Week 3 NFL QB stock up, down: Is Jets' Zach Wilson seeing ghosts?

NFL Next Gen Stats (NGS) highlighted Minnesota's strategy to blitz at a stunning rate and how Herbert thrived under pressure.

C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans: Houston has found itself a quarterback. Stroud has been brilliant through three weeks, one of two quarterbacks (Herbert is the other) to throw for at least 900 yards without an interception. His 906 passing yards through three games are the third most by a rookie in NFL history.

In Week 3's shocking 37-17 win at Jacksonville, Stroud was 20-of-30 for 280 yards and two touchdowns. He put the game on ice with a 68-yard bomb to fellow rookie Tank Dell in the fourth quarter. The future is bright for the Texans.

Stock down

Zach Wilson, New York Jets: This has to stop.

Head coach Robert Saleh and GM Joe Douglas must find a quarterback — Matt Ryan, Carson Wentz, someone — to replace Wilson. Through three games, Wilson is 44-of-84 for 467 yards, two touchdown passes and four interceptions. On Sunday, he had another miserable game against Bill Belichick and the Patriots, finishing 18-of-36 for 157 yards. He was overwhelmed by the pass rush in a 15-10 loss, taking a phantom sack at one point and constantly settling for checkdowns and not finding open receivers.   

Desmond Ridder, Atlanta Falcons: Atlanta's worst-case scenario occurred in Sunday's 20-6 loss at Detroit. The Lions took away the running game, holding ballyhooed rookie Bijan Robinson to 33 yards on 10 carries. Ridder dropped back to pass 47 times, and Atlanta had its worst offensive output of the season (183 yards). The second-year QB was sacked seven times and only completed 55.2 percent of his passes for an average of 5.3 yards per attempt.

Sam Howell, Washington Commanders: Howell's awful Week 3 performance doesn't erase the positive strides he made the first two weeks, but it's a reminder the Commanders aren't a serious playoff threat with him at quarterback.  Howell was 19-of-29 for 170 yards and four interceptions against the Bills, who have put their embarrassing Week 1 loss to Wilson and the Jets behind them by outscoring their past two opponents, 75-13, including a 37-3 rout over Washington. 

Howell was under duress most of the game, with NFL NGS noting Buffalo pressured him on 69.2 percent of his dropbacks.

Perhaps no play better sums up his game than this pick-six by defensive end A.J. Epenesa. Howell was flushed out of the pocket and mistakenly thought he could make a throw on the run. He couldn't, and the play ended up as the cherry on top of a you-know-what sundae.