Alex Smith’s performance on Monday night was the best performance by a quarterback in any game this season with a RIPPEN of 57.977. The next closest performance was Aaron Rodgers in week 7 with a RIPPEN of 43.235.
Smith’s incredible performance on Monday night wasn’t perfect though according to passer rating. He only charted a 157.1, which is, of course, absolutely ridiculous. Take a look at the list of games where the QB has ended with a perfect rating and try to tell me with a straight face that Alex Smith’s Monday night performance was worse than all of these. For instance, in 2005 Roethlisberger finished a game 9 for 11 with 232 passing yards and 2 TD and a perfect passer rating. How in the world can that be better than Alex Smith’s 18 for 19 performance for 232 yards and three touchdowns? It’s because passer rating is terrible.
RIPPEN rankings for week 8 performances:
| Player | Team | RIPPEN | QB rating |
| Smith, A. | SF | 57.977 | 157.1 |
| Manning, P. | DEN | 32.232 | 138.9 |
| Ryan, M. | ATL | 30.023 | 137.4 |
| Brady, T. | NE | 26.385 | 131.1 |
| Roethlisberger, B. | PIT | 24.045 | 121.0 |
| Stafford, M. | DET | 23.692 | 101.7 |
| Luck, A. | IND | 21.747 | 89.5 |
| Wilson, R. | SEA | 19.716 | 96.8 |
| Cutler, J. | CHI | 18.324 | 83.3 |
| Freeman, J. | TB | 17.853 | 104.2 |
| Newton, C. | CAR | 17.054 | 57.0 |
| Ponder, C. | MIN | 16.026 | 74.8 |
| Bradford, S. | STL | 16.004 | 88.9 |
| Cassel, M. | KC | 14.130 | 85.1 |
| Gabbert, B. | JAX | 13.057 | 80.6 |
| Manning, E. | NYG | 12.378 | 58.4 |
| Rodgers, A. | GB | 12.331 | 95.7 |
| Romo, T. | DAL | 12.222 | 58.3 |
| Palmer, C. | OAK | 10.750 | 83.8 |
| Vick, M. | PHI | 10.046 | 84.3 |
| Griffin, III, R. | WAS | 9.623 | 72.8 |
| Sanchez, M | NYJ | 8.801 | 65.6 |
| Skelton, J. | ARI | 8.159 | 68.6 |
| Brees, D. | NO | 8.158 | 72.8 |
| Weeden, B. | CLE | 7.906 | 55.9 |
| Tannehill, R. | MIA | 3.299 | 50.4 |
| Rivers, P. | SD | 2.015 | 65.1 |
Season RIPPEN rankings through 8 weeks of games:
| Player | Team | RIPPEN | QB rating |
| Manning, P. | DEN | 30.093 | 109.0 |
| Rodgers, A. | GB | 24.579 | 107.9 |
| Brady, T. | NE | 23.768 | 100.6 |
| Griffin, III, R. | WAS | 23.374 | 97.3 |
| Smith, A. | SF | 22.617 | 102.1 |
| Ryan, M. | ATL | 22.566 | 103.0 |
| Schaub, M. | HOU | 22.415 | 93.1 |
| Newton, C. | CAR | 21.982 | 75.2 |
| Roethlisberger, B. | PIT | 20.834 | 101.4 |
| Brees, D. | NO | 18.954 | 93.0 |
| Freeman, J. | TB | 18.242 | 93.3 |
| Manning, E. | NYG | 17.580 | 89.1 |
| Bradford, S. | STL | 17.485 | 82.4 |
| Locker, J. | TEN | 17.147 | 90.2 |
| Romo, T. | DAL | 16.548 | 78.8 |
| Stafford, M. | DET | 16.317 | 82.1 |
| Tannehill, R. | MIA | 16.205 | 75.8 |
| Ponder, C. | MIN | 16.113 | 85.8 |
| Cutler, J. | DEN | 15.904 | 78.9 |
| Dalton, A. | CIN | 15.372 | 87.7 |
| Luck, A. | IND | 14.992 | 74.6 |
| Vick, M. | PHI | 14.703 | 78.6 |
| Wilson, R. | SEA | 14.229 | 82.4 |
| Palmer, C. | OAK | 14.062 | 85.7 |
| Flacco, J. | BAL | 13.770 | 84.0 |
| Rivers, P. | SD | 13.328 | 82.4 |
| Fitzpatrick, R. | BUF | 12.039 | 86.1 |
| Weeden, B. | CLE | 11.485 | 70.8 |
| Sanchez, M. | NYJ | 11.484 | 72.8 |
| Cassel, M. | KC | 10.430 | 69.0 |
| Kolb, K. | ARI | 9.662 | 86.1 |
| Gabbert, B. | JAX | 8.943 | 77.9 |
| Skelton, J. | ARI | 8.363 | 64.5 |
| Hasselbeck, M. | TEN | 8.039 | 83.3 |
Cheers.
