The rookie dropped back on his first NFL drive, and the ball ended up in a defender’s hands. Then it happened again on the next drive. And the next. And the next. Five interceptions in the first half of his career, one on almost every single offensive possession, while coaches on the Buffalo sideline watched it happen and did nothing. The stadium went quiet somewhere around pick three. The benching didn’t come until halftime, with the Bills on their way to a 54-24 loss against the Chargers.
Worse Than Spiking
Aug 23, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Nathan Peterman (10) throws the ball against the San Francisco 49ers in the first half at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Nathan Peterman’s 2017 debut helped produce a passer rating that would trail a quarterback who simply spiked the ball into the turf on every single snap, which would yield a 39.6 rating. For context, Peterman’s brief Buffalo tenure featured multiple appearances with passer ratings at or near the bottom of the league. A quarterback who spiked the ball into the turf on every single snap would post a 39.6 rating. Peterman was, at times, statistically worse than doing nothing at all. The Bills had benched Tyrod Taylor to give him that start. Taylor had thrown just three interceptions across nine games that season. Peterman matched that total before the first quarter ended, then added two more for good measure.
The Pattern
Dec 31, 2017; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback DeShone Kizer (7) and Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (19) talk after their game at Heinz Field. The Steelers won 28-24. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Peterman wasn’t an anomaly. He was a symptom. DeShone Kizer went 0-15 as a starter that same 2017 season in Cleveland, throwing 22 interceptions against 11 touchdowns while Hue Jackson kept running him back out as the starter. Stan Gelbaugh went winless as a starter for the 1992 Seahawks, a team that scored just 140 points all season, an anemic 8.8 points per game. Spencer Rattler opened 0-10 as the Saints’ starter across the 2024 and 2025 seasons before finally earning his first NFL win on October 5, 2025, against the Giants, then finished the 2025 season with a 2-7 record. Every franchise has one of these guys.
The Real Disease
Dec 31, 2017; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback DeShone Kizer (7) leaves after losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Philip G. Pavely-Imagn Images
The assumption is always talent. The kid couldn’t play. But Peterman replaced a competent starter on a coach’s whim. Kizer started 15 straight losses because his coach wouldn’t adapt. Rattler inherited a roster in freefall. The worst quarterback seasons don’t cluster around bad arms. They cluster around organizational chaos: unstable coaching, misaligned systems, front offices at war with their own sidelines. One anonymous Bears staffer described GM Ryan Poles as “an arrogant asshole” running “a team that hasn’t been successful.” Caleb Williams opened his career with a string of losses in afternoon and primetime games under that leadership before helping lead Chicago back to contention.
$29 Million Bonfire
Dec 20, 2009; Denver, CO, USA; Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell (2) walks off the field after the Raiders’ 20-19 victory over the Denver Broncos at Invesco Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-Imagn Images
JaMarcus Russell collected roughly $29 million in guaranteed money from the Oakland Raiders and delivered an 18-touchdown, 23-interception passing line across three seasons, with a career completion rate just over 52 percent. Ryan Leaf went 4-17 as a starter with a career completion rate of 48.4 percent. Akili Smith, the third overall pick in 1999, managed five passing touchdowns in 17 career starts. The draft capital burned on these quarterbacks could have rebuilt entire rosters. Instead, it created salary cap craters that took years to escape. The money didn’t buy talent. It bought paralysis.
Defense Hides Everything
Peyton Manning completed 13-of-23 for 141 yards, zero touchdowns, one interception, and took five sacks in Super Bowl 50. His EPA per dropback ranked among the worst Super Bowl quarterback performances of the 21st century. He won the championship anyway. Kerry Collins went 15-of-39 for 112 yards with four picks in Super Bowl XXXV. The Ravens won 34-7 behind Ray Lewis and a historically dominant defense. Two of the worst quarterback performances in Super Bowl history still produced a Lombardi Trophy in one case and a lopsided defensive showcase in the other.
Two Franchises
Heath Shuler went third overall in 1994 on one of the richest rookie contracts in NFL history at the time. He went 4-9 with Washington over three seasons, throwing 13 touchdowns against 19 interceptions. Then he moved to New Orleans. He became the worst starting quarterback there, too. Only one player in NFL history earned the worst-starter designation for two separate franchises in at least one prominent ranking. Some failures, it turns out, are portable. But both organizations that employed him were cycling coaches and systems during his tenure.
The Diagnostic
Nov 30, 2008; Minneapolis, MN, USA: Minnesota Vikings quarterback Gus Frerotte (12) throws a 99 yard touchdown pass in the second quarter against the Chicago Bears at the Metrodome. It is the longest play in Vikings offense history. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images
Gus Frerotte, a seventh-round pick, outperformed Shuler under the same coaching staff. Sam Darnold looked finished with the Jets, then posted a career year in Minnesota under Kevin O’Connell’s stable system. The pattern repeats across decades: franchise dysfunction manufactures quarterback failure, and franchise stability rehabilitates it. Fewer than half of first-round quarterbacks pan out by most analytical measures, and the miss rate spikes when coaching turnover is highest. The “worst QB” label doesn’t diagnose the player. It diagnoses the building.
Live Wreckage
Dec 14, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler (2) warms up prior to the game against the Carolina Panthers at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
Spencer Rattler’s 0-10 start as a Saints starter was among the worst opening stretches in modern NFL history before he collected two wins late in the 2025 season to finish 2-7. Caleb Williams’ initial afternoon and primetime starts came with double-digit average losing margins, a collapse pattern that mirrors organizational misalignment more than arm strength, even as he later helped Chicago to an 11-6 record, an NFC North title, and the franchise’s first playoff win in 15 years. The Saints face a financial and roster reckoning if they move on from Rattler and reset at quarterback. The Bears’ dysfunction has been publicly documented by their own staff. Both franchises are attempting to build toward sustained playoff windows later this decade with quarterback positions currently under heavy scrutiny.
The Bar Test
Dec 15, 1974; Atlanta, GA, USA; FILE PHOTO; Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kim McQuilken (11) in action against the Green Bay Packers at Fulton County Stadium. The Falcons defeated the Packers 10-3. Mandatory Credit: Manny Rubio-Imagn Images
Kim McQuilken posted a career passer rating of 17.9 across 26 games, the second lowest ever for a quarterback with more than 200 attempts, and in his limited starts for the Falcons he sat below virtually anyone in the modern record book. Chris Weinke went 2-17 as an NFL starter. Cleo Lemon’s lone win in a 1-15 Dolphins season came on an overtime walk-off against Baltimore. Every franchise has buried one of these names. The ones that learned from it fixed the front office first and the quarterback second. The ones that didn’t are still adding names to the list.
If you enjoyed this article, please like and follow us here on MSN! Thank you for reading, and have a great day!
Sources:
“Bills Bench Peterman for Tyrod Taylor After 5-INT Half.” NFL.com, 18 Nov 2017.
“The Bills Played Themselves Benching Tyrod Taylor.” Andscape, 19 Nov 2017.
“The Worst Starting QB in Each NFL Franchise’s History.” The Big Lead, 20 May 2025.
“Spencer Rattler Earns First NFL Win as Saints Beat Giants at Home.” Fox News, 5 Oct 2025.
