NFL Report Cards: Midseason Grades For Every Team
The NFL report cards have reached the midpoint of the season and now it's time to evaluate all 32 teams and assign grades.
Some of the teams, like the Broncos and the Bengals, are nowhere near where they thought they'd be at this point in the season. Other teams, like the Chiefs, find themselves light years ahead of where everyone put them a few months ago.
With the season passing the halfway point, it's time to do a complete assessment.
Dallas Cowboys
1 of 32
Grade: F
The Cowboys coaching staff better polish up the resumes and conveniently forget to put "2010 Dallas Cowboys" on them, because this whole staff may be looking for work.
There has been confusion on the sidelines, confusion on the field and the losses are piling up.
Owner Jerry Jones now has to contemplate blowing everything up and starting over.
Carolina Panthers
2 of 32
Grade: F
John Fox is cursed with a team that doesn't have a lot of depth. But the fact he isn't able to do much with the talent he does have is what's discouraging.
Matt Moore was benched in favor of rookie Jimmy Clausen. But Fox was not able to develop him at all in the few weeks Clausen started and Moore is back in because he's the better alternative at this point.
The Panthers rank near-or-at the bottom of most offensive categories, and their only win came against the San Francisco 49ers.
San Francisco 49ers
3 of 32
Grade: F
The San Francisco 49ers appear to have the talent to be a better team, but they only have two wins to show for it.
Head coach Mike Singletary is good at giving speeches but has been bad at getting wins.
While an injury to Alex Smith has made Troy Smith the new starter, the team has a lot of work to do in the next few weeks just to avoid drafting in the top five next year.
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Denver Broncos
4 of 32
Grade: F
The Denver Broncos have a great quarterback, no running game, a suspicious defense and what looks like no real plan to work through any of their problems.
Injuries decimated the Broncos running game before the season started. They also traded Peyton Hillis away to the Browns for Brady Quinn, who now sits third string behind Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow.
Josh McDaniels appears to be coaching by the seat of his pants and it now appears he may not have been quite ready for the captain's chair just yet.
Minnesota Vikings
5 of 32
Grade: F
The Vikings did nothing to improve their quarterback situation in the offseason, despite admitting they were counting on Brett Favre to come back and be as good as last year.
Brett Favre has come back and he's nowhere near as good as he was last year.
But this is what the organization wanted and now it is reaping the benefits of its deal with the devil.
Buffalo Bills
6 of 32
Grade: D
While the Bills may be winless, it isn't for lack of trying. The team has one or two playmakers and then a bunch of backups disguised as starters.
Still, this team put up 30 points on the board against New England and Baltimore, meaning Chan Gailey is doing something right.
Their effort so far in what is a lost season brings their grade up from an F.
Cincinnati Bengals
7 of 32
Grade: D
The Bengals have a good quarterback in Carson Palmer and guys named Terrell Owens, Chad Ochocinco and Jordan Shipley catching the ball.
They have two wins to show for their efforts this year and they sit at the bottom of the AFC North, having lost to the Cleveland Browns.
The Bengals are nowhere near the team they were a year ago and there's nothing there to suggest this team's fortunes will change.
Arizona Cardinals
8 of 32
Grade: D
It wasn't Ken Whisenhunt's fault Kurt Warner retired, but it is all on Whisenhunt for everything that's happened since.
Matt Leinart was a failure the Cardinals never were able to develop. But the options of undrafted rookie Max Hall and Derek Anderson are the only options of a team that left itself with no options.
Chicago Bears
9 of 32
Grade: C-
The Bears aren't as good as they think they are. But they're not as bad as they appear to be at the moment.
The big problem with the Bears right now is that they have nothing resembling a professional offensive line and Jay Cutler may be carted off the field at any moment.
Cutler has been bad, but the constant beating he has taken has affected his game, without question.
Washington Redskins
10 of 32
Grade: C-
Mike Shanahan has a rebuilding effort in front of him, but benching Donovan McNabb on Sunday in favor of Rex Grossman took his rebuilding effort from a "B," down to a "C-."
Shanahan is beginning to panic. He's going to have to accept the fact that the Redskins aren't as talented this year as he wishes they were or hoped they would be coming into the season.
Seattle Seahawks
11 of 32
Grade: C
The Seahawks aren't the worst team in the NFC West, but that's comparing them to other teams in the NFC West.
Pete Carroll is in his second stint as an NFL head coach and the Seahawks have been the model of inconsistency—looking good one week and getting destroyed by the Raiders the next week.
Matt Hasselbeck is not the future of the franchise. But that's part of Carroll's job, making the most with what he has.
San Diego Chargers
12 of 32
Grade: C
There really is no other grade to give a team that has one of the best offensive units in the league but has only managed to win three games.
This is typical for the Norv Turner Chargers though, a bad first half followed by a second-half turnaround.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
13 of 32
Grade: C+
The Buccaneers are a team on the rise. But their grade to this point reflects the early season setbacks.
The Bucs now have a quarterback in Josh Freeman who can rally the team in the fourth quarter. Now they just need to bolster their run defense and stop creating situations where Freeman has to rally the troops in the fourth quarter.
Cleveland Browns
14 of 32
Grade: C+
The Cleveland Browns are a much better team than the 2009 squad, as they managed to upset the New Orleans Saints last week and have stayed in games they were getting blown out of last year.
However, their offense shut down in the second half of the first few games of the season, and the defensive secondary still is very suspect.
Still, the Browns appear to be headed in the right direction and rookie Colt McCoy looked solid in his first two starts.
Jacksonville Jaguars
15 of 32
Grade: B-
The Jaguars are at .500 as we hit the midpoint of the season. They've managed to get there despite starting Todd Bouman at quarterback one week.
The Jaguars rank near the bottom in just about every category, yet they have four wins. So it's tough to judge how those stats should reflect on the grade.
While the Jaguars definitely are not a threat to win the Super Bowl at this point, they certainly are better than teams like the Bears and Redskins.
Green Bay Packers
16 of 32
Grade: B-
The Packers are a team that is improving by the week after a cascade of mental errors and bad play, coupled with a rash of injuries, looked like it was going to doom their season.
Head coach Mike McCarthy seems to have corrected a lot of the problems. But the fact those problems were so bad in the first few weeks of the season keep this grade from being higher.
Detroit Lions
17 of 32
Grade: B-
The fact Matt Millen no longer has any say in what goes on in Detroit lifts this grade up out of the bottom of the report cards. But no less important is the job head coach Jim Schwartz has done with a very young team now rapidly filling with talent.
Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson, Ndamukong Suh and Jahvid Best are already transforming a team used to being dead last in everything. Detroit fans finally have hope for the future.
St. Louis Rams
18 of 32
Grade: B-
The Rams, like the Lions, are in a complete rebuilding mode, with a young quarterback learning on the field and not on the sidelines with a clipboard.
The Rams have had injuries to key players, but the team still has four wins and could be leading the NFC West in a week or two.
New Orleans Saints
19 of 32
Grade: B-
A win over the Pittsburgh Steelers elevated this grade yesterday. The defending Super Bowl champions appeared to be suffering from severe Super Bowl hangover after playing poorly—the capper being the upset loss to the Cleveland Browns in Week 7.
The Saints looked much better against a great Pittsburgh defense on Sunday. Another game like that could propel the Saints back into the upper ranks.
Miami Dolphins
20 of 32
Grade: B
The Dolphins can't lose on the road and can't win at home. The reason for their last big home loss to the Patriots, a special-teams meltdown, already has been addressed. But Bill Parcells has left the building.
Head coach Tony Sparano has a good squad and this is a team that will stay in the playoff mix through to the last week of the season.
Philadelphia Eagles
21 of 32
Grade: B
The Eagles have a good problem in that they have two starting quarterbacks. The controversy is being managed fairly well so far by head coach Andy Reid, but this has the potential to blow up in his face.
So far it hasn't though, and the Eagles are poised for another playoff run with Michael Vick at the helm.
And if something happens to Vick, there's nothing wrong with Kevin Kolb.
New York Jets
22 of 32
Grade: B
While the Jets rattled off a five-game win streak, they got shut out at home versus the Green Bay Packers Mark Sanchez looks more like a backup quarterback holding the fort down until the starter comes back off of injury.
Sanchez has been inconsistent, his accuracy hasn't been great and the Jets have to realize they won't win many playoff games until Sanchez starts looking like the first-round draft pick the Jets traded up for last year.
Oakland Raiders
23 of 32
Grade: B
The Oakland Raiders are becoming a force to be reckoned with in the AFC West and it's looking like the divisional battle will come down to the Raiders and the Chiefs as we stand here at the halfway point.
While the Chargers still could recover, the Raiders now have an offense that appears to be getting better every week. Head coach Tom Cable is making the most of what he's got and the team is responding.
Indianapolis Colts
24 of 32
Grade: B
The fact the Colts own the lead in the AFC South division even with all the injuries they've sustained is a testament to just how well the Colts are run.
Head coach Jim Caldwell is no Tony Dungy, but Peyton Manning still is one of the best, even if most of his targets and his running back are on the sidelines with injuries.
Atlanta Falcons
25 of 32
Grade: B+
The Atlanta Falcons have developed quarterback Matt Ryan and the rest of his offensive components, including receiver Roddy White and running back Michael Turner.
The Falcons sit atop the NFC South and they are poised to go deep into the playoffs at the level they are playing at.
Baltimore Ravens
26 of 32
Grade: A-
The Ravens are one of the elite teams in the league right now, and the only real scare they've gotten was from the Buffalo Bills.
Along with the Bills though, the Ravens defense has given up lots of yardage on the ground to Cleveland, showing there are cracks in the Ravens defense that could be exploited down the road.
General manager Ozzie Newsome, though, is one of the best in the business, so don't expect the Ravens to be giving up big yardage for long.
Kansas City Chiefs
27 of 32
Grade: A
What other grade were the Chiefs going to get considering they went from one of the worst teams in the league to its biggest surprise this season.
Head coach Todd Haley, along with his All-Star cast of coordinators, have turned the Chiefs around in one offseason. This team looks like it's going to be a lock for the postseason.
Tennessee Titans
28 of 32
Grade: A
The Titans, while coming up short on Sunday, have once again become one of the league's best teams.
The key to that observation is the number of offensive weapons the team has at their disposal and the fact injuries to their top players were able to be overcome.
The defense needs work, but it doesn't give up a lot of points overall, ranking ninth in the league.
If Head Coach Jeff Fisher can keep all the units running, the Titans will be in the AFC Championship Game.
Houston Texans
29 of 32
Grade: A
The Houston Texans are a team to be taken very seriously now, as Matt Schaub rapidly is developing into an elite quarterback, especially with Andre Johnson catching his passes.
Then there's the emergence of Arian Foster in the running game and the fact the Texans edged out the Colts earlier this year.
New England Patriots
30 of 32
Grade: A
Was there ever any doubt about how the Patriots would be graded?
Bill Belichick has his faults, and we can debate some of his less finer moments another time, but the Patriots organization is one of the best in the league, and no one can dominate the game from the sideline like him.
Between drafting and development, the Patriots have stayed at the top of the league for the last 10 years, and that's no small accomplishment.
Pittsburgh Steelers
31 of 32
Grade: A
Like the Patriots, the Pittsburgh Steelers organization is a model organization from top to bottom, and it shows with the success on the field.
The Steelers are one of the best teams in the league at the halfway point, and they already could make a very convincing case as to why they already are this year's Super Bowl champions.
Between Ben Roethlisberger's ability to extend plays and the almost unstoppable defense, no one looks forward to playing these guys on Sunday.
New York Giants
32 of 32
Grade: A
The New York Giants defense has made one statement after another this year, and all of them involved opposing offensive lines being shredded.
Eli Manning is having another good year, and if the playoffs were to start today, I'd be predicting a Giants/Steelers Super Bowl.
Head coach Tom Coughlin has this team running well. And he's got his defense ranked near the top in almost every category.
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