NFL Report Card Week 11: Handing out Grades to All 32 Teams

We are now entering the home stretch of the 2011 NFL regular season, and boy, has it been interesting. Week 11 was not different, either.

Certain teams continued their upward ascension among the best in the league, while others have fallen completely off the map. Teams that are already considered to be "playing out the stretch" have stepped up and defeated "superior" opponents.

All this said, the top teams still remain at the top, while the bottom teams are struggling to find a strong reason to play passionate football over the course of the final six weeks or so.

Additionally, it is a short week for six NFL teams because of Thanksgiving games. So, let's take a look at each teams' performance this week.

Oakland Raiders

Defeated the Minnesota Vikings 27-21.

Oakland had a full one-game lead over the Denver Broncos in the fight for the AFC West title after defeating an undermanned Minnesota Vikings team on the road on Sunday. It was the dominating win that some people had expected, but the Raiders still took care of business.

Carson Palmer managed the game extremely well on the offensive side fo the ball, and Michael Bush had another 100 yard rushing day in a fill-in role for Darren McFadden.

The defense intercepted Christian Ponder three times and sacked the rookie quarterback another five times to lead a solid performance.

Overall, the Raiders played one heck of a game before allowing Minnesota to climb back in it towards the end.

Grade: A-

Denver Broncos

Defeated the New York Jets 17-13.

What can I say about Tim Tebow that hasn't already been said? He led the Denver Broncos to yet another fourth-quarter comeback with a 20-yard game-winning touchdown run inside of one minute remaining in the game. Up until that point, the second-year quarterback had completed just 45 percent of his passes and had a total of 152 yards of offence. Not exactly awe inspiring.

Still, he was able to lead them when it counted the most against a pretty good New York Jets team.

The Broncos defense did their part as well. They forced the enigmatic Mark Sanchez into a quarterback rating of under 70 while sacking him three times. The secondary played exceptionally well against a talent laden New York Jets receiving core.

Don't look now, but the Broncos are right in the playoff race in the AFC.

Grade: B+

Kansas City Chiefs

Lost to the New England Patriots 34-3. 

Any team that loses their top three players for the season would be in a world of hurt, and the Kansas City Chiefs are no different. Tyler Palko, who is probably nothing more than a third-string quarterback in the NFL, was tasked with going up against Tom Brady on Monday Night in New England. 

That is going to fail 99 percent of the time. 

Kansas City was over matched in nearly every possible way and shot themselves in the foot with horrible special teams play and turnovers. Two factors that needed to be perfect if they were going to pull the upset. 

They weren't. 

Grade: F 

San Diego Chargers

Lost to the Chicago Bears 31-20.

The San Diego Chargers have not lost five consecutive games and are on the verge of falling completely out of the AFC playoff race. They currently stand two games behind the Oakland Raiders and already lost to them at home. This means that they are pretty much three games behind them.

Following a Philip Rivers touchdown pass to Antonio Gates that tied the game at 10 in the second quarter, San Diego just couldn't keep up with Jay Cutler and the streaking Chicago Bears.

Rivers ended up throwing two more interceptions; they ran the ball for just 52 yards and just couldn't stop the Bears passing game.

Grade: D

Houston Texans

Bye Week

The Houston Texans went into their bye week with a four-game winning streak, but also have to prepare for the remainder of the regular season without Matt Schaub. Accordingly, they had multiple quarterbacks in for visits today.

Still, Houston as an amazing 1-2 punch at running back and one of the most improved defenses unit in the entire NFL. There is no reason to believe that this team will not take the AFC South crown at seasons end.

It will just be up to Matt Leinart to become the player many thought he would be coming out of USC and lead this team in the playoffs.

Tennessee Titans

Lost to Atlanta Falcons 23-17

This game wasn't anywhere near as close as the final score would indicate. Matt Hasselbeck injured his shoulder and was relieved by Jake Locker, who led the Titans to two second-half touchdown drives.

Overall, the Titans defense was exposed a great deal. Atlanta compiled a total of 25 first downs and over 430 yards on offense. Tennessee failed to get to Matt Ryan for a sack all game long, as he had ample time to eat apart their defensive secondary.

If Tennessee wants to prove they are in contention for the division crown this season, they are going to have to play better against "top-tier" competition.

Grade: D

Jacksonville Jaguars

Lost to Cleveland Browns 14-10.

It was another pedestrian day at the office for rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert. He barely complete over half of his passes, averaged just over five yards per pass and finished with a quarterback rating under 70 once again.

Jacksonville's defense gave up a whole lot of first downs and yards to a pretty damn weak Cleveland Browns offense. Overall, the Browns ran for nearly 150 yards without the services of either of their top running backs and Colt McCoy put up nearly 200 yards passing.

The Jaguars are in a transitional faze right now, but their defense needs to pick up an offense that will only continue to struggle with such a young core. If not, it is going to be a long reast of the season for them.

Grade: D

Indianapolis Colts

Bye week

Well, they didn't lose this week. I guess that is a positive, but it was only because they didn't actually play a game.

Indianapolis entered their bye with the worst record in the NFL, 0-10. They have not been competing over the course of the last few weeks and appear ready to just throw in the towel for the remaining month and half of the season.

Still, there is an evaluation process going on. Is Jim Caldwell the answer for next season? What young players deserve a shot in 2012? And what vets are going to be gone? In this, Indianapolis still does have something to play for.

Baltimore Ravens

Defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 31-24

It wasn't the dominating performance that some might have expected. Instead, Baltimore's defense stood up to force three Andy Dalton interceptions and played really well in the secondary before letting the Bengals back in the game towards the end. Pernell McPhee made the big play of the game, sacking Dalton on 4th-and-goal to go, which sealed the victory.

Baltimore, who still has a lot to prove, has an extremely tough test against the 9-1 San Francisco 49ers on Thanksgiving night.

Grade: B

Pittsburgh Steelers

Bye Week

The Steelers, who are now in second place due to a tie breaker with the Ravens, headed into the bye with a 7-3 record. After struggling initially to start the season, Pittsburgh looks to be back as a force in the AFC Championship race.

Ben Roethlisberger is playing the best football of his career, and the Steelers defense continues to impress, mostly in the secondary.

This team will be a player once the playoffs hit in January.  

Cincinnati Bengals

Lost to the Baltimore Ravens 31-24

This team continues to impress against stellar competition. Still, the young Bengals have not been able to close the deal. Andy Dalton has made some crucial second-half mistakes against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens over the course of the last two weeks. I guess that is expected from a rookie quarterback that has increasingly been asked to do more over the course of the season.

Cincinnati was down 31-14 in the fourth quarter against Baltimore before making a valiant comeback effort. They pulled to within one score, but it wasn't to be. Andy Dalton was called for an intentional grounding penalty then was sacked on fourth down.

The future is looking bright for Cincinnati, but they appear to be playing themselves out of the AFC Playoff race.

Grade: B-

Cleveland Browns

Defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 14-10. 

It wasn't the prettiest victory ever, but the Cleveland Browns will definitely take it. Colt McCoy probably had his most complete game of an otherwise pedestrian season, and third-string running back Chris Ogbonnaya ran for over 100 yards.

The Browns defense also stepped up. They held Blaine Gabbert to just over a 50 percent completion percentage and Maurice Jones-Drew to less than 100 yards rushing.

It came down to the fourth quarter. With the game tied at seven, McCoy hit Joshua Cribbs on a three-yard touchdown pass to give the Browns their first lead of the game, a lead they would never surrender.

Grade: B-

New England Patriots

Defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 34-3.

Complete and utter domination at home against the Kansas City Chiefs. Would you have expected anything less? Tom Brady did his part, while the Patriots defense continued to progress like they had over the course of the last couple games. 

It is completely understandable that the Patriots would destroy the injury plagued Kansas City Chiefs, but you still have to get the job done on game day. 

Wes Welker wasn't much of a factor, but New England took care of business anyway. If their defense is able to continue this progression, they are going to be a team to mess with in the playoffs. 

Grade: A+ 

New York Jets

Lost to the Denver Broncos 17-13.

How could a team that is so much more talented than their opponent lose the way the Jets did?

Bad quarterback play and a lack of cohesiveness on offense, that's how. Mark Sanchez struggled hitting open receivers, and the rest of the offense didn't pick him up, either.

To say that they got “Tebowed” would be an understatement. The defense broke down towards the end of the game as Tim Tebow took the ball in from 20 yards out for the game winning touchdown.

Statistically, the Jets dominated. They had twice as many first downs as the Broncos and had nearly 100 yards more on offense. That said, they struggled a great deal on third down and were not able to keep drives going throughout the game. Nick Folk also blew it with multiple missed field goals.

This game will come back to haunt the Jets, as they are now on the outside looking in at the AFC Playoff race.

Grade: F

Buffalo Bills

Lost to the Miami Dolphins 35-8.

The Bills have come hurdling back to earth and are now deeply encrusted in its core. This game was a whitewash in every possible way, as the Dolphins handed Buffalo their third consecutive lopsided loss of the season.

Ryan Fitzpatrick couldn't get anything going on offense, completing barely over half of his passes and throwing two interceptions. He looked extremely uncomfortable in the pocket and missed multiple open receivers. The offense struggled to get going because Fred Jackson just rushed the ball seven times for less than 20 yards.

Defensively, the Bills were eaten apart for a third straight game as well. Matt Moore, continuing his stellar play, completed 70 percent of his passes for three touchdowns.

In all, it was an inept performance by the Buffalo Bills and a game that cemented their status as pretenders in the AFC Playoff race.

Grade: F

Miami Dolphins

Defeated the Buffalo Bills 35-8.

Miami became the first team in the history of the NFL to lose their first seven games and then pull off a three-game winning streak. They have done so in incredibly impressive fashion as well. This is a team that has now outscored their last three opponents by a total of 86-20.

Matt Moore continued his impressive play by throwing three touchdown passes, managing the game well and not turning the ball over.

This game was over by the half, as Miami built a 28-6 lead before adding another touchdown on a blocked punt in the third quarter to finish their scoring.

They now have to take on the Dallas Cowboys in a short week, but will be bringing a nice amount of confidence into the Big D for the Thanksgiving afternoon matchup.

Grade: A+

San Francisco 49ers

Defeated the Arizona Cardinals 23-7.

The final score is not indicative of how much San Francisco dominated this game. It started out slowly, as they missed three field goal attempts in the first half and saw multiple drives stall inside Arizona's territory.

Overall, the domination was apparent on the stat board. San Francisco compiled 25 first down to just 11 for Arizona. They outgained the Cardinals by more than 200 yards and held a three-to-one time of possession battle.

Despite throwing only his second career red zone interceptions, Alex Smith broke out big time for over 250 yards and two scores in a season high 40 passing attempts. For all intents and purposes, this game was over immediately after the opening kickoff.

The 49ers, who won their eighth straight game, will need to fix their red-zone offense when they go up against the Baltimore Ravens Thanksgiving night. These failed attempts may not come back to haunt them against the Arizona Cardinals, but they will against the upper echelon teams in the league.

Still, the 49ers are proving themselves to be clearly the second best team in the NFL.

Grade: A-

Seattle Seahawks

Defeated the St. Louis Rams 24-7

The Seattle Seahawks have now won two consecutive games in pretty impressive fashion. Their defeat of the St. Louis Rams on Sunday was probably the defense's most complete game all season long.

Their defense dominated a struggling Rams offense, allowing only 185 total yards and 13 first downs. They also forced two turnovers. Tarvaris Jackson and the offense still continued its struggles. The enigmatic quarterback threw two more interceptions and had less than 150 passing yards in 24 attempts.

Seattle, who is already pretty much out of the NFC race, has been up-and-down all season long, but it seems that they have turned the corner over the course of the last couple games and it begins with the defense.

Grade: B

Arizona Cardinals

Lost to the San Francisco 49ers 23-7.

It doesn't matter who is behind center for the Cardinals; their quarterback position is a complete and utter disaster right now. John Skelton started the game, but was ineffective in throwing to the right team and couldn't lead Arizona to anything of substance against one of the best defenses in the NFL.

Overall, it appeared that they didn't belong on the same field with the far superior NFC West leading San Francisco 49ers. Every aspect of this game was dominated by San Francisco, except for the misleading final score.

Arizona is already playing out the stretch, but they are going to have to figure out where to move forward with an offense that continues to struggle. At this point, there is no guarantee that Kevin Kolb is the answer, and it is pretty obvious that neither of the other two quarterbacks on the roster are either.

Grade: F

St. Louis Rams

Lost to the Seattle Seahawks 24-7.

Sam Bradford continues his sophomore struggles, and Stephen Jackson just couldn't get it going against a solid Seattle Seahawks rush defense. Moreover, the lack of talent on this team is becoming increasingly evident.

They just don't have the combination of players to compete on a weekly basis in the NFL, even against mediocre NFC West teams outside of San Francisco. The single fact that St. Louis get manhandled by an average Seattle Seahawks team speaks volume in regards to how far this team has to go before even being considered decent.

Grade: F

New Orleans Saints

Bye Week

The New Orleans Saints are now 7-3 and fully entrenched atop the NFC South. They will be taking on the New York Giants in an extremely important inner conference matchup next Monday coming off their bye.

This is a team that still continues to struggle on the defensive side of the ball. They are 22nd in the NFL in scoring defense and rank in the bottom half in both pass and rush defense. A favorable schedule over the final month of the season may help this team get going once the playoffs start, but the defense is going to have to pick it up if they are going to contend with the Packers and 49ers in the NFC come January.

Atlanta Falcons

Defeated the Tennessee Titans 23-17.

Atlanta has now won four of their last five games, with the only defeat coming against the New Orleans Saints in overtime. They controlled the game against Tennessee for the most part at home.

Matt Ryan had another solid performance, throwing for over 300 yards and not throwing an interception. Michael Turner had another 100-yard game, as Roddy White more than made up for the missing Julio Jones on the outside.

Defensively, Atlanta did a great job containing Chris Johnson and knocked Matt Hasselbeck out of the game.

Still, they weren't able to put the Titans away. Jake Locker led Tennessee to two second-half touchdown drives and pulled the game within one score in the fourth quarter. At 6-4, the Falcons are right there with the Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys in a fight for two wildcard spots.

Grade: A-

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Lost to the Green Bay Packers 35-26

Despite playing with the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau for the better part of the game, Tampa Bay finds themselves on the brink of falling completely out of playoff contention.

Overall, Josh Freeman had a really good game, but couldn't overcome the mistakes that have come to define his 2011 season. The third-year quarterback threw two more interceptions, which could have very well been the difference in what was a close game.

Tampa Bay's defense did a good job in “containing” Aaron Rodgers to less than 300 yards and actually intercepted rare pass from the elite signal caller. They also held the Packers to less than 60 yards rushing from their running back committee.

It still wasn't enough to overcome the two turnovers and nine penalties. At this point, Tampa Bay might just be playing out the stretch at 4-6.

Grade: B+

Carolina Panthers

Lost to the Detroit Lions 49-35.

The Panthers are really fun to watch, but they are not able to get past that proverbial wall and win consistently. Most of that has to do with dreadful defensive performances over the course of the last few games.

Sunday was not different.

They gave up nearly 500 yards of total offense and surrendered a whopping 29 first downs. Matthew Stafford picked apart Carolina's lackluster secondary to the tune of four touchdowns. Kevin Smith, who just came off of the street, ran for 140 yards on just 16 attempts.

Cam Newton also appears to be descending back down to earth. He accounted for four interceptions and was off pretty much all day long. For the first time this season, I saw Newton struggle a great deal with accuracy and pocket recognition.

Carolina has a long way to go before they can actually compete on a consistent basis, and the last couple weeks are prime examples of this.

Grade: D

Green Bay Packers

Defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35-26

For the Green Bay Packers, Sunday's performance was a struggle. After all, Aaron Rodgers actually threw 11 incomplete passes and an interceptions. Greg Jennings and Jermichael Finley also combined for just three receptions and zero touchdowns.

What went wrong?

Absolutely nothing. Green Bay reeled off their 10th consecutive victory of the 2011 season and remained undefeated heading into their Thanksgiving tilt with the Detroit Lions. Rodgers did throw three touchdown passes, two of which went to Jordy Nelson.

Defensively, the Packers struggled a bit against Tampa Bay's pedestrian offense. Josh Freeman completed 28 passes and threw two touchdowns, while Kellen Winslow and Mike Williams combined for over 200 receiving yards. Additionally, LeGarrette Blount ran for over 100 yards on just 18 attempts.

Green Bay, who is still looking over their shoulder at the 9-1 San Francisco 49ers for home-field advantage, does need to fix the holes in their defense in order to be considered the outright favorites to defend their championship.

For this, I am giving them a grade lower than an A for the first time in a while.

Grade: B-

Chicago Bears

Defeated the San Diego Chargers 31-20

It was a costly fifth consecutive victory for the streaking Chicago Bears, as it appears they have lost Jay Cutler for the remainder of the regular season. Caleb Hanie will be asked to step in and lead the Bears to the playoffs, not an easy task for such an inexperienced quarterback.

The game itself went Chicago's way. Their defense forced another three turnovers, intercepting the struggling Philip Rivers twice and completely stifling the Chargers running game. Despite the game hovering between one or two scores and San Diego tying it up in the third quarter, it was apparent that the Bears were in complete control.

At 7-3, Chicago was an inside track at one of the NFC wild card slots, but the injury to Cutler is going to hurt some of the momentum they have.

Grade: A-

Detroit Lions

Defeated the Carolina Panthers 49-35

Detroit's offense got back on track big time in this game, and their defense forced for interceptions to overcome early mistakes across the board. Matthew Stafford threw two early interceptions, leading many to believe his struggles were going to continue. They did not.

After initial mistakes, the talented quarterback was nearly perfect. He completed 26 of his final 31 passes and threw five touchdowns. Kevin Smith, coming off the street, added 140 rushing yards and the receiving core had an extremely balanced game.

Detroit did surrender over 400 yards of offense, but forced four Cam Newton interceptions. In order for the Lions to be considered serious contenders in the NFC, they are going to have to fix the glaring holes that they have on defense.

Grade: B

Minnesota Vikings

Lost to the Oakland Raiders 23-17. 

Adrian Peterson going out to an ankle injury in the first half really hurt the cohesion of Minnesota's offense. In short, Toby Gerhart just isn't the difference maker that AP is. So, the game really rested on the hands of rookie Christian Ponder. He struggled through the first three quarters as the Vikings fell down by three scores before leading the Vikings back.

Minnesota scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to pull within one score before the Raiders melted the clock on the ground and came away with a closer than expected victory. Still, it is nice to see a team like the Vikings compete against a first place club.

Grade: B-

Dallas Cowboys

Defeated the Washington Redskins 27-24 in overtime. 

No matter the struggles of either team, this rivalry still produces some of the most entertaining games in the league. Many people expected the streaking Dallas Cowboys to go into Washington and lay the hammer on the struggling Redskins.

It did not happen.

Tony Romo had another stellar day at the office, throwing three more touchdowns without an interception and compiling nearly 300 yards through the air. DeMarco Murray really didn't get it going on the ground with less than three yards per rush, but he did add six receptions and had 100 total yards on offense once again.

It was the lack of defensive dominance that caught me off guard. It is never good when you allow Rex Grossman to throw for nearly 300 yards and complete well over 60 percent of his passes, yet this is what he did against the Cowboys defense.

Grade: B-

New York Giants

Lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 17-10.

A week after having a really solid road performance in their loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the Giants lad an egg Sunday night. Their offense was a complete and utter disaster.

Overall, the Giants compiled just 12 first downs, as Eli Manning was off his game all night long. In the end, he completed just over 50 percent of his passes, and New York went a paltry 5-for-14 on third down conversions.

Their defense did force three Vince Young interceptions, but were eaten apart on the outside and gave up nearly 400 yards of total offense.

New York now finds itself in a precarious position. They are in second place in the NFC East by virtue of a tie breaker and are also on the outside looking in of the NFC playoff race. Their late season struggles have been well documented over the course of the year, and this leaves a lot of fans wondering what the final six weeks of the season is going to bring.

Grade: D+

Philadelphia Eagles

Defeated the New York Giants 17-10.

Are the Philadelphia Eagles completely out of the NFC playoff race? Not after Sunday's much-needed victory over the New York Giants. Vince Young came in to replace the injured Michael Vick, and despite throwing three interceptions, looked fairly good in the process.

Overall, the Eagles put up yards at will against New York's defense and capped the game off win an amazing 19 play touchdown scoring drive to take the lead late in the fourth quarter.

That said, the Eagles still continued to struggle turning the ball over and playing strong defense. Nnamdi Asomugha struggled in coverage once again, as Victor Cruz lit the secondary up for the tune of 128 receiving yards.

Grade: B+

Washington Redskins

Lost to the Dallas Cowboys 27-24 in overtime.

That was a gut-wrenching overtime loss if I have ever seen one. Washington came storming back against a far superior Dallas Cowboys team to take a lead into the half before succumbing to “Mr. November,” Tony Romo. Graham Gano's game-winning overtime field goal barely sailed wide right. Minutes later, Dan Bailey connected and gave the Cowboys a much needed win.

For Washington, it was another day of outright frustration. They played a fairly good game and were in position to win it before mistakes caused a sixth consecutive loss and sent slim Redskins playoff hopes into hibernation for the winter.

Grade: B-