During Week 9 action, we witnessed some of the worst NFL quarterback performances of the season. In a 27-0 loss to the Cleveland Browns, rookie Clayton Tune led the Arizona Cardinals to less than 60 total yards of offense.
In a blowout loss to the Green Bay Packers in the NFC West, Brett Rypien was a catastrophe in place of an injured Matthew Stafford. Meanwhile, Geno Smith’s problems with the Seattle Seahawks persisted.
These are the top five worst NFL quarterback performances in Week 9 of the 2023 season.
Clayton Tune, Arizona Cardinals
Arizona’s decision to bench, and then ultimately trade Joshua Dobbs, will be under a microscope for some time now. As Dobbs was leading his new Minnesota Vikings team to a surprise win, Tune put up one of the worst quarterback performances we’ve seen in some time.
The rookie fifth-round pick was sacked seven times while facing persistent pressure from Cleveland’s defense. On 20 attempts, he managed only 17 net passing yards. You read that correctly. Each pass is less than a yard long. In a broader sense, Arizona’s 58 total yards and seven first downs pushed NFL offenses back decades. What’s the good news? Kyler Murray is on his way back to the field. What’s the bad news? Arizona enters Week 10 with a record of 1-8 and the lowest record in the NFL.
Tyson Bagent, Chicago Bears
The pleasant vibes that came with Bagent leading Chicago to a win in his first start as a starter in Week 7 have faded. In last week’s loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, the undrafted free agent from Shepherd tossed two interceptions.
Bagent had his worst game of his career on Sunday, with Justin Fields still out due to injury. In a 24-17 loss against the New Orleans Saints, he threw three interceptions and turned the ball over four times. The youngster’s turnover-prone tactics damaged a game in which the Bears were within striking distance.
A career day for Paulson Adebo 🔥
2 INTs, 1 FF, 1 FR, 7 TKLS, 3 passes defended
📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/ED5OAO9XYo
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) November 5, 2023
Bagent’s four fumbles cost the Saints a total of 10 points in a one-touchdown game. A rookie quarterback who played against less-than-stellar opposition in college should struggle. But Bagent’s turnovers cost the Bears, as he had one of the worst Week 9 NFL quarterback performances.
Brett Rypien, Los Angeles Rams
Rypien, an undrafted free agent out of Boise State in 2019, has never been a starter-caliber quarterback in the NFL. In fact, he came into Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers with four touchdowns and eight interceptions in nine career games (two starts).
As a result, it was not surprising that Rypien struggled on the road against a good Packers defense, ultimately losing 20-3. Rypien, who took over for an ailing Matthew Stafford, turned the ball over twice in Los Angeles’ most recent loss.
As with Bagent, the turnovers accounted for 10 Packers points in what was not necessarily as lopsided of a game as the final score would indicate. The only saving grace here is the fact that Rams head coach Sean McVay believes Stafford will be able to return for the 3-6 Rams against Seattle following their Week 10 bye.
Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers
When their quarterback hands the ball over three times, the Carolina Panthers are not good enough to win. Most teams aren’t even good enough. But when two of those errors result in pick-sixes from the opposing side, competing becomes pointless.
“It happens offensively. And it happens as a quarterback. I told Bryce in there that I’ve seen worse games from the top quarterbacks in the game. After the game, Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich said, “Way worse.” “You don’t flinch, do you?” In some respects, this is beneficial for him. In some respects, having to recover from something like this is beneficial.”
2ND PICK-SIX OF THE GAME FOR KENNY MOORE II
📺: #INDvsCAR on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/d4RDZpcMkc pic.twitter.com/AkMpiHUbdm— NFL (@NFL) November 5, 2023
Unfortunately, Young has seen far too many of these games. Nearly halfway through his first NFL season, the rookie No. 1 pick has eight touchdowns and nine interceptions. While Sunday’s performance was awful, it may have served as a learning experience.
Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks
Smith threw an interception and lost a fumble in the Ravens’ 37-3 loss on the road on Sunday. He also completed only around half of his passes and averaged 5.6 yards per attempt. This is not going to cut it.
Smith sees it as a continuation of big recent difficulties. Over the last four games, the reigning NFL Comeback Player of the Year has four touchdowns and eight turnovers. Since Week 12 of last season, he has 22 touchdowns and 18 interceptions in 15 starts. One has to question if the first half of last season was a fluke for a quarterback who was nothing more than a journeyman before to the 2022 season.