emerge from ESPN's QBR rankings after Week 6 of the 2024 NFL season.

Allen maintained his hold on the top spot after the Buffalo Bills' 23-20 win over the New York Jets on "Monday Night Football," bouncing back from completing just 30 percent of his passes in a Week 5 loss to the Houston Texans. He's followed by Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow at No. 2 and Washington Commanders rookie Jayden Daniels.

Then there's Flacco, holding steady at No. 4 playing in place of Anthony Richardson with the Indianapolis Colts, even though he's never finished better than No. 8 in the NFL in QBR in his prime with the Baltimore Ravens. Based on QBR, a QB change back to Richardson isn't a debate, even though he's expected to return from injury this week against the Miami Dolphins. Richardson currently sits at No. 22 in the rankings.

Prescott, meanwhile, has gone from finishing No. 2 in the league in QBR last season with the Dallas Cowboys to No. 26 through Week 6. He dropped 10 spots after the Cowboys' disastrous 47-9 loss to the Detroit Lions last Sunday. Prescott's 11.4 QBR ranked last among NFL starters in Week 6.

Here's how the rest of the NFL's quarterbacks rank based on QBR for the season, and how they did in terms of QBR during Week 6:

NFL WEEK 7 GAME PICKS: Expert predictions, odds for every matchup

ESPN's QBR, explained

Every week, ESPN gives each quarterback a QBR for their latest performance. According to ESPN, the rating is intended to "incorporate all of a quarterback’s contributions to winning, including how he impacts the game on passes, rushes, turnovers and penalties."

QBR measures each play's degree of success and how much credit the quarterback deserves for the play. The statistic also takes into account the strength of opposing defenses faced. The final result is an efficiency rating as a number on a 0-to-100-point scale. The cumulative rating is averaged out on a per-play basis across the course of the season.

Ranking NFL quarterbacks by total QBR ahead of Week 7

Here's how every starting quarterback with at least 50 pass attempts this season stacks up before Week 7 of the NFL season, based on their 2024 QBR:

1. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills (QBR: 79.3)

2. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals (75.1)

3. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders (73.7)

4. Joe Flacco, Indianapolis Colts (72.0)

5. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers (70.3)

6. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens (69.4)

7. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans (66.3)

8. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals (65.9)

9. Andy Dalton, Carolina Panthers (64.4)

10. Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints (64.1)

11. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles (63.2)

12. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (62.5)

13. Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks (62.0)

14. Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons (62.0)

15. Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings (58.2)

16. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs (57.8)

17. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers (57.6)

18. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars (56.3)

19. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams (56.0)

20. Justin Fields, Pittsburgh Steelers (54.0)

21. Daniel Jones, New York Giants (51.4)

22. Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts (51.4)

23. Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets (50.3)

24. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers (49.5)

25. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions (49.1)

26. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys (48.9)

27. Aidan O'Connell, Las Vegas Raiders (46.0)

28. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears (45.5)

29. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos (44.0)

30. Gardner Minshew, Las Vegas Raiders (40.2)

31. Jacoby Brissett, New England Patriots (39.5)

32. Will Levis, Tennessee Titans (27.3)

33. Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins (26.6)

34. Tyler Huntley, Miami Dolphins (22.0)

35. Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns (21.7)

36. Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers (10.4)

NFL Week 6 QBR leaders

1. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers (36-24 win at Seahawks) — 90.5

2. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears (35-16 win vs. Jaguars) — 88.4

3. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals (17-7 win vs. Giants) — 87.7

4. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills (23-20 win at Jets)

5. Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons (38-20 win at Panthers) — 85.3

6. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers (34-13 win vs. Cardinals) — 81.4

7. Justin Fields, Pittsburgh Steelers (32-13 win at Raiders) — 74.7

8. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers (23-16 win at Broncos) — 74.6

9. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans (41-21 win at Patriots) — 74.5

10. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders (30-23 loss at Ravens) — 74.2

11. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles (20-16 win vs. Browns) — 73.1

12. Joe Flacco, Indianapolis Colts (20-17 win at Titans) — 72.8

13. Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens (30-23 win vs. Commanders) — 72.5

14. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions (47-9 win at Cowboys) — 71.3

15. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars (35-16 loss at Bears) — 66.6

16. Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets (23-20 loss vs. Bills)

17. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos (23-16 loss at Chargers) — 56.0

18. Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals (34-13 loss at Packers) —55.8

19. Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks (36-24 loss vs. 49ers) — 53.1

20. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (51-27 win at Saints) — 52.1

21. Andy Dalton, Carolina Panthers (38-20 loss vs. Panthers) — 51.0

22. Aidan O'Connell, Las Vegas Raiders (32-13 loss vs. Steelers) — 47.7

23. Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns (20-16 loss at Eagles) — 34.6

24. Drake Maye, New England Patriots (41-21 loss vs. Texans) — 31.1

25. Will Levis, Tennessee Titans (20-17 loss vs. Colts) — 29.0

26. Spencer Rattler, New Orleans Saints (51-27 loss vs. Buccaneers) — 27.7

27. Daniel Jones, New York Giants (17-7 loss vs. Bengals) — 18.2

28. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys (47-9 loss vs. Lions) — 11.4

Follow USA TODAY Network sports reporter Mark Giannotto on social media @mgiannotto and email him at mgiannotto@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL quarterback power rankings by QBR ahead of Week 7