NFL Report Cards: Team-by-Team Grades for Week 13
What we know about the NFL landscape is still drastically outweighed by what we don't know.
This is the beauty of the NFL—it keeps us guessing. One week, we can think we have a clear-cut list of contenders, but the next shatters our faulty assumptions. Add in the consistent possibility of something upsetting the apple cart, like an injury or a little-used player breaking out and finding an important role, and all of a sudden the NFL playoff picture tends to look all the murkier even as the list of contenders thins out.
Over here at grading central, we've kept tabs on all of these contenders and pretenders each week throughout the season. As one might expect in a league filled with parity, the vast majority of teams are grouped around the middle, forming a near-perfect bell curve. Yes, some outliers (both positive and negative) are breaking out as we speak.
Criteria for Grading
- Coaching decisions and how a team performed on offense, defense and special teams.
- The caliber of opponent the team was facing.
- The atmosphere played in: at home, away, weather, etc.
Not Considered
- Excuses. I grade the team on the field, not the ideal squad that could have been out there without injuries, suspensions, etc.
- Expectations. If everyone picked your favorite team to lose and it won, that doesn't mean it gets an A+ grade.
- Results. A team can look really bad and win a game, while another team can look great in defeat. While it's true that winners will often trend higher than losers from week to week, that doesn't mean all of the winners get good grades, while the losers get bad ones.
Each team also gets a cumulative mark, which averages grades thus far in the current season. This will be a running metric all season long. A reminder, though, that this is simply an average.
Grab your red pens. We're on to the grades!
Arizona Cardinals (9-3)
1 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Lost to Atlanta Falcons 29-18
Quarterback Drew Stanton is going to take flak for the rest of the season if the Cardinals' decline continues under his watch, but this loss was hardly on him alone. In reality, the vaunted defense shouldn't have given up 29 points (and 17 unanswered to start the game), while the running game should've been a lot more effective than 3.2 yards per carry.
The buck has to stop with head coach Bruce Arians, who doesn't seem to realize he doesn't have Carson Palmer under center anymore. This team can win with Stanton at the helm, but it can't keep calling games the same way.
Week 13 Grade: C-
2014 Cumulative: B-
Week 14 Opponent: Kansas City Chiefs (Home)
Atlanta Falcons (5-7)
2 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Def. Arizona Cardinals 29-18
This was one of the first full-game wins for the Falcons this season.
Quarterback Matt Ryan played about as well as can be expected, moving the ball against a defense that could've been a lot more trouble against his poor protection. Instead, Ryan was only sacked once and hit three additional times.
In part, that's because Ryan was getting the ball out quickly. It also had a lot to do with running back Steven Jackson and his 101 rushing yards.
Week 13 Grade: B+
2014 Cumulative: C+
Week 14 Opponent: Green Bay Packers (Away)
Baltimore Ravens (7-5)
3 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Lost to San Diego Chargers 34-33
This was a great football game, and the Ravens' loss had more to do with simply not having enough time on their last possession and less about actually dropping the proverbial ball at home against San Diego.
I expected a little bit more out of the Ravens defense, and I would've liked to see Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers pressured a little bit more, but honestly...both offenses were just dealing here.
Week 13 Grade: B
2014 Cumulative: B
Week 14 Opponent: Miami Dolphins (Away)
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Buffalo Bills (7-5)
4 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Def. Cleveland Browns 26-10
No one should've seen this coming.
The Bills had a fantastic week last week against the New York Jets, but the Browns were supposed to be a much tougher test. Instead, the defense—led by a fantastic effort from the front seven—knocked underperforming quarterback Brian Hoyer out of the way when it was 20-3 to allow Johnny "Football" Manziel to see his first game action of the 2014 regular season.
Offensively, this wasn't an incredible performance (thus the minus down there), and four fourth-quarter field goals won't beat a team putting up any sort of a fight.
Week 13 Grade: A-
2014 Cumulative: B
Week 14 Opponent: Denver Broncos (Away)
Carolina Panthers (3-8-1)
5 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Lost to Minnesota Vikings 31-13
This is how far the NFC South has fallen.
The Vikings aren't terrible, but the space between a contender in the NFC South and an also-ran in the NFC North shouldn't be so ridiculously huge. Yet, here the Panthers are, outmanned, outplayed and outcoached against a team that should've been contributing to this game's comedy of errors, not playing the straight man.
Offense, defense and (especially) special teams...the Panthers were terrible.
Week 13 Grade: F
2014 Cumulative: C-
Week 14 Opponent: New Orleans Saints (Away)
Chicago Bears (5-7)
6 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Lost to Detroit Lions 34-17
The game wasn't as bad as the final score indicates, but the cumulative effect of the Lions pouring it on both offensively and defensively made the Bears fall apart, giving up two fourth-quarter scores as they tried to catch up from their 24-17 third-quarter deficit.
Quarterback Jay Cutler struggled with both the Lions pressure and finding open space on the perimeter, but he was able to pick on their safeties, and tight end Martellus Bennett had himself a day with over 100 yards receiving. The lack of any real running game, though, kept the Bears from finding and keeping any sort of rhythm.
Week 13 Grade: C-
2014 Cumulative: C
Week 14 Opponent: Dallas Cowboys (Home)
Cincinnati Bengals (8-3-1)
7 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Def. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14-13
What an ugly win.
These are not the games that one credits the Bengals for winning. These types of games are where you realize that the performances (even in a win) portend terrible things for the future. This was a bad game that just happened to be against a really bad football team.
With the Bengals, it's not about whether they can beat quality opponents. They can. No, rather, it's about whether this team as constructed (with quarterback Andy Dalton, head coach Marvin Lewis, etc.) will ever be able to string quality games together against the kind of competition they'll need to win against in the playoffs.
When they hardly deserved to beat a terrible Buccaneers team, it's hard to imagine they will.
Week 13 Grade: C
2014 Cumulative: B-
Week 14 Opponent: Pittsburgh Steelers (Home)
Cleveland Browns (7-5)
8 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Lost to Buffalo Bills 26-10
The Johnny Football era is here...maybe.
Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel took over for Brian Hoyer after the latter's terrible performance finally drove Browns coaches to make an in-game switch. This was a stark difference from earlier in the season when Hoyer was one of the more surprising performers and the offense seemed to hum, making people forget the team had a first-round QB languishing on the bench.
Now, the defense has stopped holding up its end of the bargain just as the offense has started to struggle. This led to an ugly loss and a potential change at quarterback for the rest of the season.
Week 13 Grade: D
2014 Cumulative: C+
Week 14 Opponent: Indianapolis Colts (Home)
Dallas Cowboys (8-4)
9 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Lost to Philadelphia Eagles 33-10
The Cowboys were outplayed, yes. But more than that, they were outcoached.
The Eagles came in with a game plan that wouldn't allow running back DeMarco Murray or wide receiver Dez Bryant to beat them consistently, and quarterback Tony Romo and the rest of the offense simply were't able to pick up the slack.
Most surprisingly, the offensive line wasn't able to consistently road-grade against an Eagles front seven that (even when stacking the box) shouldn't have provided that much of a problem.
On the other side of the ball, the Eagles' fast-paced rushing attack simply chipped away until the Cowboys started falling apart.
Week 13 Grade: D
2014 Cumulative: B
Week 14 Opponent: Chicago Bears (Away)
Denver Broncos (9-3)
10 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Def. Kansas City Chiefs 29-16
This game was far more lopsided than the final score indicates.
The Chiefs defense is a known commodity. It's good. Sadly, it wasn't good enough to stop the Broncos from reaching the red zone time and time again. Yet it kept the Broncos out of the end zone enough (five chip-shot field goals) that the game could've been won with some fourth-quarter heroics if the Chiefs had such things within their frame of reference.
All that said, while the score remained somewhat close throughout, the flow of the game never saw the Broncos lose control. They clamped down defensively on the Chiefs (not that difficult) and kept the offense moving in spite of Kansas City's best defensive efforts.
Week 13 Grade: B+
2014 Cumulative: B+
Week 14 Opponent: Buffalo Bills (Home)
Detroit Lions (8-4)
11 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Def. Chicago Bears 34-17
The Lions were simply too much for the Bears. Sometimes it's just that simple.
With quarterback Matthew Stafford comfortable and dealing, plus wide receiver Calvin Johnson at full health, the Lions offense was operating at a level we haven't seen since early on in the season, and the Bears were ill-equipped to stop it.
Defensively, the Lions pass defense still had some issues, but the fact that they were able to win battles across the line of scrimmage completely stopped the Bears running game.
Week 13 Grade: A
2014 Cumulative: B-
Week 14 Opponent: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Home)
Green Bay Packers (9-3)
12 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Def. New England Patriots 26-21
The best team in football?
No one can make a better case than the Packers right now. They had a slow start to the season and some hiccups along the way, but there's no team more balanced or better equipped to run out the regular season and make some noise in the playoffs.
Here, the Packers beat arguably the No. 2 team in football and stymied a Patriots offense (in part) simply by playing keep-away and not letting Patriots QB Tom Brady get into a rhythm.
Week 13 Grade: A-
2014 Cumulative: B+
Week 14 Opponent: Atlanta Falcons (Home)
Houston Texans (6-6)
13 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Def. Tennessee Titans 45-21
The Texans just poured it on, as the Titans had no recourse for stopping them.
Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins racked up 238 of the easiest receiving yards he might ever get, and even defensive end J.J. Watt got into the action with a one-yard touchdown (that's how you know the Texans weren't exactly worried here).
Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick had six passing touchdowns in all, and the Texans defense created four turnovers.
Week 13 Grade: A
2014 Cumulative: B
Week 14 Opponent: Jacksonville Jaguars (Away)
Indianapolis Colts (8-4)
14 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Def. Washington 49-27
Just about everything was working well for the Colts in this game.
I am troubled, just ever so slightly, that Washington's offense was able to put up 27 points on a Colts defense that should've had much more of a field day, but the pass rush only carried them so far, and they did a poor job tackling.
On offense, though, woo boy. Quarterback Andrew Luck finished with 370 yards passing and five touchdowns, two each to wide receiver Donte Moncrief and tight end Coby Fleener.
Week 13 Grade: A-
2014 Cumulative: B
Week 14 Opponent: Cleveland Browns (Away)
Jacksonville Jaguars (2-10)
15 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Def. New York Giants 25-24
Quarterback Blake Bortles led the team with 194 yards passing and 68 yards rushing. It was a reminder that the rookie passer has the tools to be effective in this league, and maybe just enough to keep the media boo birds off his back for a few more weeks.
Most impressively, for the offense, was zero turnovers. If you're looking for one number to prove why the Jaguars were able to pull off this win, that's it.
Defensively, though, the Jaguars have been improving for weeks, and this was the culmination of that. The Giants are terrible, and the Jaguars created three turnovers, including a 41-yard fumble return touchdown by corner Aaron Colvin.
Week 13 Grade: B-
2014 Cumulative: D+
Week 14 Opponent: Houston Texans (Home)
Kansas City Chiefs (7-5)
16 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Lost to Denver Broncos 29-16
The Chiefs need a new trick.
The Broncos showed up and dared quarterback Alex Smith to beat them with his arm. Wide receivers and tight ends ran streaking down the field in single coverage, but Smith continued to hand off and dink-and-dunk. When the Chiefs passed long, it was successful, but it's almost as if the team acquiesced to pass downfield rather than grabbing the reins with gusto.
You can't beat the good teams in this league with just running and defense. You have to be able to be comfortable getting into even the most minor of shootouts. The Chiefs defense held up their end up the bargain here by bending and not breaking.
The offense is just broken.
Week 13 Grade: C+
2014 Cumulative: B
Week 14 Opponent: Arizona Cardinals (Away)
Miami Dolphins (7-5)
17 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Def. New York Jets 16-13
That was closer than it should've been, huh?
For three quarters, the Dolphins couldn't really move the ball and were almost inexplicably being run on in ways that they just aren't accustomed to. Some of that was the Jets game plan, but it also had a lot to do with the Dolphins stacking the box but not winning the battles they needed to win.
Offensively, Ryan Tannehill picked around the edges a little too much for my liking. There was a rush, yes, but this Jets defense is more than vulnerable. He was also let down by his receivers on deeper routes a few times, which may have something to do with that.
Week 13 Grade: C+
2014 Cumulative: B
Week 14 Opponent: Baltimore Ravens (Home)
Minnesota Vikings (5-7)
18 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Def. Carolina Panthers 31-13
The Vikings didn't have the best game in the world. Offensively, the going wasn't exactly easy with only 138 yards passing and 92 yards rushing, but the Vikings managed two special teams touchdowns and nabbed an interception on defense to make this game a lot more lopsided than it would've otherwise been.
Still, this was a very impressive win, reminding the football world that the Vikings are probably not as far off as they've looked at other times this season.
Week 13 Grade: B+
2014 Cumulative: C+
Week 14 Opponent: New York Jets (Home)
New England Patriots (9-3)
19 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Lost to Green Bay Packers 26-21
This was a battle of the titans that could've gone either way and likely would go the Patriots' way had the venue been changed to New England's home turf.
The Patriots offense couldn't seem to get the ground game going and clearly didn't feel comfortable going downfield with a lot of regularity both because of that and the Packers pass rush. When quarterback Tom Brady settled into rhythm, this looked liked the same ol' Patriots offense, but the Packers just didn't let that happen very often.
Defensively, they actually played incredibly well by their standards, but life without turnovers isn't going to work as well when you're only scoring 21 points.
Week 13 Grade: B+
2014 Cumulative: B+
Week 14 Opponent: San Diego Chargers (Away)
New Orleans Saints (5-7)
20 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Def. Pittsburgh Steelers 35-32
If this is what old and weak-armed looks like, sign me up immediately.
Quarterback Drew Brees dealt with some national media criticism before the game, when his team was rumored to be looking at quarterbacks in the upcoming draft, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Now, that isn't actually the worst idea in the world because no passer plays forever, but Brees spent that afternoon carving up the Steelers defense to the tune of 257 yards and five touchdowns.
Most impressively, he did that without tight end Jimmy Graham, who's been slowed by injury and whom the Steelers defense spent an awful lot of energy trying to stop while Brees was going elsewhere.
Week 13 Grade: B+
2014 Cumulative: C+
Week 14 Opponent: Carolina Panthers (Home)
New York Giants (3-9)
21 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Lost to Jacksonville Jaguars 25-24
Is this the final nail in head coach Tom Coughlin's proverbial coffin?
The Giants are a bad football team this season—on offense and defense. Quarterback Eli Manning moved the ball relatively well through the air, but a poor running game and three costly fumbles (two by Manning himself) left this team searching for answers.
If it were a coach less revered, I'm not sure the team hasn't fired him by now.
Week 13 Grade: D
2014 Cumulative: C
Week 14 Opponent: Tennessee Titans (Away)
New York Jets (2-10)
22 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Lost to Miami Dolphins 16-13
We might have just seen the best of the Jets.
Against a very tough Dolphins opponent, the Jets pulled out all the stops on offense. Using screens, reverses, end-arounds and plenty of fakes, the Jets ran up 277 rushing yards on Miami with eight different players. Yet it wasn't enough.
When the Jets needed the big plays to ice the game, they came up short, again.
Week 13 Grade: C
2014 Cumulative: D
Week 14 Opponent: Minnesota Vikings (Away)
Oakland Raiders (1-11)
23 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Lost to St. Louis Rams 52-0
I have no words.
Week 13 Grade: F
2014 Cumulative: D
Week 14 Opponent: San Francisco 49ers (Home)
Philadelphia Eagles (9-3)
24 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Def. Dallas Cowboys 33-10
The Eagles have an issue with being trustworthy on the offensive side of the ball with Mark Sanchez under center, but when they run like this, it doesn't matter.
This is how Chip Kelly's offense is supposed to work. It doesn't out-think an opponent as much as it finds the crease where an opponent is vulnerable and wears it down until the opponent crumbles from the inside out. It was incredibly effective against the Cowboys and should manage to do the same in their rematch unless Dallas does a much better job holding it all together.
Week 13 Grade: A
2014 Cumulative: B+
Week 14 Opponent: Seattle Seahawks (Home)
Pittsburgh Steelers (7-5)
25 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Lost to New Orleans Saints 35-32
The Steelers would've won this game with even one turnover or a timely defensive stop. They couldn't get either though, and it really had less to do with the Saints offense (though quarterback Drew Brees was phenomenal) and more to do with the Steelers being old, slow and unable to really generate any sort of meaningful pressure.
That's not the Steelers we know, but it's the Steelers we've been seeing all too frequently.
Week 13 Grade: C
2014 Cumulative: B-
Week 14 Opponent: Cincinnati Bengals (Away)
San Diego Chargers (8-4)
26 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Def. Baltimore Ravens 34-33
It's fair to say wide receiver Keenan Allen has his groove back after two straight 100-yard games. Here, against the Ravens, Allen had 11 catches on 15 targets and gave quarterback Philip Rivers a consistent option rather than being forced to hold the ball longer than necessary.
The defense also deserves props. On four of the Ravens' trips to the red zone, the Chargers forced four Justin Tucker chip shots. Had even one of those been a touchdown, this could've been a much different game.
Week 13 Grade: A-
2014 Cumulative: B
Week 14 Opponent: New England Patriots (Home)
San Francisco 49ers (7-5)
27 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Lost to Seattle Seahawks 19-3
This was football at its very worst.
The Seahawks are not very good offensively, so let's not give the 49ers too much credit for holding them to 19 points. Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch still got his 100 yards, and they couldn't manage to force a turnover.
Meanwhile, they gave the Seahawks three of their own, couldn't manage to get any offense (running or passing) going and just looked listless for most of the game.
Week 13 Grade: F
2014 Cumulative: C
Week 14 Opponent: Oakland Raiders (Away)
Seattle Seahawks (8-4)
28 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Def. San Francisco 49ers 19-3
This was a clampdown-type game by the Seahawks. It wasn't flashy, nor entirely dominant, as the passing offense still struggled to get traction even though the 49ers defense wasn't exactly putting up an incredible fight.
What it was, though, was a clear shot across the bow of just about any top team in the NFL. The Seahawks can still do this to the 49ers, or just about any team that crosses their path.
Week 13 Grade: B+
2014 Cumulative: B
Week 14 Opponent: Philadelphia Eagles (Away)
St. Louis Rams (5-7)
29 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Def. Oakland Raiders 52-0
The Rams aren't some unstoppable juggernaut, but this kind of performance had to feel good after the highs and lows of the previous couple of weeks. This was simply taking care of business in the most impressive possible way against a very bad Raiders team.
Rookie running back Tre Mason continued to impress with 117 yards and two rushing touchdowns. He added 47 yards receiving and a touchdown catch. The Rams won the turnover battle 5-0, which somehow looked easy for them.
Week 13 Grade: A+
2014 Cumulative: C+
Week 14 Opponent: Washington (Away)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-10)
30 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Lost to Cincinnati Bengals 14-13
The Buccaneers should've won this game, but the Bengals defense put just enough pressure on quarterback Josh McCown that he wasn't comfortable (all game, but certainly toward the end) getting the ball down the field.
Yet the Bucs defense made this game awfully close for comfort, intercepting Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton three times and holding the Bengals rushing attack to only 112 yards total.
Week 13 Grade: C
2014 Cumulative: D+
Week 14 Opponent: Detroit Lions (Away)
Tennessee Titans (2-10)
31 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Lost to Houston Texans 45-21
If it weren't for the Oakland Raiders, the Titans would be the most embarrassing team in football.
First, what went right: Other than the picture above, which shows a reasonable expectation of what could happen each time the Titans snapped the ball, running back Bishop Sankey had a solid day running the ball with over four yards per carry. Sadly, though, the defense was so porous that it was difficult to run the ball very often, especially with the team down 24-0 at half.
Houston knocked quarterback Zach Mettenberger out of the game, and he gave way to Jake Locker. Neither one performed well, but Mettenberger may have made his case that he's the clear-cut guy moving forward, as Locker was only able to complete 50 percent of his passes with the little protection given to him.
Week 13 Grade: F
2014 Cumulative: D
Week 14 Opponent: New York Giants (Home)
Washington (3-9)
32 of 32
Week 13 Outcome: Lost to Indianapolis Colts 49-27
A lot of credit to quarterback Colt McCoy, who almost single-handedly kept this grade from delving into the "F" range with a good day throwing the ball. He completed 31 of 47 passes for three touchdowns and no interceptions. The Colts pass rush came at him relentlessly, and more often than not, he made them pay.
The rest of the team, though...yuck.
There's zero reason this defense should remain as constructed and as coached next season. The Colts shredded them like leftover turkey.
Week 13 Grade: D-
2014 Cumulative: D+
Week 14 Opponent: St. Louis Rams (Home)
Michael Schottey is an NFL National Lead Writer for Bleacher Report and an award-winning member of the Pro Football Writers of America. Find more of his stuff on his archive page and follow him on Twitter.
All traditional box score stats courtesy of ESPN.com. Advanced stats and metrics via Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
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