NFL Week 11 Report Cards: Breaking Down Studs and Duds At Quarterback
NFL Week 11 Report Cards now turns to the quarterbacks. Fairly or unfairly, the quarterbacks take most of the blame and receive most of the credit for wins and losses.
Mark Sanchez had his third straight thriller of a victory while Ryan Fitzpatrick continues to make fantasy owners very happy. And for a change, he made the Bills fans doubly happy with the win.
Aaron Rodgers continues to prove the Green Bay front office correct, and Carson Palmer continues to make Cincinnati fans pull their hair out.
The grades are ready, so let's review.
Vince Young
1 of 30
Grade: F
Not only was Vince Young's performance on the field sub-par, he reportedly responded like a child upon being benched because of a thumb injury, storming off the field and throwing pieces of his equipment into the stands.
It's past time for the Titans organization to tell Young to grow up and just move on.
Troy Smith
2 of 30
Grade: F
Let the quarterback controversy begin anew. Troy Smith threw for only 148 yards and had an interception. No touchdowns, and no points, period.
Alex Smith is getting better, and with a bad game, Troy now has to step up and prove to Head Coach Mike Singletary a few games of film hasn't unraveled his mystery and made a short end to his starting career.
Jason Campbell/Bruce Gradkowski
3 of 30
Grade: F
Two quarterback, zero touchdowns, less than 200 yards passing, and two picks, one apiece.
FAIL.
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Tyler Thigpen
4 of 30
Grade: D
Yes, Tyler Thigpen came into the week as the new starting quarterback after the Dolphins lost both Chads to injuries. But you still need to do better than 187 yards and one interception.
It wasn't like the Bears had "extra" time to prepare for him.
Brian St. Pierre
5 of 30
Grade: D
We'll give credit to Brian St. Pierre for throwing a touchdown, but with less than 200 yards and two interceptions, St. Pierre wasn't exactly lighting the place up.
Still, for a guy who was sitting on his couch a few weeks ago, it could've been worse.
Jay Cutler
6 of 30
Grade: D
Jay Cutler managed 156 yards, one interception, and zero touchdowns in the win over Miami Thursday night. I'm sure Bears fans everywhere were inspired by Cutler's performance.
Brett Favre
7 of 30
Grade: D+
Brett Favre has played worse, let's be honest here. But with two picks and only 208 yards through the air, it's hard to grade Favre any higher.
A costly interception, something both Vikings and Packers fans are familiar with, was a feature of the game.
Carson Palmer
8 of 30
Grade: C-
Carson Palmer didn't give up 49 points to the Bills, but his two interceptions certainly contributed to the defensive collapse on Sunday.
Palmer didn't have a horrible day, but with the Bengals playing as bad as they are, Palmer can't afford to have anything other than a great day.
Derek Anderson
9 of 30
Grade: C-
This should be considered a victory for Derek Anderson since he actually scored above a "D."
Anderson had 295 yards and one touchdown, but he really didn't lead the Cardinals anywhere, so there it is.
David Garrard
10 of 30
Grade: C+
Garrard's grade should be better, but that's three interceptions on his stat line Sunday to go against two touchdowns and 254 yards.
Garrard didn't look great out there, and the Browns defense had his number most of the afternoon.
Peyton Manning
11 of 30
Grade: C+
We have Manning Face!!
It's a shame Peyton Manning's interception cost the Colts the game because he was having a decent day prior to that.
But with three interceptions offsetting his four touchdowns and 396 yards, what are you going to do?
Manning sometimes is his own worst enemy, and this was one of those days. That, and it was against Bill Belichick, who always plays Manning well.
Eli Manning
12 of 30
Grade: C+
We have another Manning Face!!
Eli had three picks, although the last one was with one second left and doesn't really count. But his other two picks did and all of a sudden, the "Bad Eli" is back in town for the second game in a row.
Colt McCoy
13 of 30
Grade: B-
McCoy played a pretty good game, but he spent too much time running for his life for this grade to be any better.
The Browns have their quarterback of the future, but he left the stadium in a walking boot, so they need to do a better job of protecting him.
Josh Freeman
14 of 30
Grade: B-
Josh Freeman had an average day against an average team. The 49ers weren't playing well at all, they haven't played well most of the season, and Freeman should have played a lot better.
Freeman didn't do anything to hurt the team, though, so let's not go getting too upset.
Sam Bradford
15 of 30
Grade: B-
Sam Bradford played pretty well, only one interception with 233 yards and two touchdowns. But it wasn't enough, and the Rams are down another game.
But this is the NFC West, so it's still probable the Rams could win the division by playing to a bunch of ties.
Shaun Hill
16 of 30
Grade: B
Shaun Hill had 289 yards and two touchdowns, so he handled himself pretty well even in the loss.
The Lions had no running game, and the defense couldn't stop anyone, but Hill did a lot of good things during the game and only had one interception.
Matt Cassel
17 of 30
Grade: B-
Matt Cassel had 193 yards and two touchdowns. This grade would be higher, but he played the Arizona Cardinals defense, this should've been a lot more.
While the results so far this year haven't been bad, Cassel isn't doing much to inspire good feelings about that huge contract he signed. Bottom line is he should be playing better, but at least he's not playing poorly.
Jon Kitna
18 of 30
Grade: B+
Kitna didn't have a lot of yards, but he had three touchdowns. This was not a great day yardage-wise for Kitna, but when you throw three touchdowns and your team puts 35 points up on the board, you don't need to throw for 300 yards.
Matt Hasselbeck
19 of 30
Grade: B
The Seahawks may have lost, but Matt Hasselbeck doesn't play on the defense and he can't be the running back either.
With 366 yards and one touchdown, Hasselbeck had a pretty good day, it was the rest of the team that couldn't come up with the big play.
Donovan McNabb
20 of 30
Grade: B
Let's give credit where credit is due, Donovan McNabb had a pretty good game, throwing for 376 yards.
But he only managed one touchdown, and the game came down to an overtime kick, so it's not like we can give the guy an A and keep a straight face.
Matt Schaub
21 of 30
Grade: B
Matt Schaub played a great game, 254 yards, one touchdown, but there's not much he can do about the team's defense, and therefore a B performance just isn't good enough.
Tom Brady
22 of 30
Grade: B
Tom Brady played a pretty good game, 186 yards and two touchdowns, but this game was all running backs as BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead both had good games.
Joe Flacco
23 of 30
Grade: A-
Joe Flacco threw for 301 yards and a touchdown, proving just about everything we thought we knew about him.
I don't know. I'm reaching here. This game barely qualified as an NFL game with the state of the Carolina Panthers. Are they starting a random fan behind center next week?
Michael Vick
24 of 30
Grade: B+
Michael Vick didn't repeat his Monday night performance, but no one expected him to. He still had 258 yards passing and one rushing touchdown.
Vick managed the game and didn't create any turnovers, so while he didn't throw for four touchdowns, he still had a pretty good game.
Drew Brees
25 of 30
Grade: A-
Two interceptions downgrades Brees slightly, but he did throw for four touchdowns and more than 350 yards, so it's not like he had a bad day.
Ryan Fitzpatrick
26 of 30
Grade: A
Wow. Just . . . Wow. On what now is looking like a team that's not as bad as it should be, Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 316 yards and four touchdowns.
He had two picks, but who cares, it was against the Bengals, who are the new Buffalo Bills.
Aaron Rodgers
27 of 30
Grade: A
The Packers have quietly fixed all their problems, and Aaron Rodgers made the game look easy, four touchdowns and more than 300 yards passing.
Rodgers is becoming one of the most reliable quarterbacks in the league, and the Green Bay fans aren't missing Brett Favre at all.
Ben Roethlisberger
28 of 30
Grade: A
Ben Roethlisberger continues to get it done in Pittsburgh despite taking one heck of a shot to the mouth. That hit probably just made Ben play harder, and he threw for 275 yards and three touchdowns.
Matt Ryan
29 of 30
Grade: A
Matt Ryan played a complete game, 254 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions, and knew when to turn the game over to Michael Turner.
Mark Sanchez
30 of 30
Grade: A
Mark Sanchez continues his improbable run this season of pulling plays out of his behind and just willing the Jets to a victory, along with Santonio Holmes.
Sanchez now has proven on multiple occasions he stays cool under pressure and doesn't let setbacks get to him, like his late-game interception.
Sanchez is the real thing, and that's not good for the New England Patriots.
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