National Football League

Seven worst quarterback performances from Week 15

Published Dec. 20, 2015 11:44 p.m. ET

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During a pressure-packed NFL Week 15 in which playoff dreams were crushed and kindled, there were some pitiful quarterback performances that marred an otherwise glorious weekend of football.

Predictably, the quarterbacks from Dallas’ Saturday night debacle made their way on this list, while a couple of veritable superstars surprisingly showed up on Sunday having forgotten to eat their Wheaties.

These were the worst quarterback performances from Week 15.

Matt Cassel/Kellen Moore, Dallas Cowboys

Much to the delight of everyone except Cowboys fans, Dallas’ playoff hopes finally got buried for good Saturday night when the visiting New York Jets used a last-minute field goal to walk out winners.

At 4-10, it’s finally time to recognize what a bust this season has been for Jerry Jones’ ‘Boys, and it all starts with the owner’s failure to draft a replacement for Tony Romo. Perhaps that’s now in the forefront of his mind, based on a comment after the game about being in great position to draft top talent.

“We’ve got to take advantage of this,” Jones said, via Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News. “The entire system — if you’ve had the season we’ve had — it’s set up to give you the advantage in talent coming up for next year.

That’s a story worthy of its own column. For now, let’s just focus on the horrific performances by Cassel and Moore against New York.

Cassel got things started out by throwing one of the worst interceptions you’ll see all year (watch here). Already rumored to be on a “short leash” heading into the game, it didn’t take long for head coach Jason Garrett to yank the veteran and insert Moore, who had never before played in an NFL regular-season game.

Moore promptly threw an interception on his second career attempt but then followed it up with a touchdown to Dez Bryant to give Dallas the lead heading into halftime. He crumpled down the stretch, however, throwing two more interceptions and passing for just 158 yards on 25 attempts.

In total, the Cowboys managed just 176 passing yards on 33 attempts with the one touchdown and four interceptions. Not surprisingly, they lost 19-16 in a game that was theirs to win if they only had a quarterback.

Matt Hasselbeck, Indianapolis Colts

The longer Hasselbeck plays for the Colts, the worse it seems he gets, though it’s not all his fault. After starting out red hot the first four games, he’s cooled off considerably since, thanks to a bevy of injuries that have affected his 40-year old body considerably.

On Sunday, Hasselbeck was assaulted often by the relentless defensive front of the Houston Texans, while Frank Gore and the running game failed to provide any balance to protect the aging quarterback. As a result, he managed just 147 yards passing on 30 attempts, throwing one touchdown and an interception.

Without any offense to speak of, Indy fell at home to Houston, 16-10, which beat the Colts for the first time ever in Indianapolis. Also, the loss moved the Texans ahead of the Colts by a game in the AFC South with two games left to play.

It may be too late at this stage in the game, but the Colts are hoping to get Andrew Luck back for Week 16, per Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, when they travel to Miami to face the Dolphins.

Marcus Mariota/Zach Mettenberger, Tennessee Titans

Rookie passer Mariota was abused badly by New England’s front four early in the game and left with a knee injury that is believed to be another MCL-related deal, per Pro Football Talk.

Mariota managed just 32 yards on 3-of-6 passing, was sacked three times for 32 yards and lost a fumble that turned into six points for the Pats before giving way to Mettenberger.

The second-year signal-caller from LSU did a lot of good things, completing 20 of 28 passes for 242 yards with two touchdowns, one of which can be attributed to tight end Delanie Walker, who bowled his way into the end zone by sheer force of will.

[click to see video of Walker's TD]

In addition to the two scores, though, Mettenberger threw two interceptions in a game the Titans never really had a chance of winning.

Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

It was strange seeing Rodgers struggle to make plays against the Oakland Raiders Sunday.

[click to see tweet about Rodgers performance]

One of the league’s best passers, Rodgers completed just 56.4 percent of his passes and the Packers gained just 5.2 yards per attempt. Yes, his receivers dropped more than a few passes, but he wasn’t as sharp as we’re used to seeing, either. He also managed just one touchdown and threw an interception to David Amerson down at the goal line near the end of the game.

The Packers did win, 30-20, but the victory was more of a team effort than we’re used to seeing when Rodgers is involved. Thanks to some excellent returns on kickoffs by Jeff Janis and a pick-six by rookie Damarious Randall, Green Bay walked out of the Black Hole in Oakland a winner.

Rodgers seems to know the performance wasn’t good enough as the playoffs draw near.

“We’re good enough to win against a team that’s had some good wins,” he said, via ESPN.com.

Oakland is a lot tougher this year than it has been in the past, but the Carolina Panthers the Raiders are not. The entire Packers offense must get sharper if this team has any chance of making noise in the postseason.

Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders

Both starting quarterbacks playing in Oakland Sunday afternoon struggled, and not surprisingly it was the second-year man who ended up on the short end of the stick.

Carr threw two early interceptions in the first quarter, and both led to touchdowns for the Packers. The first one occurred deep in Oakland territory as Carr attempted to hit rookie tight end Clive Walford. Micah Hyde set up Green Bay with a red-zone opportunity, and four plays later fullback John Kuhn delivered with his second touchdown of the season.

Carr’s second interception was just awful. He overthrew his receiver by a long shot and the ball sailed right to Randall, who took it back 43 yards for six points.

[click to see video of Randall's interception]

Carr did manage to bounce back and throw a couple of touchdowns and even get Oakland ahead in the third quarter. Unfortunately, Rodgers struck back immediately with a touchdown of his own.

The Raiders never could get the momentum back in the game, punting twice and losing possession by failing to convert fourth down three times in a row to end the game.

Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers

Big Ben’s final totals look awfully impressive. He finished with 380 passing yards and threw three touchdowns in a 34-27 win over the Denver Broncos.

He also nearly lost the game for the Steelers with his second interception of the night, and if not for the fact that Denver’s receivers all had the dropsies, the Broncos might have won the game.

Everyone watching when he threw the interception to linebacker Brandon Marshall had one thought in their minds: “What in the world are you thinking?”

[click to see tweet about Big Ben's pick]

The Steelers were leading by a touchdown late in the game when it happened, and the turnover gave the Broncos the ball in enemy territory. Roethlisberger should have thrown it away. Instead, he mindlessly threw right into double-coverage and the ball ended up right in Marshall’s lap.

Needless to say, it’s probably going to be a few years before we see Roethlisberger make that bone-headed of a decision again.

Blaine Gabbert, San Francisco 49ers

So much for the Gabbert hype train. After four solid games in a row, it was derailed last weekend in Cleveland and never got back on track this Sunday against the dominant Cincinnati Bengals.

Gabbert threw an unbelievable 50 passes in the game, three of which were picked off by Cincinnati.

One of them was absolutely not his fault, as tight end Vance McDonald dropped a perfect pass, which was then deflected right to Adam Jones. The other two, however, were on Gabbert, who was not sharp. He lamented a lack of execution after the game.

“I think it’s just up to the players to execute,” Gabbert said, per Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area. “We prepare really well all week and we just have to find a way, somehow find a way to have that carry over to the first couple drives of the game. When you start fast on offense, it gets everybody in the flow and you start playing team football.”

In the end, Gabbert had 295 yards on 30-of-50 passing with one touchdown and the three interceptions, and the 49ers lost at home 24-14 against the Bengals, who came into the game with many starters out due to injuries.

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