Trevor Lawrence, Jake Browning, Sam Howell and the grossest QBs of Week 16
Browning was due for a dropoff. Howell, on the other hand, is a long-smoldering coal seam poisoning the land above him.
Trevor Lawrence is going through it right now.
The former No. 1 pick’s career has been defined, thus far, by collapse. There was whatever the hell was going on as a rookie, which could be explained away (validly) by the presence of human canker sore Urban Meyer on the sideline. Then there was 2022’s rise, punctuated by his ability to make the Los Angeles Chargers fold after a 27-0 lead en route to a Wild Card win in Jacksonville.
2023 has swung the pendulum back in the opposite direction. After beginning the season 8-3, his Jaguars have crashed back to 8-7. Their playoff position has only been buoyed by the awfulness of the injury-riddled AFC South around them. Lawrence hasn’t been immune to that; his four-game losing streak saw him suffer an ankle sprain and wind up in the league’s concussion protocol leading up to Week 16.
Then, however … eesh.
What a game from the @Buccaneers' defense!
: #JAXvsTB on CBS
: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/UIg1XAk0MB pic.twitter.com/fbCEayC3Tn
— NFL (@NFL) December 24, 2023
Lawrence’s turnover woes continued in Tampa, where he threw two interceptions and fumbled once while falling behind 30-0. He eventually recovered for a touchdown toss to Calvin Ridley that only mattered for fantasy managers. He was then was yanked for CJ Beathard — partially due to a shoulder injury, partially due to a hopeless game — that only further endangers his finish to 2023.
Lawrence was bad. Was he Sunday’s most disappointing quarterback?
Fortunately, we’ve got tools to better understand just how damaging each underwhelming performances was. Using the advanced stat expected points added (EPA) can gauge how much a quarterback brings to the table compared to a typical player.
By comparing each passer’s Week 16 EPA against their 2023 adjusted average, we get a better picture of just how frustrating their days were. And we can find both of those thanks to The Athletic’s Ben Baldwin and his incredibly useful stats sites RBSDM.com and HabitatRing.com. So let’s take a look at who disappointed the most in the 16th Sunday of the 2023 season.