We are now half way into the season! It seems like only 9 weeks ago the NFL season was just starting! Okay bad joke. But being at the half way point, it's time to hand out the Mid Season Grades!! By Team and Divisions.
AFC EAST
New England Patriots- It was no surprise for everyone to see the Patriots on top of their division at this point in the season, what surprises most of us though is their lack of dominance they have shown in recent years. After a nice 5-1 start they have dropped two straight games and find themselves in a three way tie for first place in their division. Tom Brady and Wes Welker are on top of their game as always, but the off season acquisitions of Chad Ochocinco and Albert Haynsworth have garnered very little results, their yards per play average has been going down with each game, and their pass defense is ranked dead last in the league. Compared to previous Patriot teams in the past this one is just a shell of what the Dynasty used to be. But as long as Brady and Belicheck are with the team, they will always be a force to be reckoned with.
MID SEASON GRADE: B-
New York Jets- Half way through the season the Jets find themselves in a favorable position in the division race being tied for first with the Patriots. How they got there though is not what Jet fans wanted to see. Sanchez is playing solid football with his yards and TD passes above the league average, but his overall QB rating still lingers below average as he is failing to develop into the QB star most fans and experts were hoping to see at this point in his career. The Jets Defense is still a strong unit, but "Revis Island" isn't as strong a defender as he was last season and teams are finding ways to put points on the board against them. Next week will be a make or break game for the Jets as they host the Patriots at home. A win and series split with the Pats will put them in the driver seat in the East. But if Sanches and the Offense don't pick up their game and play at the level a championship caliber team needs to play at, they will find themselves exiting the playoffs early, or missing it all together.
MID SEASON GRADE: B-
Buffalo Bills- The Bills started off the season as the team everyone was talking about. They were 3-0 for the first time in ages, outscoring their opponents 113 - 73 and getting a huge win over the Patriots. Since week 3 they have lost 3 of 5 and are playing inconsistent football. But on the bright side, in two of those three losses they lost by 3 points, and all of the losses have come to teams with winning records and are currently on top of their divisions or in ties for first. Not many people saw the Bills being in this position when the season started, as they are still very much alive in the playoff hunt, and might even win their division for the first time in over a decade! Despite their current struggles they are so much better than they have been in recent years, the amount of improvement this team has mustered alone is worthy of getting the best grade in their division.
MID SEASON GRADE: B
Miami Dolphins- I knew going into this season that the Dolphins were going to be bad... I didn't expect them to be THIS bad. Of all the head coaches in the league, I can easily see Tony Sparano being the first head coach casualty once this season is over. The team's ownership just don't know how to run a franchise. Even Bill Parcells knew when it was time to make his departure from this team as an adviser. On the bight side though they finally got their first win yesterday, a HUGE upset over AFC division leading Kansas City Chiefs. And have lost three of their seven games by a combined seven points. Including a near upset victory over the New York Giants. But all of this is little comfort to the fact that this is a lost season for the Dolphins, and this franchise needs to be blown up and start all over again from scratch.
MID SEASON GRADE: D
DIVISION GRADE: C+ The Jets, Patriots and Bills are all winning franchises in the thick of the divisional and playoff race, but the Patriots and Jets have regressed from previous seasons and aren't living up to their expectations. And the three top teams have struggled a lot in recent weeks. Still a strong, tough division, but one that lacks the fire power it had in previous seasons from their elite teams.
AFC SOUTH
Houston Texans- Going into this season I was having a tough time determining if I wanted to predict them as finishing second or first, or as third or last place. Ultimately I picked them to finish third in the AFC South, I thought to myself, "I've played this game before, I gave into the hype and was wrong in the past, I'll believe it when I see it." Well this season I have seen it and am now a true believer. The Texans are off to their best start at 6-3 and are on top of the South. They dropped a few games, but in their defense they suffered quite a few devastating injuries to star offensive weapons in Foster and Johnson, (Johnson is still out) and have found ways to adjust to their injuries to keep on winning. They are just one game back from sharing the best record in the AFC, and look to make the playoffs for the first time since coming back to the NFL.
MID SEASON GRADE: B+
Tennessee Titans- Like the Texans, I didn't have much faith in this team. I thought without Jeff Fisher this team was destined to struggle and loose in their first season without their great Coach. But they have hung around and put up a decent 4-4 record. Matt Hasslebeck is showing that he still has it and that the Titans were justified in bringing in the veteran QB. Though they are only at .500 three of their four losses were to teams with winning records. Normally in the AFC South a .500 record would put you in 3rd or last place, for now they sit comforitably in second, but far from any talks of playoff runs. They are exceeding my expectations for a team in transition, but are far from anything great.
MID SEASON GRADE: C+
Jacksonville Jaguars- At the beginning of the season, the owners of the Jaguars told Jack Del Rio that anything short of a playoff appearance will lead to his departure by the end of the season. At 2-6 the Jaguars head coach is probably already looking in the Want Ads for a new job after this season. The Jaguars were one win away from winning the South last year, what in the world went wrong? QB Blaine Gabbert stepped in to give the Jaguars some hope after a disappointing start, and though he hasn't been bad, he has struggled in his first season. Most of the blame though I feel goes towards his supporting cast not helping him out, but only so much can be put on team chemistry. Ultimately it all starts from the top at head coach. And when you go from Playoff hopeful and one win away from division winner last season to 2-6 and third at the half way point this season, everyone is to blame.
MID SEASON GRADE: D
Indianapolis Colts- It has been argued that one man doesn't make a team. In the case of the Indianapolis Colts, We now know that Peyton WAS the Colts. It's amazing how one man can mean so much to a dynasty. Even when Tom Brady missed a whole season the Patriots still went on to have a 10-6 season without him. The Colts without Manning are at an NFL worst 0-9, have been outscored 283-128, and haven't been close to winning a game since week 5 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Manning still has hope of coming back and playing this season, but his recovery from surgery is going really slow, and some question whether if he should return at all. Many are speculating that the Colts are already looking past Manning and might take Andrew Luck in the draft this off season, but at this point I'm wondering if head coach Jim Caldwell will even be around by then. The Colts should have been good enough without Manning to remain competitive and win a few games at least. But at this rate they are staring down 0-16.
MID SEASON GRADE: F
DIVISION GRADE: C- Two of the teams are exceeding my pre-season expectations, the other two are far from matching it. The AFC South in recent years were one of thee toughest divisions in the league. With exception to the Texans, this division is far from the great division we have watched in recent seasons.
AFC NORTH
Baltimore Ravens- In the past three years the Ravens have played 7 playoff games, all of them were on the road. The Ravens/Steelers rivalry has been named thee best rivalry in all the NFL, at least for the moment, but the Ravens could never seem to beat the Steelers when it mattered most, and have played second fiddle to them for years. Half way into the season they have swept the season series against their rivals and are in a first place tie in the North. But all of this is trumped by the lack of development from Joe Flacco. Statistically Flacco played his best football this season, but the Ravens offense continue to flounder and struggle. The Defense is Superbowl caliber, but the offense is hard pressed to match them. This was made obvious by their embarrassing 12-7 loss to the Jaguars on Monday night. Their other loss, came to the 4-4 Titans. Top that off with a near collapse to the 2-6 Cardinals, and this team despite their record is filled with flaws. I thought about giving them an A solely on their first season sweep of the Steelers under John Harbaugh, but there are just enough negative elements in this team to keep them from being graded that high.
MID SEASON GRADE: B+
Cincinnati Bengals- Don't look now, but the Bengals are 6-2, and due to a tie breaker currently in first of the of the AFC North! What is even more amazing is that they are doing this on the shoulders of rookie QB Andy Dalton who is having great rookie season! No one is really talking about the Bengals and their success, Maybe in part because with exception to their win against the Buffalo Bills, all their other wins have come against .500 or worse teams. And one of those losses came against a poor Denver team. Despite that though, based on where they were a year ago, and in a division where we thought the Ravens or Steelers would run away with, the Bengals have shown they are a force to be contended with. We will see if they truly belong in their class as they play both Baltimore and Pittsburgh in the next two weeks. Until then, 6-2, on the shoulders of a rookie QB, after a loosing season last year, Good enough for an A to me.
MID SEASON GRADE: A-
Pittsburgh Steelers- After a 2-2 start, and massive injuries to key players, people were beginning to write off the Steelers and say this team is just too old and injury prone to be competitive. But the Steelers have proven the critics wrong, winning 4 of their last 5 and sitting at 6-3 half way into the season. Ben Roethlisberger for some reason plays his best football when the odds are stacked against him. But with exception to the big win against New England, the Steelers have not beaten a team with a winning record and have allowed themselves to be swept by division rival Baltimore, meaning they are behind the 8 ball moving forward. They cannot allow to split the season series with Cincinnati, given how well they have been playing. In this division, finishing 10-6 may not be good enough for this franchise to win their division, or move on into the playoffs.
MID SEASON GRADE: B-
Cleveland Browns- What to say about the Browns, I don't think this team is quite as bad as their 3-5 record suggests. But they are by no means a good team, this is just a muddled/mediocre franchise. Their defense is actually one of the better unites in the league. But their offense has problems. Colt McCoy is decent at best in his second season, but isn't improving as well as fans were hoping. Peyton Hillis is suffering from the Madden Curse in the worst way. And his relationship with the Browns organization is waning. Give this team a decent offense and they could be right in the mix of the AFC North race. They have had a relatively tough schedule, all the teams they've lost too have .500 records or better, But in the end, this franchise is looking at last place in a very very tough division.
MID SEASON GRADE: D+
DIVISION GRADE: B+ This is arguably the best division in the NFL right now. Two of the teams share the AFC's best record and the Steelers are right behind them at 6-3. The Browns are struggling but are far from worst team in the league. If the AFC West and East division leaders were in the AFC North, they would be dead last in this division right now too.
AFC WEST
Kansas City Chiefs- Going into week 9 I was about ready to give the Chiefs a B grade, following a miserable 0-3 start they rallied with an impressive 4-0 turn around which got them into first place of the AFC West, then came the win less Miami Dolphins who beat them in a manner that reflected how they played in those first three losses. Though their turn around from worst to first is still impressive, the Chiefs did it against teams that had .500 or worst records. Not their fault that their opponents were that bad, but after finding their nitch and got into first in their division they regressed so bad against a win less team that it makes me wonder if they can hold on to that lead. Especially going into the tougher half of their schedule against winning teams like New England, Pittsburgh, and Green Bay.
MID SEASON GRADE: C
San Diego Chargers- The Yin to the Chiefs Yang, the Chiefs started off 0-3 then went 4-1, the Chargers started the season 4-1 then dropped their last three. But what's more concerning for this Chargers team that had the #1 offense and defense last season is the regression of Quarterback Phillip Rivers who leads the league in Interceptions among active QB's. The sad truth is that when Norv Turner took over and had success in the playoffs, he did it with a Motty Schottenheimer built team. Over the past couple of years he's tweaked it into a Norv Turner team, and we are now seeing what a true Norv Turner team plays like. I'll give Norv credit where it is due, he's an amazing offensive coordinator, but he's just not that great of a head coach. If anything their near come from behind attempt against the undefeated Green Bay Packers shows what this team is capable of moving forward. They split their series with KC and have a more favorable schedule moving forward, but Rivers has to get out of this funk he's in if they want to take charge and win their division.
MID SEASON GRADE: C-
Oakland Raiders- This has been a hard season for the Oakland Raiders, With owner Al Davis passing away Hue Jackson has to now play double duty and be head coach and GM, injuries has plagued this team which had so much hype and hope in winning their division and making it back to the playoffs this season. But still, even when the Raiders were healthy they were playing inconsistent football, win one week loose the next. They had two nice victories over Houston and Cleveland back to back, but then dropped two heart breakers against division rivals in the last three weeks. Carson Palmer has shown improvement from his second Half KC debut to Sunday's game against the Broncos, but can he improve enough to keep the Raiders in the AFC West race which any team can win it? I believe with a little time Palmer can get back into true form, but I just have a hard time seeing this team being able to do so.
MID SEASON GRADE: C
Denver Broncos- The Josh McDaniels era was a travesty in Denver, but who in their organization thought it would be a great idea to replace McDaniels with a head coach who was recently fired for coaching the worst team in the league the year before? But despite their 3-5 start the Broncos are only 1 game out of first place in the West. Kyle Orton was surly not the answer at QB. And though I have faith in Tebow and praise him in my 'The Day After Yesterday' column, bottom line is that he is still a work in progress and is questionable as to whether if he could ever really be a true starting QB in this league. I am a big fan of Brady Quinn and seriously think that if they really want a chance to win their division he should be the QB to go with. Overall, last weeks win over Oakland was Huge! And a win next week against a shell shocked Chiefs team that was crushed by Miami would give this team all the momentum they need to move forward in the West race. But for now 3-5 Barely deserves a passing grade for a franchise that seems so much in disarray.
MID SEASON GRADE: D
DIVISION GRADE: C- This division comes across as average. No team is above .500, and I have to question whether if any of these teams have what it takes to step up, grab this division by the horns and take control? Bottom line, the first half of the season the AFC West has been nothing more than a bunch of mediocre teams playing inconsistent football.
Coming soon... NFC Mid Season Grades!
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