Week 7 Report Card for All 32 Offensive Coordinators

We all know that Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints tore apart the Indianapolis Colts, but how was the offensive gameplan? Charlie Whitehurst and the Seattle Seahawks did virtually nothing against the Cleveland Browns. What caused this offensive failure?

It's easy to look at a score and assume that a team's offensive coaching staff did a good or bad job. But the scores tell just part of the story. A closer look must be taken to truly appreciate the coaching staff's impact on the game.

This article delves deeper and analyzes what actually happened. Here's a look at how each offensive coordinator did in week seven.

Joe Philbin, Green Bay Packers

Only so much new can be said about the Green Bay offense. Aaron Rodgers is well on his way towards one of the best passing seasons in the history of the NFL. There is no more talented offense in the game today, and all the Packers coaching staff has to do is stay out of the way.

And that it does. Mike McCarthy and Joe Philbin put together a gameplan that allows Rodgers enough attempts to shred any defense to pieces, while also remaining balanced. The Packers gained more than 400 yards and scored 33 points. How much more can you ask for?

The only reason this grade isn't higher is the fact that Philbin simply doesn't have to do very much.

Grade:  B

Bill O’Brien, New England Patriots

The Patriots had a bye in week seven and thus could not be graded.

Grade:  N/A

Curtis Modkins, Buffalo Bills

The Bills had a bye in week seven and thus could not be graded.

Grade:  N/A

Pete Carmichael, Jr., New Orleans Saints

I don't care how bad the Colts' defense is; scoring 62 points is an accomplishment. Drew Brees had what might have been the most productive game of his career, and the Saints ran for 236 yards.

Brees completed an astounding 31 of his 35 passes while throwing five touchdown passes. The New Orleans three-headed rushing attack averaged more than six and a half yards per carry. This was more than a difference in talent. Sean Payton and Pete Carmichael Jr. had the winning game plan as well.

Grade:  A+

Rob Chudzinski, Carolina Panthers

Against the Redskins, Carolina continued to do what had worked for them. Cam Newton had a phenomenal day throwing the ball, completing 18 of his 23 passes for 256 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions.

Under Chudzinski, the Panthers haven't run the ball as much as in previous seasons, but the team's offense has been surprisingly dynamic. Cam Newton has been everything the team hoped for, and is running and throwing the ball well.

Chudzinski has used Newton perfectly, utilizing the No. 1 overall pick's running ability in the red zone. The team ran and threw the ball effectively against Washington while scoring an impressive 33 points.

Grade:  A

Greg Roman, San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers had a bye in week seven and thus could not be graded.

Grade:  N/A

Scott Linehan, Detroit Lions

Matthew Stafford had his worst game of the year and the Lions scored just 16 points against an average Atlanta defense. Though Calvin Johnson dominated as usual, Detroit just couldn't get much going on offense.

Maurice Morris had some success running the ball, but with the team down early, he wasn't able to get enough carries to put together a big day. It could be argued that the Lions should have tried to get the ball to Morris more, but it's not like Stafford threw 50 passes either.

Grade:  D+

Al Saunders, Oakland Raiders

Yes, the Raiders had a terrible game offensively. But I'm not sure how much blame can be placed on Al Saunders. One of his quarterbacks was a Carson Palmer who has had less than a week with the team. The other was Kyle Boller.

Oakland tried to run the ball as much as they could, but in a game where they were constantly behind, 17 carries was all they could give Michael Bush. Star running back Darren McFadden suffered an injury, and though Bush did a good job, the team lost all of their offensive firepower.

Grade:  C

Jay Gruden, Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals had a bye in week seven and thus could not be graded.

Grade:  N/A

Rick Dennison, Houston Texans

In a game where everything went wrong for Tennessee, everything went right for the Texans. Matt Schaub had a terrific game, throwing just five incompletions and two touchdowns.

Without Andre Johnson in the lineup, the Houston offense has struggled some, but that was not at all the case in the team's week seven game. Arian Foster had a fantastic game, gaining 234 yards from scrimmage. Ben Tate tacked on another 104 yards.

Grade:  A

Clarence Shelmon, San Diego Chargers

I don't know what's going on in San Diego, but one thing is obvious: Phillip Rivers is not right. Rivers has played awfully in the early part of the 2011 season, and his game against the Jets was no different.

Clarence Shelmon tried to run the ball against the Jets, but not surprisingly, the team's run game produced very little of substance. Maybe Rivers is hurt as some have speculated, but Shelmon and company need to do something to turn the team's offense around.

Grade:  C

Cam Cameron, Baltimore Ravens

If it weren't for the Browns game against the Seahawks, this game would have been the worst contest in quite a while. Joe Flacco looked terrible and Ray Rice was ineffective running the ball.

Though Rice couldn't seem to get anything going, Cameron has to give his star running back the ball more and hope for the best. Eight carries for a player of Rice's caliber simply isn't enough.

Grade:  F

Chris Palmer, Tennessee Titans

Matt Hasselbeck has had a fantastic season and Chris Palmer certainly deserves credit for that. However, in week seven's game against the Texans, Hasselbeck played terribly and the offense was a mess.

Chris Johnson still can't get anything going, and though the blame does partially fall on the offensive line, Johnson needs to start playing up to his ability. Hasselbeck had what was far and away his worst game of the year, and only Javon Ringer played well for the Tennessee offense. Ringer had just three carries.

Grade:  D

Kevin Gilbride, New York Giants

The Giants had a bye in week seven and thus could not be graded.

Grade:  N/A

Greg Olson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

I have no idea what has caused Josh Freeman to become an interception machine, but until the Buccaneers have some healthy running backs, Freeman needs to carry the load. This leaves Greg Olson in a bit of a tight spot.

With LeGarrette Blount already hurt, Tampa Bay needed Earnest Graham to pull through. Unfortunately, Graham suffered a torn Achilles tendon and the team had no choice but to throw the ball. With this in mind, it's hard to blame Olson for Freeman's 51 passing attempts.

Grade:  C+

Marty Mornhinweg, Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles had a bye in week seven and thus could not be graded.

Grade:  N/A

Bruce Arians, Pittsburgh Steelers

I'm far from a Bruce Arians fan, but he deserves credit for the Steelers' offensive performance against Arizona. Rashard Mendenhall was struggling on the ground, so Arians chose to attack through the air.

Ben Roethlisberger had a huge game, throwing for 361 yards and three touchdowns. Arians recognized what was working and what wasn't. No, he didn't do anything fancy, but in a game like this, he didn't need to.

Grade:  B+

Brian Daboll, Miami Dolphins

Considering the lack of talent that on the Miami offense, I really struggle to blame Brian Daboll for the team's lack of offensive success. The only point that can possibly be argued is that Daboll should have given the ball more to Reggie Bush, who actually played well against the Broncos.

Daboll is attempting to run an offense devoid any star skill players and a competent offensive line. With Matt Moore now at quarterback, I feel downright sorry for Daboll, who last year had to deal with an equally untalented offense in Cleveland.

Grade:  C

Kyle Shanahan, Washington Redskins

Though John Beck didn't exactly light up the Carolina defense, the Washington offense didn't have a bad day. Tim Hightower had a great game before being injured, and the team did score 20 points.

The Redskins are by no means an offensive powerhouse, but Kyle Shanahan doesn't have a ton of talent to work with either. Shanahan got Hightower the ball and had success on the ground game, so you can't blame the young offensive coordinator too much.

Grade:  C

John Garrett, Dallas Cowboys

Playing against a terrible St. Louis defense, the Cowboys stuck with what worked. DeMarco Murry got off to a fantastic start, and Dallas kept feeding him the rock until it was a blowout.

Tony Romo did virtually nothing in the game, but Murray's 250 yards on the ground was more than enough to lead the team to a victory. All Romo had to do was manage to not screw it up. Not surprisingly, the high profile quarterback played well enough for the team to win in a 34-7 bloodbath.

Grade:  B+

Darrell Bevell, Seattle Seahawks

When you look at the talent on Seattle's offense, you can't really place too much blame on the offensive coordinator. Charlie Whitehurst is among the NFL's worst starting quarterbacks and the Seahawks' running backs sans Marshawn Lynch don't scare anyone.

With Tarvaris Jackson under center, the Seattle offense hasn't been so awful. However, Whitehurst was simply too much for Darrell Bevell to overcome. One could make the argument that Seattle should have tried running the ball more though.

Grade:  C-

Pat Shurmur, Cleveland Browns

To put it simply, the Browns offense was pitiful in week seven. Colt McCoy wasn't able to get anything going and the Browns leading rusher, Montario Hardesty, averaged less than three yards a carry.

However, head coach Pat Shurmur did not call that bad of a game. The former Rams' offenseive coordinator recognized McCoy's struggles and attempted to pound the rock. A good Seattle run defense and a poor Cleveland interior line simply prevented the run game from working.

Grade:  C-

Mike Martz, Chicago Bears

Mike Martz deserves credit for continuing to give Matt Forte the ball, but that's about it. Jay Cutler has been murdered due to idiotic seven step drops and no additional help for an abysmal offensive line.

No, it's not Martz's fault that the Bears have a talentless line, but he needs to make adjustments like he finally has the past two games. Though Martz has significantly decreased the seven step drops, Cutler is still facing way too much pressure. Martz needs to continue to adjust if he wants to keep his starting quarterback alive.

Grade:  C+

Bill Muir, Kansas City Chiefs

At a glance, it seems like the Chiefs had a good offensive day, scoring 28 points. Then you delve a little deeper and see that the team gained just 300 yards. Matt Cassel threw two more interceptions while completing just 50 percent of his passes.

Though Jackie Battle had a decent day running the ball, the team's offense was still pitiful to watch. Did Jamaal Charles really mean this much to the Kansas City offense?

Grade:  D+

Mike Mularkey, Atlanta Falcons

Matt Ryan did not have a successful day throwing the ball, but credit Mularkey for going with what was working. Mularkey recognized Ryan's struggles and Michael Turner's success, so he gave the rock to Turner.

The former Charger ended up with 27 carries for 122 yards and carried the Atlanta offense. However, something obviously isn't right in Atlanta and the passing game needs to improve in order for the team to compete.

Grade:  C-

Brian Schottenheimer, New York Jets

Shonn Greene was surprisingly excellent running the ball against the Chargers, yet Mark Sanchez still threw the ball 33 times. Anyone who watches Sanchez can tell that the USC product simply is not a good quarterback.

Despite this obvious fact, Brian Schottenheimer asked the young quarterback to throw the ball 33 times. Greene averaged more per rushing attempt than Sanchez did per passing attempt, but Sanchez still threw 13 more times than Greene ran. Confused? So am I.

Grade:  D

Mike McCoy, Denver Broncos

Tim Tebow was pretty terrible in the Broncos game against the Dolphins, but I don't think there's much any coach can do to change that. Denver handed the ball off 31 times and had some success on the ground, so the team did everything it could to take the pressure off the second year pro.

It's hard to knock Tebow too much when he led the team's comeback in the fourth quarter, but he was probably the reason the team was down in the first place. Mike McCoy and company did everything they could to help out the former Heisman winner, so the coaching staff is not to blame.

Grade:  C+

Mike Miller, Arizona Cardinals

Though Kevin Kolb did not have a bad game statistically, he has not played nearly as well as Arizona hoped he would. Beanie Wells suffered an injury and wasn't particularly productive when he was healthy. To sum it up, the Cardinal offense had a bad day.

In fairness to Arizona, the Steelers do still have an excellent defense. However, the Cardinals just couldn't keep up. Something needs to be done in Arizona if they're going to win many games.

Grade:  C-

Bill Musgrave, Minnesota Vikings

In Christian Ponder's first career start, one thing became abundantly clear: Donovan McNabb is the problem. Ponder certainly had his struggles and ended up with an abysmal completion percentage, but the young quarterback led the team to 28 points and looked very good at times.

Adrian Peterson killed the Green Bay defense, gaining 175 yards on 24 carries. The Minnesota offense will certainly go through growing pains with Ponder at the helm, but there is reason for optimism.

Grade:  B+

Dirk Koetter, Jacksonville Jaguars

With a rookie under center, Dirk Koetter is limited in what he can do. Blaine Gabbert obviously isn't ready to run an offense, so Koetter wisely gave the ball to Maurice Jones-Drew as much as he possibly could.

It is no surprise that Gabbert has struggled as much as he has, but in the mean time, Jacksonville needs to keep running the ball, Yes, the Jaguars only scored 12 points, but they were playing against a great defense with a well below average quarterback.

Grade:  B-

Clyde Christensen, Indianapolis Colts

Despite the Colts' obvious offensive ineptitude, I refuse to place too much blame on Clyde Christenson. Indianapolis is playing with an awful quarterback and a not-so-talented skill group. Then there's the team's offensive line.

Curtis Painter was absolutely pathetic against the Saints, but rookie running back Delone Carter looked unstoppable. There's at least one positive for the Colts.

Grade:  D+

Josh McDaniels, St. Louis Rams

Josh McDaniels has proven that he can put together a productive offense. It would appear that the abysmal St. Louis offensive line is too bad for even he to put points on the board.

Without Sam Bradford, the Rams offense was even worse than usual. Steven Jackson didn't have an especially productive game, and Jay Feeley is just awful. How can McDaniels be blamed for a complete lack of talent?

Grade:  C-