NFL 2024 Stats: Joe Burrow Outperforms Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson Ahead of Week 6

To most NFL fans and analysts, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, and Joe Burrow are top-five quarterbacks. But through five weeks of the 2024 season, the signal-caller on the perhaps worst team of the three has looked like the league’s best passer.

Amongst him, Jackson, and Mahomes, Joe Burrow is having the most prolific offensive season. Burrow currently paces the trio in touchdown passes (12), completion percentage (72.2%), and passing yards (1,370). Burrow’s 12 touchdown tosses are the most in the NFL. His passer rating (113.6) is also the best among qualified quarterbacks.

Despite Burrow’s dominance, the Cincinnati Bengals (1-4) have been one of the league’s most disappointing teams. The Bengals’ lone win came against the woebegone Carolina Panthers. They’ve been competitive in their four defeats: all of them have come by six points or fewer. In the season, their point differential is minus-5.

Burrow has clearly been tremendous since Week 1. So why isn’t Cincinnati winning games? The answer is their leaky defense. The Bengals are allowing 29.0 points per game, second-worst in the NFL. The only team yielding more points on average is the one they’ve beaten: Carolina (31.0 points per game).

Cincinnati has a manageable schedule – @ Giants, @ Browns, vs. Eagles, vs. Raiders – the next four weeks. But they also have very little margin for error in the tough AFC. Unless their defense improves, it will be hard for Burrow to pull the Bengals into the playoffs.

Dak Prescott and C.J. Stroud are top-three in passing yards

The NFL has seen a noticeable dip league-wide in both passing yards per game and points per game over the past few years. Defensive schemes and strategies have adapted to minimize opposing offenses’ big-play potential, putting a ceiling on QB production.

This, in theory, makes it more difficult to rack up passing yards. But Dak Prescott and C.J. Stroud have found a way to overcome the adversity and sit near the top of the league leaderboard. Five games deep, Prescott (1,424) and Stroud (1,385) rank second and third in passing yards. Only Geno Smith (1,466) has more than the NFL’s Texas tandem.

Part of the reason Prescott and Stroud slot so high is their teams’ lack of rushing prowess. Prescott’s Dallas Cowboys have posted the second-fewest rushing yards per carry (3.5) and per game (82.0) in the league across five weeks. Stroud’s Houston Texans, without star running back Joe Mixon, averaged 3.4 yards per rush and a mere 77 rushing yards per game since Week 1.

The Texans should be getting Mixon back soon, which will lessen the burden on Stroud. The Cowboys may have found a short-term solution at the position in Rico Dowdle, who could do the same for Prescott. However, Dowdle is far more unproven than Mixon. As a result, Prescott will likely remain in contention for the league’s most passing yards all season long.