NFL Report Card Week 5: Handing Out Grades to All 32 Teams

Here we go again through the exercise of giving every team that played on Sunday a grade.

You will not be surprised to see that Tom Brady and his New England Patriots earned an A again for their win over the New York Jets.

Aaron Rodgers and his Green Bay Packers also earned an A for their win on the road in Atlanta.

Click through here to see what grades the rest of the teams earned that played on Sunday.

The Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills continue to be impressive.  They get an A for their performance on Sunday.

Their offense was clicking on all cylinders once again.  Ryan Fitzpatrick did not put up huge numbers, but he had an efficient day.  Fred Jackson continued his good season with 26 carries for 111 yards and a touchdown.

The Bills got a defensive score from Nick Barnett.  That was just one of four interceptions they forced Michael Vick to throw.

The Philadelphia Eagles

After making the biggest splash in free agency this offseason, the Philadelphia Eagles just cannot make it come together on the field.  

Michael Vick threw four picks in this game.  Their offensive numbers were good outside of that.  Vick threw for 315 yards.  LeSean McCoy had 11 carries for 80 yards and a touchdown.

The Eagles woes stopping the run continued on Sunday.  They allowed the Bills to rush for 143 yards and 4.1 yards per carry.

Philadelphia gets a C- for their efforts on Sunday.

The Kansas City Chiefs

Matt Cassel had his best game of the 2010 season.  He threw for 257 yards and four touchdowns on Sunday against the Colts.

The Chiefs also got a surprising 119 yards on 19 carries from Jackie Battle.

Kansas City's defense had trouble in the first half.  They gave up three touchdowns, including two long passes to Pierre Garcon.  The got their problems fixed at halftime, however, and did not allow the Colts to score any points in the second half.

They get an A in their second win of the season.

The Indianapolis Colts

For the third straight week, the Colts looked like they had a good chance to get their first win of the season.  They fell just short again.

Things started out well for the Colts.  They were up 17-0 at one point and led 24-14 at the half.  Unfortunately for them, they could not get anything going in the second half and lost the game.

Curtis Painter played pretty well in his second start throwing for two touchdowns and 277 yards.

It was the Indianapolis defense that really let the team down by allowing Matt Cassel to throw four touchdowns.

The Colts get a C+ for their performance on Sunday.

The Arizona Cardinals

The Kevin Kolb era has not started the way the Arizona Cardinals were hoping for when they traded for him.  He was bad on Sunday against the Vikings when he was 21-of-42 for 232 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions.

As bad as Kolb was, the Arizona defense was worse.  They allowed 28 points on four rushing touchdowns in the first half.

The Cardinals clearly get an F for their efforts Sunday.

The Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings finally finished a game on Sunday.  They took command of the game early with a heavy dose of Adrian Peterson.  He scored three times in the first quarter and ended the game with 122 yards.

The Vikings defense was equally as good.  They forced four turnovers on the day and held the Cardinals to just 10 points.

They get their first A for the young season.

The Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks knocked a lot of people out of survival pools today when they surprised the Giants 36-25 at home.

This game went back and forth all day long, and the Seahawks came up with a play when it mattered the most.  Brandon Browner put the game on ice when he returned an Eli Manning pass 94 yards for a touchdown.  That was one of three picks by the Seattle defense on the afternoon.

Tarvaris Jackson was knocked out of this game, but that did not slow down the Seattle offense.  Charlie Whitehurst came in and played well.  They also got a really good day from Marshawn Lynch who scored a touchdown and averaged 8.2 yards per carry on 12 carries.

The Seahawks get a solid B for their win against the Giants.

The New York Giants

The Giants get an D for losing at home to a Seattle team that is not very good. 

Eli Manning had a rough day.  He did throw for 420 yards and three touchdowns, but he also threw three interceptions, including one from the Seattle 10-yard line with less that two minutes in the game.

The Giants defense gave up 424 yards of total offense.

The Tennessee Titans

The Titans must have spent the whole week reading their press clippings because they did not show up to play on Sunday in Pittsburgh.

Chris Johnson was not able to get anything going for the fourth time in five weeks.  He ended the day with 51 yards on 14 carries.

The Titans defense allowed Ben Roethlisberger to throw five touchdown passes.  They really did not seem to have an answer for the banged up Roethlisberger or his banged up line the entire day.

They get an F for the day.

The Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers spent a week listening to everyone talk about how they were over the hill.  They came out Sunday and showed that it is a little bit too early to right them off just yet.

Ben Roethlisberger had his best day of the season with five touchdown passes and 228 yards.

The Steelers were also able to gain 174 yards on the ground behind a makeshift offensive line.

On defense, the Steelers looked like the Steel Curtain of old holding the Titans to 66 yards on the ground and just over 300 yards of total offense.

Pittsburgh gets an A for their bounce back performance.

The New Orleans Saints

The Saints offense, as it has most of the season, moved the ball really well.  Drew Brees threw for 359 yards and two touchdowns.  The Saints rushing attack gained 101 yards.

The defense, however, was not as good.  They allowed the Panthers to score 27 points and gain 381 yards of total offense.  The Panthers had two scoring plays of over 50 yards.

The Saints got another win and another B for their performance.

The Carolina Panthers

The Panthers have made huge strides since last season, but they just are not there yet.  They have to be thrilled with the way Cam Newton is playing so far.  He had another good day on Sunday when he threw for 224 yards and two scores.  He also rushed for one.

Their defense did not hold up well against the Saints offense, but not many teams do.

They get a C+ for their efforts on Sunday.

The Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals are another team that have to be thrilled with how their rookie quarterback is playing.  Andy Dalton threw for 178 yards and two touchdowns in the Bengals win on Sunday.

They have also gotten everything they hoped for out of rookie wide receiver A.J. Green.  He had another touchdown in the win.

The Bengals defense held Jacksonville to just 96 yards on the ground and forced Blaine Gabbert to fumble twice.

They get a B+ for Sunday's work.

The Jacksonville Jaguars

Blaine Gabbert did not play as well as Andy Dalton in this game, but he was not bad.  He ended the day with 221 yards and one touchdown.

If the Jaguars are going to be successful, they are going to have to get more out of their rushing attack.  That starts with getting Maurice Jones-Drew more carries because he was successful on the ones he got on Sunday.

The biggest problem is the Jacksonville defense giving up 30 points.

Give the Jaguars a C for Sunday's play.

The Oakland Raiders

The Raiders were playing with a mission of getting a win for Al Davis on Sunday, and they did jut that.

Jason Campbell threw for 153 yards and two touchdowns.

The Raiders defense gave up a lot of yards, but they were able to hold the Texans to just 20 points.  That was enough to get them the win and a B for the day.

The Houston Texans

Are these the same old Texans?  It sure looked like it on Sunday when they gained 200 more yards of total offense but scored five less points.

The Texans were without Andre Johnson in this game, but that did not slow down Matt Schaub from throwing for 416 yards.

Looking at the box score it is hard to see how the Texans lost.  They get a B- for the day.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Buccaneers have to be concerned about the regression of Josh Freeman.  He was only able to throw for 187 yards and two interceptions on Sunday.  One of those interceptions was returned for a touchdown.

The Tampa defense also was not good on Sunday.  They gave up three touchdown passes from Alex Smith and allowed Frank Gore to run for 125 yards.

48-3 will get you an F every time.

The San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers just keep winning.  They hung 48 on the on the Buccaneers Sunday.

Alex Smith has had his career reborn this season.  He was 11-of-19 for 170 yards and three touchdowns on Sunday.

Frank Gore added 125 yards and a touchdown.

Their defense was also good forcing three turnovers by the Buccaneers.

They earned an A for their efforts on Sunday.

The San Diego Chargers

The Chargers just keep winning.  Philip Rivers was not great again, but he played well enough to get the job done.

The real story of the season for the Chargers has been Ryan Matthews.  People were ready to write him off after last season, but he has proven this year to be worth the first round pick the Chargers spent on him last season.  He ran for 125 on Sunday.

The Chargers defense held the Broncos to just 113 yards passing in this game.

The Chargers get an A- for their performance on Sunday.

The Denver Broncos

Denver fans finally got their wish and got to see Tim Tebow on Sunday.  He was only 4-for-10 passing, but he did throw a touchdown and run for another one.

They also got 125 yards rushing from Willis McGahee.

The problem was their defense gave up 418 total yards and 29 points.  That gets them a C- for the day.

The New York Jets

Rex Ryan asked before the season if anyone other than the Jets would be able to beat the Patriots.  It turns out Ryan might need to worry about his own house.

Mark Sanchez had a pretty efficient day throwing for 166 yards and two touchdowns.

Shonn Greene added 83 yards and a touchdown on the ground. 

That was not enough though because the Jets defense allowed 30 points and 446 yards.

The Jets get a C- for their performance on Sunday.

The New England Patriots

The New England Patriots shut Rex Ryan up on Sunday.  They ran right through what was supposed to be a mighty defense with BenJarvus Green-Ellis to the tune of 136 yards and two touchdowns.

Tom Brady did what Tom Brady does and threw for 321 yards and touchdown of his own.

The Patriots defense, which had been questionable, answered the bell in this game.  They only gave up 255 total yards to the Jets.

They get an A for their complete effort on Sunday.

The Green Bay Packers

It is starting to look like the Packers might make a run at 16-0.  They started slowly on Sunday night, but 19 second half points gave them an easy win in Atlanta.

Aaron Rodgers ended the night with 392 yards and two touchdowns.

The Packers defense held the Falcons scoreless after a Michael Turner touchdown that came with 12:29 seconds left to play in the first half.

All of that adds up to an A for the Packers.

The Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons continue to be one of the biggest disappointments of the 2011 NFL season.  

Their offense fell flat after 14 early points, and their defense had no answers for the Green Bay attack in the second half.

The Falcons get a D for their performance on Sunday night.