After somewhat of a rough start to the season around the division, the quarterback play in the entire NFC North has taken a dramatic turn for the better in recent weeks.
Well, except for the Chicago Bears, but we'll get into that in a bit.
The Green Bay Packers got a huge win over the Chicago Bears in Week 5, and as we approach a primetime matchup against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6, we're going to take a look around the entire division at the state of quarterback play in our newest NFC North QB rankings.
This past week might have been the best we've seen yet across the board, with the Bears set to welcome Caleb Williams back into the mix soon.
NFC North QB rankings, Week 6: Bears need Caleb Williams, Jordan Love takes over
The Packers' victory over the Bears in Week 5 was satisfying enough just with the final score, but even more satisfying knowing how confident Bears fans were that Tyson Bagent could go toe-to-toe with Jordan Love.
It's safe to say that the "Bat Signal" is out for Caleb Williams after the way(s) Bagent struggled against the Packers in Week 5. We even got a glimpse at Case Keenum in last week's game.
Bagent completed just 12 of 21 pass attempts for 87 yards, a pair of interceptions, and no touchdowns. His passer rating on the day was 27.4, and a fun little factoid to keep in your back pocket (for future reference) is that spiking the ball 21 times in a game (0-for-21 passing, 0 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT) would yield a passer rating of 39.6.
Spiking the ball would have been a more efficient offense for the Bears as opposed to the results of Bagent's dropback passing.
Needless to say, it wasn't the best day at the office for Bagent, and the Packers made certain that he's no longer thought of as a high-end backup. The perception just a couple of weeks ago was that anyone could go out there and run Ben Johnson's offense, but I stand corrected.
Kyler Murray is officially coming off his best game as a Minnesota Viking, and in a number of different ways.
Great.
Murray completed 24 of 30 passes (80 percent) just one week after completing 73 percent of his throws. He had his best game so far in terms of:
- Yards per attempt (7.6)
- Passer rating (109.6)
- Rushing yards (51 on 10 attempts)
As many expected, time on task has been beneficial for Murray, who is getting more and more used to his new surroundings in Minnesota. And he was out there looking explosive, posting the fastest play so far this season (20.82 MPH) for any quarterback in the league (per Next Gen Stats).
He's also not putting the ball in harm's way, and the Vikings are undefeated.
Again: Great.
Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff has already thrown 191 total passes so far this season, and he has yet to throw a single interception.
He's got 12 passing touchdowns, and now a rushing touchdown after the Lions' blowout win over the Arizona Cardinals.
You can only play who's in front of you, but the Cardinals were completely overmatched by this Detroit offense, and Goff made sure they knew it. His 14.3 yards per completion against the Cardinals was his best mark of the season so far, and this is really what we've come to expect from Goff on a weekly basis.
Unless he has a bad game, you're almost always going to hear the same things about Goff. He's accurate with the football, he doesn't often put it in harm's way, and he's borderline robotic with his consistency.
Shockingly, he's barely in the top 10 of MVP odds heading into Week 6.
After spending (too) much of the first five weeks of the season jockeying for position in these weekly NFC North QB rankings, Jordan Love has finally taken his rightful place at the top of the list.
In short, that simply means that Love has met -- and in some instances, exceeded -- the lofty expectations we've set for him since before the season started.
When it comes to pure talent, Love is up there at or near the top of the entire league. Talent has never been a question, nor has consistency, really. But every quarterback goes through streaks at times, and Love's 2026 season got off to an unfortunately slow start.
And we had to acknowledge it in the moment, but what he showed us all against the Bears on Sunday was really important. Love proved against the Bears that he is not only the most talented passer in the NFC North, but he can simply make throws most quarterbacks can't dream of making.
And that right there is what makes Love the best quarterback in the NFC North (and beyond): He is one of the rare players who is equally capable of operating an offense with outstanding efficiency as well as making the types of plays and throws off-script that absolutely blow the roof off his ceiling.
Love absolutely shredded the Bears last week to the tune of 376 yards passing, a completion rate of 80.6 percent, two touchdowns, and a passer rating of 137.5. And somehow, it felt even better than that as it was unfolding in real time.
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